How to use LDAP Authentication in a corporate environment

Question

I'd like users to log into my Spring-Boot application with their corporate username/password-combination (so I can use AD authentication and (maybe also) use that AD to query active users).

So I did nslookup -type=srv _ldap._tcp.MY.DOMAIN which resulted in the outcome:

Server: Servername.MY.DOMAIN
Address: 1.1.1.1

_ldap._tcp.MY.DOMAIN       SRV service location
      priority             = 0
      weight               = 50
      port                 = 389
      svr hostname         = a_host.MY.DOMAIN
//... a few more of these
a_host.MY.DOMAIN  internet address = 5.5.5.5

Then I used this VBS:

set objSysInfo = CreateObject("ADSystemInfo")
set objUser = GetObject("LDAP://" & objSysInfo.UserName)
wscript.echo "DN: " & objUser.distinguishedName

that returned:

DN: CN=Lastname\, Firstname,OU=OU1,OU=OU2,OU=OU3,DC=MY,DC=DOMAIN

and now I tried (as suggested in the first answer) to configure my Spring Boot application using this class for that login refering to this post:

@Configuration
@EnableWebSecurity
public class WebSecurityConfig extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter {

    @Override
    protected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
        http
            .antMatcher("/secure")
            .authorizeRequests()
            .anyRequest().fullyAuthenticated()
            .and()
            .httpBasic();
    }

    @Override
    protected void configure(AuthenticationManagerBuilder auth) throws Exception {
        auth.authenticationProvider(activeDirectoryLdapAuthenticationProvider());
    }

    @Bean
    public AuthenticationManager authenticationManager() {
        return new ProviderManager(Arrays.asList(activeDirectoryLdapAuthenticationProvider()));
    }
    @Bean
    public AuthenticationProvider activeDirectoryLdapAuthenticationProvider() {
        ActiveDirectoryLdapAuthenticationProvider provider = new ActiveDirectoryLdapAuthenticationProvider("MY.COMPANY", "ldap://a_host.MY.DOMAIN:389");
        provider.setConvertSubErrorCodesToExceptions(true);
        provider.setUseAuthenticationRequestCredentials(true);
        return provider;
    }
}

Sadly when I start the application and insert my company credentials into my Spring-Boot-Security-Login-UI, I can not login to the application. Also, the path /secure is not accessible via http://localhost:8080/secure (results in 404). Now when I enable debugging for Spring-Boot-Security I get the following output on inserting my credentials:

2018-12-17 11:47:12.793 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 1 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'WebAsyncManagerIntegrationFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:16.510 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 1 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'WebAsyncManagerIntegrationFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.462 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 2 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'SecurityContextPersistenceFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 2 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'SecurityContextPersistenceFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] w.c.HttpSessionSecurityContextRepository : HttpSession returned null object for SPRING_SECURITY_CONTEXT
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] w.c.HttpSessionSecurityContextRepository : HttpSession returned null object for SPRING_SECURITY_CONTEXT
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] w.c.HttpSessionSecurityContextRepository : No SecurityContext was available from the HttpSession: org.apache.catalina.session.StandardSessionFacade@28db75a9. A new one will be created.
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] w.c.HttpSessionSecurityContextRepository : No SecurityContext was available from the HttpSession: org.apache.catalina.session.StandardSessionFacade@28db75a9. A new one will be created.
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 3 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'HeaderWriterFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 3 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'HeaderWriterFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 4 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'CsrfFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 4 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'CsrfFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 5 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'LogoutFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 5 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'LogoutFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] o.s.s.w.u.matcher.AntPathRequestMatcher  : Checking match of request : '/login'; against '/logout'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] o.s.s.w.u.matcher.AntPathRequestMatcher  : Checking match of request : '/login'; against '/logout'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 6 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'UsernamePasswordAuthenticationFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] o.s.security.web.FilterChainProxy        : /login at position 6 of 15 in additional filter chain; firing Filter: 'UsernamePasswordAuthenticationFilter'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] o.s.s.w.u.matcher.AntPathRequestMatcher  : Checking match of request : '/login'; against '/login'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] o.s.s.w.u.matcher.AntPathRequestMatcher  : Checking match of request : '/login'; against '/login'
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] w.a.UsernamePasswordAuthenticationFilter : Request is to process authentication
2018-12-17 11:47:27.466 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] w.a.UsernamePasswordAuthenticationFilter : Request is to process authentication
2018-12-17 11:47:27.470 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] o.s.s.authentication.ProviderManager     : Authentication attempt using org.springframework.security.authentication.dao.DaoAuthenticationProvider
2018-12-17 11:47:27.470 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] o.s.s.authentication.ProviderManager     : Authentication attempt using org.springframework.security.authentication.dao.DaoAuthenticationProvider
2018-12-17 11:47:27.534 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] o.s.s.a.dao.DaoAuthenticationProvider    : User '%my_user%' not found
2018-12-17 11:47:27.534 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] o.s.s.a.dao.DaoAuthenticationProvider    : User '%my_user%' not found
2018-12-17 11:47:27.534 DEBUG 13232 --- [io-8080-exec-10] w.a.UsernamePasswordAuthenticationFilter : Authentication request failed: org.springframework.security.authentication.BadCredentialsException: Ung³ltige Anmeldedaten

org.springframework.security.authentication.BadCredentialsException: Ung³ltige Anmeldedaten
        at org.springframework.security.authentication.dao.AbstractUserDetailsAuthenticationProvider.authenticate(AbstractUserDetailsAuthenticationProvider.java:151) ~[spring-security-core-5.1.2.RELEASE.jar!/:5.1.2.RELEASE]
        at org.springframework.security.authentication.ProviderManager.authenticate(ProviderManager.java:174) ~[spring-security-core-5.1.2.RELEASE.jar!/:5.1.2.RELEASE]
//...
2018-12-17 11:47:27.538 DEBUG 13232 --- [nio-8080-exec-9] w.a.UsernamePasswordAuthenticationFilter : Authentication request failed: org.springframework.security.authentication.BadCredentialsException: Ung³ltige Anmeldedaten
org.springframework.security.authentication.BadCredentialsException: Ung³ltige Anmeldedaten

So as he is not finding my User (I also tried with Username@DOMAIN, DOMAIN\username ...) it seems like I either missconfigured the url or used the wrong form to insert my login-data (I used the startup page when launching the application with Spring-Boot-Security).

UPDATE:

I ensured that the provided username %my_user% is equal to my UPN, so it seems to be a configuration problem, since spring boot security says that it cannot be found.

UPDATE2:

I am going to update this post to the very final solution we came to thanks to @GabrielLuci . The problem is solved :)

Gabriel Luci Gabriel Luci · Accepted Answer · 2018-12-13T16:29:11

That documentation shows the configuration to use on a.... "normal" LDAP directory (like say OpenLDAP). Active Directory has its own quirks, so it doesn't quite behave the same way as the rest of the LDAP world.

Spring does have an ActiveDirectoryLdapAuthenticationProvider class just for this purpose. This answer has an example of how to make use of it in your WebSecurityConfig class:

@Configuration
@EnableWebSecurity
public class WebSecurityConfig extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter {

    @Override
    protected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
        http
            .antMatcher("/secure")
            .authorizeRequests()
            .anyRequest().fullyAuthenticated()
            .and()
            .httpBasic();
    }

    @Override
    protected void configure(AuthenticationManagerBuilder auth) throws Exception {
        auth.authenticationProvider(activeDirectoryLdapAuthenticationProvider());
    }

    @Bean
    public AuthenticationManager authenticationManager() {
        return new ProviderManager(Arrays.asList(activeDirectoryLdapAuthenticationProvider()));
    }
    @Bean
    public AuthenticationProvider activeDirectoryLdapAuthenticationProvider() {
        ActiveDirectoryLdapAuthenticationProvider provider = new ActiveDirectoryLdapAuthenticationProvider("adldap.company.com", "ldap://adldap.company.com");
        provider.setConvertSubErrorCodesToExceptions(true);
        provider.setUseAuthenticationRequestCredentials(true);
        return provider;
    }
}

How to use LDAP Authentication in a corporate environment

1 Answers