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LDAP Directory Services:

Explore essential LDAP directory security topics such as threats, security features, protocol layers, and typical security implementations. Understand directory service basics, security axes, and deployment scenario examples.

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LDAP Directory Services:

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  1. LDAP Directory Services: Security

  2. Directory SecuritySyllabus • Brief Review of Directories and LDAP • Brief Review of Security • Basic Security Concepts • Security as Applied to Directories • Threats • LDAP Protocol Security Features • Typically Implemented Security Features • Futures • References

  3. A B C D search “G,C,A” E F G Client H I Directory SecurityBrief Review of Directories & LDAP Directory Information Tree (DIT) Network LDAP Directory Database Directory Service

  4. Directory SecurityBrief Review of Directories & LDAP • What directories are… • Object repositories • Typically read more than written • Have explicit access protocols • Support relatively complex queries • What directories are not… • RDBMSs • Lack notions of.. • Tabular views • JOIN operations • Stored Procedures

  5. Directory SecurityBrief Review of Directories & LDAP • Obligatory, overly-simplified, Protocol Stack Diagram Directory-based Application LDAP TCP IP Ethernet, Cable, Wireless, whatever.

  6. Directory SecurityBrief Review of Security • Notion of Security for a network protocol is comprised of (at least) these axes.. • Identity & Authentication • “Who are you and who says so?” • Confidentiality • “Tough petunias to eavesdroppers.” • Integrity • “Did anyone muck with this data?” • Authorization • “Yes, you can do that, but no, you can’t do that other thing.”

  7. Directory SecurityBasic Security Concepts • Notions... • The notion of Identity • Of Names and Identifiers • Authentication Identity • Authorization Identity • Anonymity

  8. Directory SecurityBasic Security Concepts Overall Namespace Names Identifiers

  9. Directory SecurityBasic Security Concepts • The applicable “science & technology of implementation”... • Ciphers • Encryption • Integrity • AKA Cryptography [11]

  10. Directory SecurityBasic Security Concepts, cont’d

  11. Directory SecurityBasic Security Concepts, cont’d

  12. Directory SecurityBasic Security Concepts, cont’d

  13. Directory SecuritySecurity as Applied to Directories • One needs to separately consider each of the four security axes in the context of anticipated threats. • Also need to consider security from the perspectives of.. • the info stored in the directory, and.. • attributes of the requesters. • E.g. how much you trust them. • Note that.. • data security != access security

  14. Directory SecurityExample Deployment Scenarios

  15. A 4 B C D search “G,C,A” E F G 7. Imposter Directory Service H I Client Directory Database Directory SecurityThreats Legitimate Directory Service 2 , 3 , 7. LDAP Network , 5 , 6. Directory Database 1.

  16. 8. 9. 10. Directory SecurityThreats, cont’d Network Directory Service Host(s) Directory Database

  17. Directory SecurityLDAP Protocol Security Features • Formal notions of.. • Authentication Identifiers [7], and.. • Authorization Identifiers [7] • Leverages several security mechanisms.. • Simple passwords [2, 8] • SASL [6] • Kerberos [2] • Digest [4] • SSL/TLS [7] • effectively is a session layer • The above may be used in various combinations together.

  18. Directory SecurityLDAP Protocol Security Features • Integral-to-the-protocol data integrity and attribution are works-in-progress.

  19. Authenticated, plus Confidentiality- and Integrity-protected Channel LDAP A Directory Database B C D search “G,C,A” E F G Imposter Directory Service Client H I Directory Database Directory SecurityLDAP Security Features Illustrated Legitimate Directory Service Network LDAP

  20. IP Ethernet, Cable, Wireless,Etc. Directory SecurityBrief Intro to Directories and LDAP Directory-based Application LDAP TLS TCP

  21. IP Ethernet, Cable, Wireless,Etc. Directory SecurityBrief Intro to Directories and LDAP Directory-based Application TLS SASL LDAP TCP

  22. Directory SecurityTypical Security Features of Impls • Security Features typically found in LDAP Implementations • Simple password-based Authentication. • SSL on port 636 (aka “LDAPS”) • At least one impl does StartTLS on port 389. • Access control. • Configurability (e.g. Netscape’s DS Plug-ins).

  23. Directory SecurityTypical Impl Security Features, cont’d • Important Notice: • The LDAP protocol is NOT an authentication protocol in and of itself (IMHO). • One MAY use LDAP itself as an authentication protocol, but one needs to carefully consider what functionality it does and doesn’t bring to your deployment when used in this manner. • Deployment configuration is critical • Many server-side knobs • e.g. requiring client authentication

  24. Directory DB Auth DB Directory SecurityExample Directory Service Deployment(s) Authentication Service Desktop Clients Desktop Clients Clients LDAP LDAP-based Directory Service

  25. Directory Service SUNetIDSystem LDAP (Reads) TDS Network-based Applications Network-based Applications Directory DB Registry DB Auth DB Middleware Event Broker Network-based Applications Desktops (Browsers) TDS Web-based User Interface for Data Maintenance Registry HTTP(effectively authenticated writes) Directory SecurityBehind the Scenes (simplified) LDAP Subject’sDesktop(browser) TDS

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