The Incommon Federation wiki has moved.

Please visit the new InCommon Federation Library wiki for updated content. Remember to update your bookmarks.

Click in the link above if you are not automatically redirected in 15 seconds.



You are viewing an old version of this page. View the current version.

Compare with Current View Page History

« Previous Version 3 Next »

This document contains DRAFT material intended for discussion and comment by the InCommon participant community.  Comments and questions should be sent to the InCommon participants mailing list.

Endpoints in Metadata are crucial to the overall security of SAML protocol exchanges.

Protocol Endpoints in IdP Metadata

The most important endpoint in IdP metadata is the <md:SingleSignOnService> endpoint. Every IdP has at least one such endpoint. IdPs that support both SAML V2.0 and legacy Shibboleth use of SAML V1.1 have at least two such endpoints.

In the InCommon Federation, every IdP that supports SAML V2.0 MUST include an SSL/TLS-protected <md:SingleSignOnService> endpoint that supports the SAML V2.0 HTTP-Redirect binding. (Other SAML V2.0 HTTP bindings MAY be supported.) Likewise every IdP that supports the legacy Shibboleth profile of SAML V1.1 MUST include an SSL/TLS-protected <md:SingleSignOnService> endpoint that supports the Shibboleth 1.x AuthnRequest protocol.

An IdP that supports the SAML V2.0 HTTP-Artifact binding (or the SAML V1.1 Browser/Artifact profile) MUST include one or more <md:ArtifactResolutionService> endpoints in metadata (at least one per protocol). Support for HTTP-Artifact is OPTIONAL, but some services don't function well with a POST-based model, so IdPs should support the HTTP-Artifact binding if necessary.

Finally, IdPs that support attribute query MUST have one or more <md:AttributeService> endpoints in metadata. This is typically only a SAML V1.1 consideration, however; generally SAML V2.0 queries SHOULD NOT be called out in IdP metadata to avoid unnecessary queries from SAML V2.0 SPs.

Recommended Practices

  • IdPs protect all browser-facing endpoints with SSL/TLS.
  • IdPs support SAML V2.0.
  • IdPs support authentication requests via the SAML V2.0 HTTP-Redirect binding and (optionally) the legacy Shibboleth 1.x AuthnRequest protocol.
  • IdPs capable of supporting Basic Authentication or TLS Client Authentication support SAML V2.0 Enhanced Client or Proxy (ECP) authentication requests via the SAML V2.0 SOAP binding.
  • IdPs (optionally) support SAML V1.1 attribute queries, but do not advertise support for SAML V2.0 attribute queries unless explicitly necessary.

Technical Details

Support for SAML V2.0 Web Browser SSO is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED:

  • IdPs MUST include an SSL/TLS-protected <md:SingleSignOnService> endpoint that supports the SAML V2.0 HTTP-Redirect binding.
  • IdPs MAY include an SSL/TLS-protected <md:ArtifactResolutionService> endpoint that supports the SAML V2.0 HTTP-Artifact binding.
  • IdPs SHOULD NOT include an <md:AttributeService> endpoint that supports the SAML V2.0 SOAP binding.
  • IdPs MUST support the urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:transient name identifier format and SHOULD support the urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:persistent name identifier format.

Support for SAML V2.0 Enhanced Client or Proxy is RECOMMENDED:

  • IdPs MUST include an SSL/TLS-protected <md:SingleSignOnService> endpoint that supports the SAML V2.0 SOAP binding with either HTTP Basic Authentication or TLS Client Authentication.

Support for SAML V1.1 Web Browser SSO is OPTIONAL:

  • IdPs MUST include an SSL/TLS-protected <md:SingleSignOnService> endpoint that supports the Shibboleth 1.x AuthnRequest protocol (assuming their software supports this feature).
  • IdPs MAY include an SSL/TLS-protected <md:ArtifactResolutionService> endpoint that supports the SAML V1.1 Browser/Artifact profile.
  • IdPs MUST include an SSL/TLS-protected <md:AttributeService> endpoint that supports the SAML V1.1 SOAP binding.
  • IdPs SHOULD support the urn:mace:shibboleth:1.0:nameIdentifier transient name identifier format.
Protocol Endpoints in IdP Metadata
<!-- SAML V2.0 -->
<md:SingleSignOnService 
    xmlns:md="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata" 
    Binding="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-Redirect" 
    Location="https://idp.example.org/idp/profile/SAML2/Redirect/SSO"/>
<md:SingleSignOnService 
    xmlns:md="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata" 
    Binding="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:SOAP" 
    Location="https://idp.example.org/idp/profile/SAML2/SOAP/ECP"/>

<!-- SAML V1.1 -->
<md:SingleSignOnService 
    xmlns:md="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata" 
    Binding="urn:mace:shibboleth:1.0:profiles:AuthnRequest" 
    Location="https://idp.example.org/idp/profile/Shibboleth/SSO"/>
<md:AttributeService
    xmlns:md="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata" 
    Binding="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.0:bindings:SOAP-binding" 
    Location="https://idp.example.org:8443/idp/profile/SAML1/SOAP/AttributeQuery"/>
#trackbackRdf ($trackbackUtils.getContentIdentifier($page) $page.title $trackbackUtils.getPingUrl($page))
  • No labels