Hello everyone. I'm really stuck right now and can't progress. I am having a hard time concieving the proper flow in authenticating a client app wi...
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Hi!
I have a bit of experience of flask with flask-jwt-extended extension. With this library it is not required to save refresh tokens only if you want to revoke/blacklist them. There is a @jwt_refresh_token_required decorator that can validate the sent refresh token.
If you use some other programming langue and/or framework you can implement this feature. The only thing that you should do to put
"type": "refresh"to the payload and check the token contains it or not if refresh token is required.If blacklisting and/or revoke token feature is required for you than you should store the tokens in a database (or in a variable but it is not recommended)
More info:
flask-jwt-extended.readthedocs.io/...
flask-jwt-extended.readthedocs.io/...
Hi!
You should use the refresh token to get a new access token when it gets expired, so you'll need a column in the table where you store the user info (like username and password) to put the refresh token there.
The interesting thing about refresh tokens is that you don't have to request the users for their credentials since you just have to check the refresh token in your DB table with the one that is sent from the app.
In resume what do you need:
I'm really sorry for my english, and if there is an error on my explanation please let me know!
Good Luck!
Thank you for your effort to explain in great detail! I completely understand your English. ☺
I have a question. How do you store the refresh token on the client-side? Would that mean there will be some kind of 2nd user database aside from the user database in the api-side?
On the client-side you can store the refresh along with the access token in local storage, and in the api-side you just have to add a new column in the user info table (I suppose you have a table where do you have columns like 'username', 'password',...) I don't understand why you think that you have to create another database
But isn't storing Refresh Tokens on localStorage a bad practice because it can be tampered?
IMO you should NOT store those credentials in local storage. Refresh tokens are supposed to only be seen by servers, aren't they?
Take a look at Laravel Passport approach: uses traditional cookies to store an access token and a CSRF token.
The refresh token by itself does not provide any information about the user, (the access token yes), so I don't really see the problem in storing it in local storage. However, I understand your concerns.
The issue is about letting the JS have access to any kind of credentials. Traditional session cookies are usually http only for that matter. The same applies to access tokens or refresh tokens.
It's just about avoiding attack vectors.
Just curious, why are you using refresh tokens if you are not sure what to do with it?
I know how refresh tokens work and their purpose; it adds another layer of security to the API. But what I do not know, and wish to know, is how to implement them the right way. You see, I don't have formal education about this and I am just trying to teach myself. 😶
Can you explain more about your use-case? Is this a web app or a mobile app? What sort of security is a refresh token providing? I'm trying to understand the intent of using a refresh token here.
It will be a web app. I want to utilize the concept of refresh tokens because keeping a permanent access token looks bad for me. If they token gets stolen, then a user can be spoofed. If I do put an expiry though, they would login every time the token expires. Wouldn't that be a hassle? That's why I want to use refresh tokens.
Fair enough. Which supplementary information are you planning on submitting with the refresh token to get an access token?
I'm not sure.. I think only the refresh token alone?
I see. How does it make it secure in that case? Anyone who gets a hold of the refresh token can still request an access token right? I think the idea of a secure refresh token is that anyone who discovers it cannot do anything with it because additional pieces of information are required in order to request an access token.
Hey, What other information can be used to differentiate between stolen refresh token and a valid refresh token?
This reply is a bit late, but perhaps useful to a future passer by. What you could do is have the front end pass in some information about where they are located and/or their device/browser and then tie refresh tokens to each device/browser. This could allow the user to revoke refresh tokens per location/device. If a request provides a token from a new location (for that token) revoke it and require another login from that device. Still spoofable, but it adds another layer.
Hi endan, i am in the same situation. I dont know how to refresh jwt token and i have the same question with @nick_karnik about refresh token security. Did you find any solution?
Hey there Nikos. Unfortunately, I have not found any solution to this. If you are stuck in the development process, I suggest to do your core features first and do this last. (contrary to Ben's comment in another post)