In this document we describe how to work with JWS using github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws
Parsing a JWS message means taking either a JWS message serialized in JSON or Compact form
and loading it into a jws.Message object. No verification is performed, and therefore
you cannot "trust" the contents in the same way that a verified message could be trusted.
Also, be aware that a jws.Message is not meant to be used for either signing or
verification. It is only provided such that it can be inspected -- there is no way
to sign or verify using a parsed jws.Message. To do this, you would need to use
jws.Sign() or jws.Message().
You can parse a JWS message in memory stored as []byte into a jws.Message object. In this mode, there is no verification performed.
package examples_test
import (
"encoding/json"
"fmt"
"os"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws"
)
func ExampleJWS_Parse() {
const src = `eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.TG9yZW0gaXBzdW0.idbECxA8ZhQbU0ddZmzdRZxQmHjwvw77lT2bwqGgNMo`
msg, err := jws.Parse([]byte(src))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to parse JWS message: %s\n", err)
return
}
json.NewEncoder(os.Stdout).Encode(msg)
// OUTPUT:
// {"payload":"TG9yZW0gaXBzdW0","protected":"eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9","signature":"idbECxA8ZhQbU0ddZmzdRZxQmHjwvw77lT2bwqGgNMo"}
}source: examples/jws_parse_example_test.go
To parse a JWS stored in a file, use jws.ReadFile(). jws.ReadFile() accepts the same options as jws.Parse().
package examples_test
import (
"encoding/json"
"fmt"
"os"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws"
)
func ExampleJWS_ReadFile() {
const src = `eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.TG9yZW0gaXBzdW0.idbECxA8ZhQbU0ddZmzdRZxQmHjwvw77lT2bwqGgNMo`
f, err := os.CreateTemp(``, `jws_readfile-*.jws`)
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to create temporary file: %s\n", err)
return
}
defer os.Remove(f.Name())
fmt.Fprintf(f, src)
f.Close()
msg, err := jws.ReadFile(f.Name())
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to parse JWS message: %s\n", err)
return
}
json.NewEncoder(os.Stdout).Encode(msg)
// OUTPUT:
// {"payload":"TG9yZW0gaXBzdW0","protected":"eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9","signature":"idbECxA8ZhQbU0ddZmzdRZxQmHjwvw77lT2bwqGgNMo"}
}source: examples/jws_readfile_example_test.go
Note: If you are considering using JWS header fields to decide on which key to use for verification, consider using a jwt.KeyProvider.
While a lot of documentation in the wild treats as if a JWT message encoded in base64 is... a JWT message, in truth it is a JWT message enveloped in a JWS message. Therefore, in order to access the JWS headers of a JWT message you will need to work with a jws.Message object, which you can obtain from parsing the JWS payload. You will need to understand the structure of a generic JWS message.
Below sample code extracts the kid field of a single-signature JWS message:
package examples_test
import (
"fmt"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwa"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwk"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwt"
)
func ExampleJWS_UseJWSHeader() {
key, err := jwk.FromRaw([]byte(`abracadabra`))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf(`failed to create new symmetric key: %s`, err)
return
}
key.Set(jws.KeyIDKey, `secret-key`)
tok, err := jwt.NewBuilder().
Issuer(`github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx`).
Build()
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf(`failed to build token: %s`, err)
return
}
signed, err := jwt.Sign(tok, jwt.WithKey(jwa.HS256, key))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf(`failed to sign token: %s`, err)
return
}
msg, err := jws.Parse(signed)
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf(`failed to parse serialized JWT: %s`, err)
return
}
// While JWT enveloped with JWS in compact format only has 1 signature,
// a generic JWS message may have multiple signatures. Therefore, we
// need to access the first element
fmt.Printf("%q\n", msg.Signatures()[0].ProtectedHeaders().KeyID())
// OUTPUT:
// "secret-key"
}source: examples/jws_use_jws_header_test.go
To sign an arbitrary payload as a JWS message in compact serialization format, use jwt.Sign().
Note that this would be slightly different if you are signing JWTs, as you would be
using functions from the jwt package instead of jws.
package examples_test
import (
"fmt"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwa"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwk"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws"
)
func ExampleJWS_Sign() {
key, err := jwk.FromRaw([]byte(`abracadabra`))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to create key: %s\n", err)
return
}
buf, err := jws.Sign([]byte("Lorem ipsum"), jws.WithKey(jwa.HS256, key))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to sign payload: %s\n", err)
return
}
fmt.Printf("%s\n", buf)
// OUTPUT:
// eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.TG9yZW0gaXBzdW0.EjVtju0uXjSz6QevNgAqN1ESd9aNCP7-tJLifkQ0_C0
}source: examples/jws_sign_example_test.go
Generally the only time you need to use a JSON serialization format is when you have to generate multiple signatures for a given payload using multiple signing algorithms and keys.
When this need arises, use the jws.Sign() function with the jws.WithJSON() option and multiple jws.WithKey() options:
package examples_test
import (
"fmt"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwa"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwk"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws"
)
func ExampleJWS_SignJSON() {
var keys []jwk.Key
for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
key, err := jwk.FromRaw([]byte(fmt.Sprintf(`abracadabra-%d`, i)))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to create key: %s\n", err)
return
}
keys = append(keys, key)
}
options := []jws.SignOption{jws.WithJSON()}
for _, key := range keys {
options = append(options, jws.WithKey(jwa.HS256, key))
}
buf, err := jws.Sign([]byte("Lorem ipsum"), options...)
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to sign payload: %s\n", err)
return
}
fmt.Printf("%s\n", buf)
// OUTPUT:
// {"payload":"TG9yZW0gaXBzdW0","signatures":[{"protected":"eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9","signature":"bCQtU2y4PEnG78dUN-tXea8YEwhBAzLX7ZEYlRVtX_g"},{"protected":"eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9","signature":"0ovW79M_bbaRDBrBLaNKN7rgJeXaSRAnu5rhAuRXBR4"},{"protected":"eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9","signature":"ZkUzwlK5E6LFKsYEIyUvskOKLMDxE0MvvkvNrwINNWE"}]}
}source: examples/jws_sign_json_example_test.go
JWS messages can be constructed with a detached payload. Use the jws.WithDetachedPayload() option to
create a JWS message with the message detached from the result.
package examples_test
import (
"fmt"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwa"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwk"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws"
)
func ExampleJWS_SignDetachedPayload() {
payload := `$.02`
key, err := jwk.FromRaw([]byte(`abracadabra`))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to create symmetric key: %s\n", err)
return
}
serialized, err := jws.Sign(nil, jws.WithKey(jwa.HS256, key), jws.WithDetachedPayload([]byte(payload)))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to sign payload: %s\n", err)
return
}
fmt.Printf("%s\n", serialized)
// OUTPUT:
// eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9..H14oXKwyvAsl0IbBLjw9tLxNIoYisuIyb_oDV4-30Vk
}source: examples/jws_sign_detached_payload_example_test.go
By default, only some header fields are included in the result from jws.Sign().
If you want to include more header fields in the resulting JWS, you will have to provide them via the jws.WithProtectedHeaders() option.
While jws.WithPublicHeaders() exists to keep API symmetric and complete, for most
cases you only want to use jws.WithProtectedHeaders()
package examples_test
import (
"fmt"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwa"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwk"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws"
)
func ExampleJWS_SignWithHeaders() {
key, err := jwk.FromRaw([]byte(`abracadabra`))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to create key: %s\n", err)
return
}
hdrs := jws.NewHeaders()
hdrs.Set(`x-example`, true)
buf, err := jws.Sign([]byte("Lorem ipsum"), jws.WithKey(jwa.HS256, key, jws.WithProtectedHeaders(hdrs)))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to sign payload: %s\n", err)
return
}
fmt.Printf("%s\n", buf)
// OUTPUT:
// eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsIngtZXhhbXBsZSI6dHJ1ZX0.TG9yZW0gaXBzdW0.9nIX0hN7u1b97UcjmrVvd5y1ubkQp_1gz1V3Mkkcm14
}source: examples/jws_sign_with_headers_example_test.go
If you want to use cloud KMSes such as AWS KMS to sign and verify payloads, look for an object that implements
crypto.Signer. There are some implementations written for this module.
Event if you cannot find an implementation that you are looking for in the above repository, any other implementation that implements crypto.Signer should work.
To verify a JWS message using a single key, use jws.Verify() with the jws.WithKey() option.
It will automatically do the right thing whether it's serialized in compact form or JSON form.
The alg must be explicitly specified. See "Why don't you automatically infer the algorithm for jws.Verify?"
package examples_test
import (
"fmt"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwa"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwk"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws"
)
func ExampleJWS_VerifyWithKey() {
const src = `eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.TG9yZW0gaXBzdW0.EjVtju0uXjSz6QevNgAqN1ESd9aNCP7-tJLifkQ0_C0`
key, err := jwk.FromRaw([]byte(`abracadabra`))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to create key: %s\n", err)
return
}
buf, err := jws.Verify([]byte(src), jws.WithKey(jwa.HS256, key))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to verify payload: %s\n", err)
return
}
fmt.Printf("%s\n", buf)
// OUTPUT:
// Lorem ipsum
}source: examples/jws_verify_with_key_example_test.go
To verify a payload using JWKS, by default you will need your payload and JWKS to have matching kid and alg fields.
The alg field's requirement is the same for using a single key. See "Why don't you automatically infer the algorithm for jws.Verify?".
The kid field by default must match between the JWS signature and the key in JWKS. This can be explicitly disabled by specifying the jws.WithRequireKid(false) suboption when using the jws.WithKeySet() option (i.e.: jws.WithKeySet(keyset, jws.WithRequireKid(false))).
For more discussion on why/how alg/kid values work, please read the relevant section in the JWT documentation.
package examples_test
import (
"crypto/rand"
"crypto/rsa"
"fmt"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwa"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwk"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws"
)
func ExampleJWS_VerifyWithJWKSet() {
// Setup payload first...
privkey, err := rsa.GenerateKey(rand.Reader, 2048)
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to create private key: %s\n", err)
return
}
const payload = "Lorem ipsum"
signed, err := jws.Sign([]byte(payload), jws.WithKey(jwa.RS256, privkey))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to sign payload: %s\n", err)
return
}
// Create a JWK Set
set := jwk.NewSet()
// Add some bogus keys
k1, _ := jwk.FromRaw([]byte("abracadabra"))
set.AddKey(k1)
k2, _ := jwk.FromRaw([]byte("opensesame"))
set.AddKey(k2)
// AddKey the real thing
pubkey, _ := jwk.PublicRawKeyOf(privkey)
k3, _ := jwk.FromRaw(pubkey)
k3.Set(jwk.AlgorithmKey, jwa.RS256)
set.AddKey(k3)
// Up to this point, you probably will replace with a simple jwk.Fetch()
// Now verify using the set.
if _, err := jws.Verify(signed, jws.WithKeySet(set, jws.WithRequireKid(false))); err != nil {
fmt.Printf("Failed to verify using jwk.Set: %s", err)
}
// OUTPUT:
}source: examples/jws_verify_with_keyset_example_test.go
To verify a JWS message with detached payload, use the jws.WithDetachedPayload() option:
package examples_test
import (
"fmt"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwa"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwk"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws"
)
func ExampleJWS_VerifyDetachedPayload() {
serialized := `eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9..H14oXKwyvAsl0IbBLjw9tLxNIoYisuIyb_oDV4-30Vk`
payload := `$.02`
key, err := jwk.FromRaw([]byte(`abracadabra`))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to create symmetric key: %s\n", err)
return
}
verified, err := jws.Verify([]byte(serialized), jws.WithKey(jwa.HS256, key), jws.WithDetachedPayload([]byte(payload)))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf("failed to verify payload: %s\n", err)
return
}
fmt.Printf("%s\n", verified)
// OUTPUT:
// $.02
}source: examples/jws_verify_detached_payload_example_test.go
Regular calls to jws.Verify() does not respect the JWK Set referenced in the jku field. In order to
verify the payload using the jku field, you must use the jws.VerifyAuto() function.
wl := ... // Create an appropriate whitelist
payload, _ := jws.VerifyAuto(buf, jws.WithFetchWhitelist(wl))This will tell jws to verify the given buffer using the JWK Set presented at the URL specified in
the jku field. If the buffer is a JSON message, then this is done for each of the signature in
the signatures array.
The URL in the jku field must have the https scheme, and the key ID in the JWK Set must
match the key ID present in the JWS message.
Because this operation will result in your program accessing remote resources, the default behavior is to NOT allow any URLs. You must specify a whitelist
wl := jwk.NewMapWhitelist().
Add(`https://white-listed-address`)
payload, _ := jws.VerifyAuto(buf, jws.WithFetchWhitelist(wl))If you want to allow any URLs to be accessible, use the jwk.InsecureWhitelist.
wl := jwk.InsecureWhitelist{}
payload, _ := jws.VerifyAuto(buf, jws.WithFetchWhitelist(wl))If you must configure the HTTP Client in a special way, use the jws.WithHTTPClient() option:
client := &http.Client{ ... }
payload, _ := jws.VerifyAuto(buf, jws.WithHTTPClient(client))Sometimes we do not offer a particular algorithm out of the box, but you have an implementation for it.
In such scenarios, you can use the jws.RegisterSigner() and jws.RegisterVerifier() functions to
generate your own verifier instance.
package examples_test
import (
"crypto/rand"
"fmt"
"github.com/cloudflare/circl/sign/ed25519"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jwa"
"github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/v2/jws"
)
type CirclEdDSASignerVerifier struct{}
func NewCirclEdDSASigner() (jws.Signer, error) {
return &CirclEdDSASignerVerifier{}, nil
}
func NewCirclEdDSAVerifier() (jws.Verifier, error) {
return &CirclEdDSASignerVerifier{}, nil
}
func (s CirclEdDSASignerVerifier) Algorithm() jwa.SignatureAlgorithm {
return jwa.EdDSA
}
func (s CirclEdDSASignerVerifier) Sign(payload []byte, keyif interface{}) ([]byte, error) {
switch key := keyif.(type) {
case ed25519.PrivateKey:
return ed25519.Sign(key, payload), nil
default:
return nil, fmt.Errorf(`invalid key type %T`, keyif)
}
}
func (s CirclEdDSASignerVerifier) Verify(payload []byte, signature []byte, keyif interface{}) error {
switch key := keyif.(type) {
case ed25519.PublicKey:
if ed25519.Verify(key, payload, signature) {
return nil
}
return fmt.Errorf(`failed to verify EdDSA signature`)
default:
return fmt.Errorf(`invalid key type %T`, keyif)
}
}
func ExampleJWS_CustomSignerVerifier() {
// This example shows how to register external jws.Signer / jws.Verifier for
// a given algorithm.
jws.RegisterSigner(jwa.EdDSA, jws.SignerFactoryFn(NewCirclEdDSASigner))
jws.RegisterVerifier(jwa.EdDSA, jws.VerifierFactoryFn(NewCirclEdDSAVerifier))
pubkey, privkey, err := ed25519.GenerateKey(rand.Reader)
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf(`failed to generate keys: %s`, err)
return
}
const payload = "Lorem Ipsum"
signed, err := jws.Sign([]byte(payload), jws.WithKey(jwa.EdDSA, privkey))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf(`failed to generate signed message: %s`, err)
return
}
verified, err := jws.Verify(signed, jws.WithKey(jwa.EdDSA, pubkey))
if err != nil {
fmt.Printf(`failed to verify signed message: %s`, err)
return
}
if string(verified) != payload {
fmt.Printf(`got invalid payload: %s`, verified)
return
}
// OUTPUT:
}