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SOAP “ Simple” Object Access Protocol

SOAP “ Simple” Object Access Protocol. Will Cameron CSC 8530 November 9, 2006 Student Presentation 2. What is SOAP?. XML to define an extensible messaging framework Providing a message construct that can be exchanged over a variety of underlying protocols (HTTP, SMTP)

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SOAP “ Simple” Object Access Protocol

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  1. SOAP“Simple” Object Access Protocol Will Cameron CSC 8530 November 9, 2006 Student Presentation 2

  2. What is SOAP? • XML to define an extensible messaging framework • Providing a message construct that can be exchanged over a variety of underlying protocols (HTTP, SMTP) • “”The framework has been designed to be independent of any particular programming model and other implementation specific semantics.” • Design Goals: Simplicity and extensibility • Goals attempted through omission of features “often found in distributed systems”, including • “Reliability” • “Security” • “Correlation” • “Routing” • “Message Exchange Patterns” (MEPs) • Only two in SOAP 1.2 Spec • Many features can be defined, also through extensions by other specs, implementations, open ended

  3. SOAP Background • “Designed by Dave Winer, Don Box, Bob Atkinson, and Mohsen Al-Ghosein in 1998” with Microsoft support • “as an object-access protocol” • “The SOAP specification is currently maintained by the XML Protocol Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium.”

  4. Transport • RPC XML capability using XML and HTTP • “SOAP works well with network firewalls” • “A major advantage over other distributed protocols like GIOP/IIOP or DCOM which are normally filtered by firewalls” • “XML as the standard message format” • Given “its widespread use by major corporations and open source development efforts“ • The lengthy XML syntax can be both a benefit and a drawback.

  5. Transport Weaknesses • Its format is possible for humans to read, but can be complex and can have slow processing times • Lengthy XML format, SOAP can be slower than competing middleware technologies such as CORBA. • “For example, CORBA, GIOP and DCOM use much shorter, binary message formats” • However “hardware appliances are available to accelerate processing of XML messages” • “Binary XML is also being explored as a means for streamlining the throughput requirements of XML...“ • Dependence on Web Services Description Language, (WSDL) • “no standard way to dynamically discover the services (methods, parameters) offered, nor to get a WSDL for a particular endpoint.” • (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOAP)

  6. Data Encapsulation • A SOAP message, the Basic Unit of Communication • A Required Envelope element that “identifies the XML document as a SOAP” • A [local name] of Envelope . • A [namespace name] of "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope". • Zero or more namespace qualified attribute information items amongst its [attributes] property. • An optional header, must be directly after the envelope • A required body containing the “element information items” • Targeted at a SOAP reciever in the message path • An optional fault element • A mandatory Code element information item • A mandatory Reason element information item • Human readable reason for fault • Optional Role element information item • Role the node was operating in at the point the fault occurred • Optional Detail element information item • intended for carrying application specific error information related to the SOAP Body . • To SOAP, a URI is simply a formatted string that identifies a web resource via its name, location, or any other characteristics.

  7. Sample Fault Message

  8. SOAP and WSDL • Web Service Definition Language • XML to define the public interface to a SOAP web service • Whereas RMI can look up the name of a service in the registry, SOAP can find the public interface in a web accessible WSDL file • In Axis2 WSDLs can be used to generate a skeleton • JWSDL Java API for manipulating WSDL • Apache proposing its own version Woden

  9. WSDL • Requestor locates WSDL document on the server • Downloaded to the requestor • WSDL examined by the requestor, based upon what is found a SOAP request or requests (invocation) is sent out to the Web service provider

  10. WSDL Document • Describes the services, where it can be located, instructions on how to bind and run • Can be retrieved from a UDDI directory, HTTP requests, or even email • <type> <message> The web service itself • <binding> How info will be passed • <portType> Describe the operations • <service> Describes the location • <service name="StockQuoteService"> <documentation>My first service</documentation> <port name="StockQuotePort" binding="tns:StockQuoteBinding"> <soap:address location="http://example.com/stockquote"/> </port> </service>

  11. WSDL Example Snippet <definitions name="StockQuote“> <types> <schema targetNamespace="http://example.com/stockquote.xsd" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/10/XMLSchema"> <element name="TradePriceRequest"> <complexType> <all> <element name="tickerSymbol" type="string"/> </all> </complexType> </element> <element name="TradePrice"> <complexType> <all> <element name="price" type="float"/> </all> </complexType> </element> </schema> </types> <message name="GetLastTradePriceInput"> <part name="body" element="xsd1:TradePriceRequest"/> </message> <message name="GetLastTradePriceOutput"> <part name="body" element="xsd1:TradePrice"/> </message>

  12. Sending and Receiving Elements • SOAP Sender • SOAP Receiver • SOAP message path • SOAP intermediary • Both a receiver and sender target-able from a SOAP message • Processes header blocks and forwards message to a • Ultimate SOAP receiver

  13. SOAP Defined Message Exchange Patterns • Request-Response Message Exchange Pattern • Details of which left to the implementer (synchronous, asynchronous, etc) • SOAP Response Message Exchange Pattern • non-SOAP (no envelope) message acting as a request followed by a SOAP message acting as a response.

  14. Axis2 Implemented Message Patterns • Flexibility to support multiple exchange patterns • Reflects the fact that web services moving from mostly synchronous-RPC style interactions to a message-oriented approach • Encourages both synchronous and asynchronous interactions.

  15. Why is SOAP message-level security needed? • No security is required in either HTTP, XML, or SOAP • One major motivation for SOAP is its ability to get through firewalls • When there are already transport layer security mechanisms such as SSL/TLS and IPSec • End-to-end Security • A SOAP message may go to intermediate nodes • An intermediate node can receive and transmit • Secure transport protocols such as SSL/TLS can assure the security of messages during transmission • secure end-to-end communication is not possible if intermediaries not trusted • Also compromised if any communication link is not secured

  16. Securing SOAP • Need application layer security • Any point where messages are in plain text, it can be a potential point of attack • Difficult to integrate cryptographic functionality without introducing more security holes • Commercial cryptographic libraries are usually extremely flexible to meet many different levels of security requirements • Using them properly may require good understanding of cryptographic technologies • Often desirable to have security functionality as close to the application level as possible but not built into the application itself.

  17. Transport Independence • An intended use of SOAP intermediaries is to forward messages to different networks, often using different transport protocols • Even if links are secured and the intermediaries can be trusted • security information needs to be translated to the next secure transport protocol along the message path • Could be tedious and complex, which may lead to security breaches • such as the authenticity of the originator of the message

  18. Securing SOAP

  19. Security of Stored Messages • Transport layer security secures data when it is traveling on communication links • It has no effect on stored data • Once a transmission is received and decrypted, transport layer security does not help much • Where messages are stored and then forwarded, message layer security is necessary • Applications messages are often stored for logging and auditing purposes • Having cryptographic protection on such persistent data may be necessary anyway SOAP security extensions proposed here can be used for this purpose as well.

  20. Digital Signatures • W3C submission defines a security Digital Signature header syntax • digital signatures alone do not provide message authentication • must be combined with means to ensure the uniqueness of the message, such as nonces or time stamps

  21. Web Services Security Model • Defined by OASIS to secure SOAP • Through message integrity, message confidentiality, and single message authentication • Mechanisms can be combined to allow a wide variety of security models using a variety of cryptographic technologies • Also provides a general-purpose mechanism for associating security tokens with messages • Describes how to encode Username Tokens, X.509 Tokens, SAML Tokens , REL Tokens and Kerberos Tokens • Message integrity is provided by leveraging XML Signature and security tokens to ensure that messages have originated from the appropriate sender and were not modified in transit • Message confidentiality leverages XML Encryption and security tokens to keep portions of a SOAP message confidential

  22. WS Security Model • Security Tokens • Authority can sign/encrypt token, X.509 Cert • Signatures verify message origin and integrity • Additional measures needed to protect against attacks • Security context must be understood • Certificate evaluation must be incorporated for digital signatures

  23. Conclusions • SOAP is an effective and flexible distributed communications specification • There are many security concerns which must be carefully considered within the application context • Issues ironically rise out of the firewall traversing use of HTTP

  24. References • What's New in SOAP 1.2 • http://www.idealliance.org/papers/xmle02/dx_xmle02/papers/02-02-02/02-02-02.html • SOAP 1.1, 1.2 • http://www.idealliance.org/papers/xmle02/dx_xmle02/papers/02-02-02/02-02-02.html • http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/REC-soap12-part1-20030624/ • Java APIs for WSDL: http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/mrel/jsr110/index2.html • An inside look at WSDL • http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid26_gci811272,00.html • Web Services Description Language W3C Note • http://www.w3.org/TR/wsdl • Introduction to Apache Axis 2 • http://www.redhat.com/magazine/021jul06/features/apache_axis2/ • Axis2 Users’ Guide • http://ws.apache.org/axis2/1_0/userguide3.html • SOAP Security Extensions: Digital Signature • http://www.w3.org/TR/SOAP-dsig/ • Web Services Security • http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/specification/ws-secure/

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