Django SAML2 Authentication Made Easy

Author:	Fang Li
Version:	Use 1.1.4 for Django <=1.9, 2.x.x for Django >= 1.9, Latest supported django version is 2.1

This project aims to provide a dead simple way to integrate SAML2 Authentication into your Django powered app. Try it now, and get rid of the complicated configuration of SAML.

Any SAML2 based SSO(Single-Sign-On) identity provider with dynamic metadata configuration is supported by this Django plugin, for example Okta.

When you raise an issue or PR

Please note this library is used in tons of production environment and plays a mission-critical role in most deployment. It supports almost all django versions since 1.1.4. We need to be extremely careful when merging any changes.

So most non-security features or enhancements will be REJECTED. please fork your own version or just copy the code as you need. I want to make this module dead simple and reliable. That means when you have it properly configured, you are not likely to get into any troubles in the future.

The supports to new versions of django are still welcome and I'll make best effort to make it latest django compatible.

Donate

We accept your donations by clicking the awesome instead of any physical transfer.

Dependencies

This plugin is compatible with Django 1.6/1.7/1.8/1.9/1.10. The pysaml2 Python module is required.

Install

You can install this plugin via pip:

# pip install django_saml2_auth

or from source:

# git clone https://github.com/fangli/django-saml2-auth
# cd django-saml2-auth
# python setup.py install

xmlsec is also required by pysaml2:

# yum install xmlsec1
// or
# apt-get install xmlsec1
// Mac
# brew install xmlsec1

What does this plugin do?

This plugin takes over Django's login page and redirect the user to a SAML2 SSO authentication service. Once the user is logged in and redirected back, the plugin will check if the user is already in the system. If not, the user will be created using Django's default UserModel, otherwise the user will be redirected to their last visited page.

How to use?

1. Import the views module in your root urls.py

   import django_saml2_auth.views

2. Override the default login page in the root urls.py file, by adding these lines BEFORE any urlpatterns:

   # These are the SAML2 related URLs. You can change "^saml2_auth/" regex to
   # any path you want, like "^sso_auth/", "^sso_login/", etc. (required)
   url(r'^saml2_auth/', include('django_saml2_auth.urls')),
   
   # The following line will replace the default user login with SAML2 (optional)
   # If you want to specific the after-login-redirect-URL, use parameter "?next=/the/path/you/want"
   # with this view.
   url(r'^accounts/login/$', django_saml2_auth.views.signin),
   
   # The following line will replace the admin login with SAML2 (optional)
   # If you want to specific the after-login-redirect-URL, use parameter "?next=/the/path/you/want"
   # with this view.
   url(r'^admin/login/$', django_saml2_auth.views.signin),

3. Add 'django_saml2_auth' to INSTALLED_APPS

   INSTALLED_APPS = [
       '...',
       'django_saml2_auth',
   ]

4. In settings.py, add the SAML2 related configuration.

   Please note, the only required setting is METADATA_AUTO_CONF_URL. The following block shows all required and optional configuration settings and their default values.

   SAML2_AUTH = {
       # Metadata is required, choose either remote url or local file path
       'METADATA_AUTO_CONF_URL': '[The auto(dynamic) metadata configuration URL of SAML2]',
       'METADATA_LOCAL_FILE_PATH': '[The metadata configuration file path]',
   
       # Optional settings below
       'DEFAULT_NEXT_URL': '/admin',  # Custom target redirect URL after the user get logged in. Default to /admin if not set. This setting will be overwritten if you have parameter ?next= specificed in the login URL.
       'CREATE_USER': 'TRUE', # Create a new Django user when a new user logs in. Defaults to True.
       'NEW_USER_PROFILE': {
           'USER_GROUPS': [],  # The default group name when a new user logs in
           'ACTIVE_STATUS': True,  # The default active status for new users
           'STAFF_STATUS': True,  # The staff status for new users
           'SUPERUSER_STATUS': False,  # The superuser status for new users
       },
       'ATTRIBUTES_MAP': {  # Change Email/UserName/FirstName/LastName to corresponding SAML2 userprofile attributes.
           'email': 'Email',
           'username': 'UserName',
           'first_name': 'FirstName',
           'last_name': 'LastName',
       },
       'TRIGGER': {
           'CREATE_USER': 'path.to.your.new.user.hook.method',
           'BEFORE_LOGIN': 'path.to.your.login.hook.method',
       },
       'ASSERTION_URL': 'https://mysite.com', # Custom URL to validate incoming SAML requests against
       'ENTITY_ID': 'https://mysite.com/saml2_auth/acs/', # Populates the Issuer element in authn request
       'NAME_ID_FORMAT': FormatString, # Sets the Format property of authn NameIDPolicy element
       'USE_JWT': False, # Set this to True if you are running a Single Page Application (SPA) with Django Rest Framework (DRF), and are using JWT authentication to authorize client users
       'FRONTEND_URL': 'https://myfrontendclient.com', # Redirect URL for the client if you are using JWT auth with DRF. See explanation below
   }

5. In your SAML2 SSO identity provider, set the Single-sign-on URL and Audience URI(SP Entity ID) to http://your-domain/saml2_auth/acs/

Explanation

METADATA_AUTO_CONF_URL Auto SAML2 metadata configuration URL

METADATA_LOCAL_FILE_PATH SAML2 metadata configuration file path

CREATE_USER Determines if a new Django user should be created for new users.

NEW_USER_PROFILE Default settings for newly created users

ATTRIBUTES_MAP Mapping of Django user attributes to SAML2 user attributes

TRIGGER Hooks to trigger additional actions during user login and creation flows. These TRIGGER hooks are strings containing a dotted module name which point to a method to be called. The referenced method should accept a single argument which is a dictionary of attributes and values sent by the identity provider, representing the user's identity.

TRIGGER.CREATE_USER A method to be called upon new user creation. This method will be called before the new user is logged in and after the user's record is created. This method should accept ONE parameter of user dict.

TRIGGER.BEFORE_LOGIN A method to be called when an existing user logs in. This method will be called before the user is logged in and after user attributes are returned by the SAML2 identity provider. This method should accept ONE parameter of user dict.

ASSERTION_URL A URL to validate incoming SAML responses against. By default, django-saml2-auth will validate the SAML response's Service Provider address against the actual HTTP request's host and scheme. If this value is set, it will validate against ASSERTION_URL instead - perfect for when django running behind a reverse proxy.

ENTITY_ID The optional entity ID string to be passed in the 'Issuer' element of authn request, if required by the IDP.

NAME_ID_FORMAT Set to the string 'None', to exclude sending the 'Format' property of the 'NameIDPolicy' element in authn requests. Default value if not specified is 'urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:transient'.

USE_JWT Set this to the boolean True if you are using Django Rest Framework with JWT authentication

FRONTEND_URL If USE_JWT is True, you should set the URL of where your frontend is located (will default to DEFAULT_NEXT_URL if you fail to do so). Once the client is authenticated through the SAML/SSO, your client is redirected to the FRONTEND_URL with the user id (uid) and JWT token (token) as query parameters. Example: 'https://myfrontendclient.com/?uid=<user id>&token=<jwt token>' With these params your client can now authenticate will server resources.

Customize

The default permission denied page and user welcome page can be overridden.

To override these pages put a template named 'django_saml2_auth/welcome.html' or 'django_saml2_auth/denied.html' in your project's template folder.

If a 'django_saml2_auth/welcome.html' template exists, that page will be shown to the user upon login instead of the user being redirected to the previous visited page. This welcome page can contain some first-visit notes and welcome words. The Django user object is available within the template as the user template variable.

To enable a logout page, add the following lines to urls.py, before any urlpatterns:

# The following line will replace the default user logout with the signout page (optional)
url(r'^accounts/logout/$', django_saml2_auth.views.signout),

# The following line will replace the default admin user logout with the signout page (optional)
url(r'^admin/logout/$', django_saml2_auth.views.signout),

To override the built in signout page put a template named 'django_saml2_auth/signout.html' in your project's template folder.

If your SAML2 identity provider uses user attribute names other than the defaults listed in the settings.py ATTRIBUTES_MAP, update them in settings.py.

For Okta Users

I created this plugin originally for Okta.

The METADATA_AUTO_CONF_URL needed in settings.py can be found in the Okta web UI by navigating to the SAML2 app's Sign On tab, in the Settings box. You should see :

Identity Provider metadata is available if this application supports dynamic configuration.

The Identity Provider metadata link is the METADATA_AUTO_CONF_URL.

How to Contribute

1. Check for open issues or open a fresh issue to start a discussion around a feature idea or a bug.
2. Fork the repository on GitHub to start making your changes to the master branch (or branch off of it).
3. Write a test which shows that the bug was fixed or that the feature works as expected.
4. Send a pull request and bug the maintainer until it gets merged and published. :) Make sure to add yourself to AUTHORS.

Release Log

2.2.1: Fixed is_safe_url parameters issue for django 2.1

2.2.0: ADFS SAML compatibility and fixed some issue for Django2.0

2.1.2: Merged #35

2.1.1: Added ASSERTION_URL in settings.

2.1.0: Add DEFAULT_NEXT_URL. Issue #19.

2.0.4: Fixed compatibility with Windows.

2.0.3: Fixed a vulnerabilities in the login flow, thanks qwrrty.

2.0.1: Add support for Django 1.10

1.1.4: Fixed urllib bug

1.1.2: Added support for Python 2.7/3.x

1.1.0: Added support for Django 1.6/1.7/1.8/1.9

1.0.4: Fixed English grammar mistakes