1.What is JWT blacklist?
A JWT blacklist/deny list is a list of tokens that should no longer grant access to your system.
There may be scenarios where you want to invalidate a JWT before it expires naturally, such as when a user logs out or when you detect suspicious activity associated with a specific JWT. In such cases, the server can maintain a blacklist that stores the invalidated JWTs. Before processing a request, the server checks if the incoming JWT is present in the blacklist. If it is, the server rejects the request, considering the JWT as invalid.
Where you maintain this list is up to you. You could use a traditional database, but a much better approach is to use an in-memory data cache, like Redis. An in-memory data cache provides much faster and more predictable seek times than data stored on disk.
2.JWT blacklist example with Go and Redis
Here's an example of how you can implement a JWT blacklist using Golang and Redis as the data store:
First, make sure you have the necessary dependencies installed. You can use the go-redis package for interacting with Redis. You can install it using the following command:
go get github.com/go-redis/redis/v8
Next, import the required packages in your Go file:
import (
"github.com/go-redis/redis/v8"
"time"
)
Initialize the Redis client:
func NewRedisClient() *redis.Client {
client := redis.NewClient(&redis.Options{
Addr: "localhost:6379", // Redis server address
Password: "", // Redis server password
DB: 0, // Redis database index
})
return client
}
Certainly! Here's an example of how you can implement a JWT blacklist using Golang and Redis as the data store:
First, make sure you have the necessary dependencies installed. You can use the go-redis package for interacting with Redis. You can install it using the following command:
shellCopy codego get github.com/go-redis/redis/v8
Next, import the required packages in your Go file:
goCopy codeimport (
"github.com/go-redis/redis/v8"
"time"
)
Initialize the Redis client:
goCopy codefunc NewRedisClient() *redis.Client {
client := redis.NewClient(&redis.Options{
Addr: "localhost:6379", // Redis server address
Password: "", // Redis server password
DB: 0, // Redis database index
})
return client
}
Add a function to add JWTs to the blacklist:
func AddToBlacklist(token string, expiry time.Duration) error {
client := NewRedisClient()
err := client.Set(ctx, token, "revoked", expiry).Err()
if err != nil {
return err
}
return nil
}
Next, create a function to check if a JWT is present in the blacklist:
func IsBlacklisted(token string) (bool, error) {
client := NewRedisClient()
result, err := client.Get(ctx, token).Result()
if err == redis.Nil {
// Token not found in the blacklist
return false, nil
} else if err != nil {
// Error occurred while checking for the token
return false, err
}
if result == "revoked" {
// Token is blacklisted
return true, nil
}
// Token is not blacklisted
return false, nil
}
Finally, you can use these functions in your authentication middleware or wherever you want to check the validity of a JWT:
func AuthenticateMiddleware(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next http.HandlerFunc) {
token := extractTokenFromHeader(r) // Extract the JWT from the request header
isBlacklisted, err := IsBlacklisted(token)
if err != nil {
// Handle error
}
if isBlacklisted {
// JWT is blacklisted, deny access
w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
return
}
// JWT is valid, proceed with the next handler
next(w, r)
}
AddToBlacklist function is called when the user logout:
func LogoutHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
token := extractTokenFromHeader(r) // Extract the JWT from the request header
err := AddToBlacklist(token, time.Hour*24) // Add the token to the blacklist with a 24-hour expiry
if err != nil {
// Handle error
w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
return
}
// Successfully added token to the blacklist
w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
w.Write([]byte("Logged out successfully"))
}
The LogoutHandler function is responsible for logging out the user. It extracts the JWT from the request header and calls the AddToBlacklist function to add the token to the blacklist with a 24-hour expiry.
If the token is added to the blacklist successfully, it returns an HTTP 200 status code with a "Logged out successfully" message. If an error occurs while adding the token to the blacklist, it returns an HTTP 500 status code indicating a server error.
3.Pros and cons
Using a JWT blacklist can provide certain advantages and disadvantages. Let's explore the pros and cons:
Pros of JWT Blacklist:
Immediate Revocation: A JWT blacklist allows you to instantly revoke access for specific tokens. This can be useful in scenarios such as user logout, password change, or detecting suspicious activity. Revoking tokens immediately enhances the security of your application.
Flexibility: JWT blacklists provide flexibility in managing token revocation. You can revoke specific tokens while keeping others valid, which can be helpful in situations where only a subset of users or sessions need to be invalidated.
Reduced Token Lifespan: By revoking tokens through a blacklist, you can potentially reduce the lifespan of compromised or unauthorized tokens. This minimizes the risk of malicious access using stolen or invalid tokens.
Cons of JWT Blacklist:
Increased Complexity: Implementing and managing a JWT blacklist adds complexity to your system. You need to maintain a persistent storage mechanism (such as a database or cache) to store revoked tokens and perform additional checks during token validation.
Storage Overhead: As the number of revoked tokens increases, the size of the blacklist can grow, potentially impacting storage requirements and performance. It's important to periodically clean up expired tokens to manage storage overhead efficiently.
Performance Impact: Checking each incoming token against the blacklist during validation adds extra processing overhead, potentially affecting the performance of your authentication system. It's essential to optimize token lookup and consider implementing caching mechanisms to mitigate performance issues.
Scalability Challenges: As your application scales, managing a centralized blacklist can become a bottleneck. Synchronizing and replicating the blacklist across multiple instances or services can be challenging, requiring careful design considerations.
Token Lifetime Limitations: Revoking tokens through a blacklist requires the tokens to have a short lifetime. If tokens have long expiration periods, relying solely on a blacklist may not provide immediate revocation and may require additional mechanisms (such as token rotation or session management).
It's important to carefully consider these pros and cons while evaluating the use of a JWT blacklist for your specific application. Depending on your requirements, you may find that a whitelist, token rotation, or a combination of different authentication mechanisms better suits your needs.