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OpenSearch Security Plugin Architecture

OpenSearch’s core systems do not include security features, these features are added by installing the Security Plugin. The Security Plugin extends OpenSearch to provide authentication, authorization, end to end Encryption, audit logging, and management interfaces.

Components

The Security Plugin is packaged into a standard plugin zip file used by OpenSearch which can be installed by using the plugin tool. The security configuration is accessible on disk for modification before the node has been turned on. After node startup, the admin tools or API endpoints can be used for dynamic changes.

graph TD
    subgraph OpenSearch Node
        subgraph File System
            cfg[Security Configuration files]
            adm[Admin Tools]
        end
        subgraph Indices
            idx(Index 1..n)
            secIdx[Security Index]
        end
        subgraph Plugins
           pgns(Plugins 1..n)
           sec[Security Plugin]
        end

        sec -- bootstrap security config --> cfg
        sec -- refresh security config from cluster --> secIdx
        adm -- backup/restore security config --> sec
    end
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Security Plugin

The runtime of the Security Plugin uses extension points to insert itself into the path actions. Several security management actions are registered in OpenSearch so they can be changed through REST API actions.

Security Configuration

The security configuration is stored in an system index that is replicated to all nodes. When a change has been made to the configuration, the Security Plugin is reloaded to cleanly initialize its components with the new settings.

Configuration Files

When starting up with no security index detected in the cluster, the Security Plugin will attempt to load configuration files from disk into a new security index. The configuration files can be manually modified or sourced from a backup of a security index created using the admin tools.

Admin Tools

For OpenSearch nodes to join a cluster, they need to have the same security configuration. Complete security configurations will include SSL settings and certificate files. The admin tools allow users to manage these settings and other features.

Flows

Authentication / Authorization

The Security Plugin supports multiple authentication backends including an internal identity provider which works with HTTP basic authentication as well as support external providers such as OpenId Connect (OIDC) and SAML.

Authorization is governed by roles declared in the security configuration. Roles control resource access by referencing the transport action name and/or index names in combination with OpenSearch action names.

Users are assigned roles via the role mappings. These mappings include backend role assignments from authentication providers as well as internal roles defined in the Security Plugin.

sequenceDiagram
    title Basic Authorization flow
    autonumber
    participant C as Client
    participant O as OpenSearch
    participant SP as Security Plugin
    participant RH as Request Handler
    participant AL as Audit Log

    C->>O: Request
    O->>SP: Request Received
    activate SP
    SP->>SP: Authenticate user via internal/external auth providers
    SP->>SP: Resolve Authorization for user
    SP-->>O: Allow/Deny request
    SP->>AL: Update Audit Log asynchronously
    deactivate SP
    O->>RH: Request continues to request handler
    RH-->>O: Result
    O->>C: Response
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Multiple Authorization Provider flow

Based on the order within the Security Plugin's configuration authentication providers are iterated through to discover which provider can authenticate the user.

sequenceDiagram
    title Multiple Authorization Provider flow
    autonumber
    participant C as Client
    participant SP as Security Plugin
    participant IAP as Internal Auth Provider
    participant EAP as External Auth Provider*
    participant SC as Security Configuration

    C->>SP: Incoming request
    SP->>IAP: Attempt to authenticate internally
    IAP-->>SP: Internal user result
    loop for each External Auth Provider
        SP->>EAP: Attempt to authenticate
        EAP-->>SP: External user result
    end
    SP->>SC: Check Authorization rules
    SC->>SC: Match user roles & permissions
    SC-->>SP: Authorization result
    SP-->>C: Response
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Rest vs Transport flow

OpenSearch treats external REST requests differently than internal transport requests. While REST requests allow for client-to-node communication and make use of API routes, transport requests are more structured and are used to communicate between nodes.

sequenceDiagram
    title Rest vs Transport Flow
    autonumber
    participant C as Client
    participant O as OpenSearch
    participant SP as Security Plugin (Rest Filter & Security Interceptor)
    participant AH as Action Handler

    C->>O: Request
    O->>SP: REST Request Received
    SP->>SP: If using client cert, Authenticate
    SP-->>O: Continue request
    O->>SP: Transport Request Received
    SP->>SP: Authenticate user via internal/external auth providers
    SP->>SP: Resolve Authorization for user
    SP-->>O: Allow/Deny request
    O->>AH: Send transport request to action handler
    AH-->>O: Result
    O->>C: Response
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