This is a plugin to authenticate and authorize Mosquitto users from one of several distinct back-ends:
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL
- CDB
- SQLite3 database
- Redis key/value store
- TLS PSK (the
pskback-end is a bit of a shim which piggy-backs onto the other database back-ends) - LDAP
- HTTP (custom HTTP API)
- JWT
- MongoDB
This plugin can perform authentication (check username / password) and authorization (ACL). Currently not all back-ends have the same capabilities (the the section on the back-end you're interested in).
| Capability | mysql | redis | cdb | sqlite | ldap | psk | postgres | http | jwt | MongoDB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| authentication | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| superusers | Y | 2 | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||
| acl checking | Y | Y | 1 | 1 | 2 | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| static superusers | Y | Y | Y | Y | 2 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
- Currently not implemented; back-end returns TRUE
- Dependent on the database used by PSK
Multiple back-ends can be configured simultaneously for authentication, and they're attempted in
the order you specify. Once a user has been authenticated, the same back-end is used to
check authorization (ACLs). Superusers are checked for in all back-ends.
The configuration option is called auth_opt_backends and it takes a
comma-separated list of back-end names which are checked in exactly that order.
auth_opt_backends cdb,sqlite,mysql,redis,postgres,http,jwt,mongo
Note: anonymous MQTT connections are assigned a username of configured in the
plugin as auth_opt_anonusername and they
are handled by a so-called fallback back-end which is the first configured
back-end.
Passwords are obtained from the back-end as a PBKDF2 string (see section on Passwords below). Even if you try and store a clear-text password, it simply won't work.
The mysql back-end supports expansion of %c and %u as clientid and username
respectively. This allows ACLs in the database to look like this:
+-----------+---------------------------------+----+
| username | topic | rw |
+-----------+---------------------------------+----+
| bridge-01 | $SYS/broker/connection/%c/state | 2 |
+-----------+---------------------------------+----+
The plugin supports so-called superusers. These are usernames exempt from ACL checking. In other words, if a user is a superuser, that user doesn't require ACLs.
In order to compile the plugin you'll require a copy of the Mosquitto source code together with the libraries required for the back-end you want to use in the plugin. OpenSSL is also required.
Copy config.mk.in to config.mk and modify config.mk to suit your building environment, in particular, you have
to configure which back-ends you want to provide as well as the path to the
Mosquitto source and its library.
After a make you should have a shared object called auth-plug.so
which you will reference in your mosquitto.conf.
Note that OpenSSL as shipped with OS X is probably too old. You may wish to use a version
supplied by home brew or build your own, and then adapt OPENSSLDIR in config.mk.
The plugin is configured in Mosquitto's configuration file (typically mosquitto.conf),
and it is loaded into Mosquitto auth the auth_plugin option.
auth_plugin /path/to/auth-plug.so
Options therein with a leading auth_opt_ are handed to the plugin. The following
"global" auth_opt_* plugin options exist:
| Option | default | Mandatory | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| backends | Y | comma-separated list of back-ends to load | |
| superusers | fnmatch(3) case-sensitive string | ||
| log_quiet | false | don't log DEBUG messages |
Individual back-ends have their options described in the sections below.
The mysql back-end is currently the most feature-complete: it supports
obtaining passwords, checking for superusers, and verifying ACLs by
configuring up to three distinct SQL queries used to obtain those results.
You configure the SQL queries in order to adapt to whichever schema you currently have.
The following auth_opt_ options are supported by the mysql back-end:
| Option | default | Mandatory | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| host | localhost | hostname/address | |
| port | 3306 | TCP port | |
| user | username | ||
| pass | password | ||
| dbname | Y | database name | |
| userquery | Y | SQL for users | |
| superquery | SQL for superusers | ||
| aclquery | SQL for ACLs | ||
| mysql_opt_reconnect | true | enable MYSQL_OPT_RECONNECT option | |
| mysql_auto_connect | true | enable auto_connect function | |
| anonusername | anonymous | username to use for anonymous connections | |
| cacheseconds | 300 | number of seconds to cache ACL lookups. 0 disables |
The SQL query for looking up a user's password hash is mandatory. The query
MUST return a single row only (any other number of rows is considered to be
"user not found"), and it MUST return a single column only with the PBKDF2
password hash. A single '%s' in the query string is replaced by the
username attempting to access the broker.
SELECT pw FROM users WHERE username = '%s' LIMIT 1The SQL query for checking whether a user is a superuser - and thus
circumventing ACL checks - is optional. If it is specified, the query MUST
return a single row with a single value: 0 is false and 1 is true. We recommend
using a SELECT IFNULL(COUNT(*),0) FROM ... for this query as it satisfies
both conditions. ). A single '%s' in the query string is replaced by the
username attempting to access the broker. The following example uses the
same users table, but it could just as well reference a distinct table
or view.
SELECT IFNULL(COUNT(*), 0) FROM users WHERE username = '%s' AND super = 1The SQL query for checking ACLs is optional, but if it is specified, the
mysql back-end can try to limit access to particular topics or topic branches
depending on the value of a database table. The query MAY return zero or more
rows for a particular user, each returning EXACTLY one column containing a
topic (wildcards are supported). A single '%s' in the query string is
replaced by the username attempting to access the broker, and a single '%d' is
replaced with the integer value 1 signifying a read-only access attempt
(SUB) or 2 signifying a read-write access attempt (PUB).
In the following example, the table has an INT(1) column rw containing 1 for
readonly topics, and 2 for read-write topics:
SELECT topic FROM acls WHERE (username = '%s') AND (rw >= %d)Mosquitto configuration for the mysql back-end:
auth_plugin /home/jpm/mosquitto-auth-plug/auth-plug.so
auth_opt_host localhost
auth_opt_port 3306
auth_opt_dbname test
auth_opt_user jjj
auth_opt_pass supersecret
auth_opt_userquery SELECT pw FROM users WHERE username = '%s'
auth_opt_superquery SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users WHERE username = '%s' AND super = 1
auth_opt_aclquery SELECT topic FROM acls WHERE (username = '%s') AND (rw >= %d)
auth_opt_anonusername AnonymouS
Assuming the following database tables:
mysql> SELECT * FROM users;
+----+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------+-------+
| id | username | pw | super |
+----+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------+-------+
| 1 | jjolie | PBKDF2$sha256$901$x8mf3JIFTUFU9C23$Mid2xcgTrKBfBdye6W/4hE3GKeksu00+ | 0 |
| 2 | a | PBKDF2$sha256$901$XPkOwNbd05p5XsUn$1uPtR6hMKBedWE44nqdVg+2NPKvyGst8 | 0 |
| 3 | su1 | PBKDF2$sha256$901$chEZ4HcSmKtlV0kf$yRh2N62uq6cHoAB6FIrxIN2iihYqNIJp | 1 |
+----+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------+-------+
mysql> SELECT * FROM acls;
+----+----------+-------------------+----+
| id | username | topic | rw |
+----+----------+-------------------+----+
| 1 | jjolie | loc/jjolie | 1 |
| 2 | jjolie | $SYS/something | 1 |
| 3 | a | loc/test/# | 1 |
| 4 | a | $SYS/broker/log/+ | 1 |
| 5 | su1 | mega/secret | 1 |
| 6 | nop | mega/secret | 1 |
+----+----------+-------------------+----+
the above SQL queries would enable the following combinations (note the * at
the beginning of the line indicating a superuser)
jjolie PBKDF2$sha256$901$x8mf3JIFTUFU9C23$Mid2xcgTrKBfBdye6W/4hE3GKeksu00+
loc/a DENY
loc/jjolie PERMIT
mega/secret DENY
loc/test DENY
$SYS/broker/log/N DENY
nop <nil>
loc/a DENY
loc/jjolie DENY
mega/secret PERMIT
loc/test DENY
$SYS/broker/log/N DENY
a PBKDF2$sha256$901$XPkOwNbd05p5XsUn$1uPtR6hMKBedWE44nqdVg+2NPKvyGst8
loc/a DENY
loc/jjolie DENY
mega/secret DENY
loc/test PERMIT
$SYS/broker/log/N PERMIT
* su1 PBKDF2$sha256$901$chEZ4HcSmKtlV0kf$yRh2N62uq6cHoAB6FIrxIN2iihYqNIJp
loc/a PERMIT
loc/jjolie PERMIT
mega/secret PERMIT
loc/test PERMIT
$SYS/broker/log/N PERMIT
The mysql back-end will re-connect to the MySQL server when the connection has gone away.
If you wish, you can disable this by configuring:
auth_opt_mysql_opt_reconnect false
auth_opt_mysql_auto_connect false
The LDAP plugin currently does authentication only; authenticated users are allowed to publish/subscribe at will.
The user with which Mosquitto connects to the broker is searched in the LDAP directory
via the ldap_uri configuration parameter. This LDAP search MUST return exactly one
entry. The user's password is then use with the DN of the entry found to bind to the
directory. If that LDAP bind succeeds, the user is authenticated. In other cases,
authentication fails.
| Option | default | Mandatory | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| binddn | Y | the DN of an object which may search users | |
| bindpw | Y | its password | |
| ldap_uri | Y | an LDAP uri with filter |
Example configuration:
auth_plugin /path/to/auth-plug.so
auth_opt_backends ldap
auth_opt_binddn cn=manager,dc=mens,dc=de
auth_opt_bindpw s3crit
auth_opt_ldap_uri ldap://127.0.0.1/ou=Users,dc=mens,dc=de?cn?sub?(&(objectclass=inetOrgPerson)(uid=@))
| Option | default | Mandatory | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| cdbname | Y | path to .cdb |
| Option | default | Mandatory | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| dbpath | Y | path to database | |
| sqliteuserquery | Y | SQL for users |
auth_opt_redis_userquery GET %s
auth_opt_redis_aclquery GET %s-%s
In auth_opt_redis_userquery the parameter is the username, whereas in auth_opt_redis_aclquery, the first parameter is the username and the second is the topic.
If no options are provided then it will default to not using an ACL and using the above userquery.
| Option | default | Mandatory | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| redis_host | localhost | hostname / IP address | |
| redis_port | 6379 | TCP port number |
The http back-end is for auth by custom HTTP API.
The following auth_opt_ options are supported by the http back-end:
| Option | default | Mandatory | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| http_ip | Y | IP address,will skip dns lookup | |
| http_port | 80 | TCP port number | |
| http_hostname | hostname for HTTP header | ||
| http_getuser_uri | Y | URI for check username/password | |
| http_superuser_uri | Y | URI for check superuser | |
| http_aclcheck_uri | Y | URI for check acl | |
| http_with_tls | false | N | Use TLS on connect |
| http_basic_auth_key | N | Basic Authentication Key | |
| http_retry_count | 3 | N | Number of retries done if backend is unavailable |
If the configured URLs return an HTTP status code == 2xx, the authentication /
authorization succeeds. If the status code == 4xx authentication /
authorization fails. For status code == 5xx or server unreachable, the HTTP request
will be retried up to http_retry_count. If all tries fail and if no other backend succeeded,
then an error is returned and client is disconnected.
| URI-Param | username | password | clientid | topic | acc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| http_getuser_uri | Y | Y | N | N | N |
| http_superuser_uri | Y | N | N | N | N |
| http_aclcheck_uri | Y | N | Y | Y | Y |
Mosquitto configuration for the http back-end:
auth_opt_backends http
auth_opt_http_ip 127.0.0.1
auth_opt_http_port 8089
#auth_opt_http_hostname example.org
auth_opt_http_getuser_uri /auth
auth_opt_http_superuser_uri /superuser
auth_opt_http_aclcheck_uri /acl
A very simple example service using Python and bottle can be found in examples/http-auth-be.py.
The http plugin can utilize environment variables which are exported before it (i.e. Mosquitto) is started by adding configuration settings like
auth_opt_<interface>_<method>_params <key>=<evn_name>[,<key>=<evn_name>]*
For example, set the following:
export DOMAIN=example.com
export PORT=8080and add the following settings to mosquitto.conf:
auth_opt_http_getuser_params domain=DOMAIN,port=PORT
auth_opt_http_superuser_params domain=DOMAIN,port=PORT
auth_opt_http_aclcheck_params domain=DOMAIN,port=PORT
The jwt back-end is for auth by JWT-webtokens. The JWT and HTTP configurations are identical, so please read the http-section above.
The username-field is interpreted as the token-field and passed to the http-server in an Authorization-header.
Authorization: Bearer %token
Note: Some clients require the password-field to be populated. This field is ignored by the JWT-backend, so feel free to input some gibberish.
The postgres like mysql back-end is currently the most feature-complete: it supports
obtaining passwords, checking for superusers, and verifying ACLs by
configuring up to three distinct SQL queries used to obtain those results.
You configure the SQL queries in order to adapt to whichever schema you currently have.
The following auth_opt_ options are supported by the mysql back-end:
| Option | default | Mandatory | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| host | localhost | hostname/address | |
| port | 5432 | TCP port | |
| user | username | ||
| pass | password | ||
| dbname | Y | database name | |
| userquery | Y | SQL for users | |
| superquery | SQL for superusers | ||
| aclquery | SQL for ACLs |
The SQL query for looking up a user's password hash is mandatory. The query
MUST return a single row only (any other number of rows is considered to be
"user not found"), and it MUST return a single column only with the PBKDF2
password hash. A single '$1' in the query string is replaced by the
username attempting to access the broker.
SELECT pass FROM account WHERE username = $1 limit 1The SQL query for checking whether a user is a superuser - and thus
circumventing ACL checks - is optional. If it is specified, the query MUST
return a single row with a single value: 0 is false and 1 is true. We recommend
using a SELECT COALESCE(COUNT(*),0) FROM ... for this query as it satisfies
both conditions. ). A single '$1' in the query string is replaced by the
username attempting to access the broker. The following example uses the
same users table, but it could just as well reference a distinct table
or view.
SELECT COALESCE(COUNT(*),0) FROM account WHERE username = $1 AND super = 1The SQL query for checking ACLs is optional, but if it is specified, the
mysql back-end can try to limit access to particular topics or topic branches
depending on the value of a database table. The query MAY return zero or more
rows for a particular user, each returning EXACTLY one column containing a
topic (wildcards are supported). A single '$1' in the query string is
replaced by the username attempting to access the broker, and a single '$2' is
replaced with the integer value 1 signifying a read-only access attempt
(SUB) or 2 signifying a read-write access attempt (PUB).
In the following example, the table has a column rw containing 1 for
readonly topics, and 2 for read-write topics:
SELECT topic FROM acl WHERE (username = $1) AND rw >= $2Mosquitto configuration for the postgres back-end:
auth_plugin /home/jpm/mosquitto-auth-plug/auth-plug.so
auth_opt_host localhost
auth_opt_port 5432
auth_opt_dbname test
auth_opt_user jjj
auth_opt_pass supersecret
auth_opt_userquery SELECT password FROM account WHERE username = $1 limit 1
auth_opt_superquery SELECT COALESCE(COUNT(*),0) FROM account WHERE username = $1 AND mosquitto_super = 1
auth_opt_aclquery SELECT topic FROM acls WHERE (username = $1) AND (rw & $2) > 0```
Assuming the following database tables:
mysql> SELECT * FROM users;
+----+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------+-------+
| id | username | pw | super |
+----+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------+-------+
| 1 | jjolie | PBKDF2$sha256$901$x8mf3JIFTUFU9C23$Mid2xcgTrKBfBdye6W/4hE3GKeksu00+ | 0 |
| 2 | a | PBKDF2$sha256$901$XPkOwNbd05p5XsUn$1uPtR6hMKBedWE44nqdVg+2NPKvyGst8 | 0 |
| 3 | su1 | PBKDF2$sha256$901$chEZ4HcSmKtlV0kf$yRh2N62uq6cHoAB6FIrxIN2iihYqNIJp | 1 |
+----+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------+-------+
mysql> SELECT * FROM acls;
+----+----------+-------------------+----+
| id | username | topic | rw |
+----+----------+-------------------+----+
| 1 | jjolie | loc/jjolie | 1 |
| 2 | jjolie | $SYS/something | 1 |
| 3 | a | loc/test/# | 1 |
| 4 | a | $SYS/broker/log/+ | 1 |
| 5 | su1 | mega/secret | 1 |
| 6 | nop | mega/secret | 1 |
+----+----------+-------------------+----+
the above SQL queries would enable the following combinations (note the * at
the beginning of the line indicating a superuser)
jjolie PBKDF2$sha256$901$x8mf3JIFTUFU9C23$Mid2xcgTrKBfBdye6W/4hE3GKeksu00+
loc/a DENY
loc/jjolie PERMIT
mega/secret DENY
loc/test DENY
$SYS/broker/log/N DENY
nop <nil>
loc/a DENY
loc/jjolie DENY
mega/secret PERMIT
loc/test DENY
$SYS/broker/log/N DENY
a PBKDF2$sha256$901$XPkOwNbd05p5XsUn$1uPtR6hMKBedWE44nqdVg+2NPKvyGst8
loc/a DENY
loc/jjolie DENY
mega/secret DENY
loc/test PERMIT
$SYS/broker/log/N PERMIT
* su1 PBKDF2$sha256$901$chEZ4HcSmKtlV0kf$yRh2N62uq6cHoAB6FIrxIN2iihYqNIJp
loc/a PERMIT
loc/jjolie PERMIT
mega/secret PERMIT
loc/test PERMIT
$SYS/broker/log/N PERMIT
The mongo back-end works with superuser and ACL checks with the following collections format.
users = {
username: "user",
password: "PBKDF_string"
topics: int (topicID location)
superuser: int (1 true, 0 false)
}
topics = {
_id: int,
topics: ["xx/xx/#", "yy/#", ...]
}
The following auth_opt_mongo_ options are supported by the mongo back-end:
| Option | default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| host | localhost | Hostname/Address |
| port | 27017 | TCP port |
| user | Username | |
| password | Password | |
| authSource | Authentication Database Name | |
| database | mqGate | Database Name |
| collection_users | users | Collection for User Documents |
| collection_topics | topics | Collection for Topic Documents |
| location_password | password | Password field name in User Document |
| location_topic | topics | Topic Document pointer field name in User Document |
| location_topicId | _id | Field name that location_topic points to in Topic Document |
| location_superuser | superuser | Superuser field name in User Document |
Mosquitto configuration for the mongo back-end:
auth_plugin /home/jpm/mosquitto-auth-plug/auth-plug.so
auth_opt_mongo_host localhost
auth_opt_mongo_port 27017
currently no readwrite checks on ACL, all topics will be readwrite, do not add a flag to the array of topics in db.
A user's password is stored as a PBKDF2 hash in the back-end. An example
"password" is a string with five pieces in it, delimited by $, inspired by
this.
PBKDF2$sha256$901$8ebTR72Pcmjl3cYq$SCVHHfqn9t6Ev9sE6RMTeF3pawvtGqTu
--^--- --^--- -^- ------^--------- -------------^------------------
| | | | |
| | | | +-- : hashed password
| | | +-------------------------- : salt
| | +----------------------------------- : iterations
| +----------------------------------------- : hash function
+------------------------------------------------ : marker
A trivial utility to generate hashes is included as np. Copy and paste the
whole string generated into the respective back-end.
$ np
Enter password:
Re-enter same password:
PBKDF2$sha256$901$Qh18ysY4wstXoHhk$g8d2aDzbz3rYztvJiO3dsV698jzECxSgFor example, in Redis:
$ redis-cli
> SET n2 PBKDF2$sha256$901$Qh18ysY4wstXoHhk$g8d2aDzbz3rYztvJiO3dsV698jzECxSg
> QUIT
listener 1883
auth_plugin /path/to/auth-plug.so
auth_opt_redis_host 127.0.0.1
auth_opt_redis_port 6379
# Usernames with this fnmatch(3) (a.k.a glob(3)) pattern are exempt from the
# module's ACL checking
auth_opt_superusers S*
In addition to ACL checking which is possibly performed by a back-end,
there's a more "static" checking which can be configured in mosquitto.conf.
Note that if ACLs are being verified by the plugin, this also applies to Will topics (last will and testament). Failing to correctly set up an ACL for these, will cause a broker to silently fail with a 'not authorized' message.
Users can be given "superuser" status (i.e. they may access any topic)
if their username matches the glob specified in auth_opt_superusers.
In our example above, any user with a username beginning with a capital "S"
is exempt from ACL-checking.
At this point you ought to be able to connect to Mosquitto.
mosquitto_pub -t '/location/n2' -m hello -u n2 -P secret
If Mosquitto has been built with PSK support, and auth-plug has been built
with BE_PSK defined, it supports authenticating PSK connections over TLS, as
long as Mosquitto is appropriately configured.
The way this works is that the psk back-end actually uses one of auth-plug's
other databases (mysql, sqlite, cdb, etc.) to obtain the pre-shared key
from the "users" query, and it uses the same database's back-end for performing
authorization (aka ACL checks).
Consider the following mosquitto.conf snippet:
...
auth_opt_psk_database mysql
...
listener 8885
psk_hint hint1
tls_version tlsv1
use_identity_as_username true
TLS PSK is available on port 8885 and is activated with, say,
mosquitto_pub -h localhost -p 8885 -t x -m hi --psk-identity ps2 --psk 020202
The use_identity_as_username option has auth-plug see the name ps2 as the
username, and this is given to the database back-end (here: mysql) to look up
the password as defined for the mysql back-end. auth-plug uses its getuser() query
to read the clear-text (not PKBDF2) hex key string which it returns to Mosquitto
for authentication. If authentication passes, the connection is established.
For authorization, auth_plug uses the identity as the username and the topic to perform ACL-checking as described earlier.
The following log-snippet serves as an illustration:
New connection from ::1 on port 8885.
|-- psk_key_get(hint1, ps1) from [mysql] finds PSK: 1
New client connected from ::1 as mosqpub/90759-tiggr.ww. (c1, k60).
Sending CONNACK to mosqpub/90759-tiggr.ww. (0)
|-- user ps1 was authenticated in back-end 0 (psk)
|-- mysql: topic_matches(x, x) == 1
|-- aclcheck(ps1, x, 2) AUTHORIZED=1 by psk
Received PUBLISH from mosqpub/90759-tiggr.ww. (d0, q0, r0, m0, 'x', ... (2 bytes))
Received DISCONNECT from mosqpub/90759-tiggr.ww.
- hiredis, the Minimalistic C client for Redis
- OpenSSL (tested with 1.0.0c, but should work with earlier versions)
- A Mosquitto broker
- A Redis server
- MySQL
- TinyCDB by Michael Tokarev (included in
contrib/).
- Uses
base64.[ch](and yes, I know OpenSSL has base64 routines, but no thanks). These files are
Copyright (c) 1995, 1996, 1997 Kungliga Tekniska Hgskolan (Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden).
- Uses [uthash][2] by Troy D. Hanson.