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SAML Assertion Inline Hook Reference

This page provides reference documentation for:

  • JSON objects contained in the outbound request from Okta to your external service

  • JSON objects you can include in your response

This information is specific to the SAML Assertion Inline Hook, one type of Inline Hook supported by Okta.

See also

For a general introduction to Okta Inline Hooks, see Inline Hooks.

For information on the API for registering external service endpoints with Okta, see Inline Hooks Management API.

For steps to enable this Inline Hook, see below, Enabling a SAML Assertion Inline Hook.

About

This type of Inline Hook is triggered when Okta generates a SAML assertion in response to an authentication request. Before sending the SAML assertion to the app that will consume it, Okta calls out to your external service. Your external service can respond with commands to add attributes to the assertion or to modify its existing attributes.

This functionality can be used to add data to assertions, which might be data that is sensitive, calculated at runtime, or complexly-structured and not appropriate for storing in Okta user profiles. Data added this way is never logged or stored by Okta. As an example, SAML assertions generated for a medical app could be augmented with confidential patient data provided by your external service and not stored in Okta.

This Inline Hook works only when using custom SAML apps, not apps from the OIN.

Objects in the request from Okta

The outbound call from Okta to your external service provides you with the contents of the SAML assertion that was generated, which you will be able to augment or modify by means of the commands you return. Also provided is contextual information about the authentication request.

Because SAML is XML-based, but the call from Okta to your service uses a JSON payload, the contents of the SAML assertion are mapped to a JSON representation for sending.

data.assertion.subject

Provides a JSON representation of the <saml:Subject> element of the SAML assertion. The following is an example of how the SAML XML is represented in JSON:

{
   "subject":{
      "nameId":"administrator1@example.net",
      "nameFormat":"urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:unspecified",
      "confirmation":{
         "method":"urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:cm:bearer",
         "data":{
            "recipient":"http://www.example.com/saml/sso"
         }
      }
   }
}

data.assertion.authentication

Provides a JSON representation of the <saml:AuthnStatement> element of the SAML assertion.

"authentication": {
        "sessionIndex": "id1553800523546.312669168",
        "authnContext": {
          "authnContextClassRef": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:ac:classes:PasswordProtectedTransport"
        }
}

data.assertion.conditions

Provides a JSON representation of the <saml:Conditions> element of the SAML assertion.

"conditions": {
        "audienceRestriction": [
          "urn:example:sp"
        ]
}

data.assertion.claims

Provides a JSON representation of the <saml:AttributeStatement> element contained in the generated SAML assertion, which will contain any optional SAML attribute statements that you have defined for the app using the Okta Admin Console's SAML Settings.

The following is an example of how an XML <saml:AttributeStatement> element is represented in JSON in this object:

{
  "claims": {
    "extPatientId": {
      "attributes": {
        "NameFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:unspecified"
      },
      "attributeValues": [
        {
          "attributes": {
            "xsi:type": "xs:integer"
          },
          "value": "4321"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

data.assertion.lifetime

Specifies the expiration time, in seconds, of the SAML assertion.

"lifetime": {
    "expiration": 300
}

data.context

This object contains a number of sub-objects, each of which provides some type of contextual information. Unlike the data.assertion.* objects, you cannot affect the data.context.* objects by means of the commands you return.

The following sub-objects are included:

  • data.context.request: Details of the SAML request that triggered the generation of the SAML assertion
  • data.context.protocol: Details of the assertion protocol being used
  • data.context.session: Details of the user session
  • data.context.user: Identifies the Okta user that the assertion was generated to authenticate and provides details of their Okta user profile

Sample listing of JSON payload of request 

{
  "source": "https://${yourOktaDomain}/app/saml20app_1/exkth8lMzFm0HZOTU0g3/sso/saml",
  "eventId": "XMFoHCM1S4Wi_SGWzL8T9A",
  "eventTime": "2019-03-28T19:15:23.000Z",
  "data": {
    "context": {
      "request": {
        "id": "reqqXypjzYJRSu2j1G1imUovA",
        "method": "GET",
        "url": {
          "value": "https://${yourOktaDomain}/app/saml20app_1/exkth8lMzFm0HZOTU0g3/sso/saml"
        },
        "ipAddress": "127.0.0.1"
      },
      "protocol": {
        "type": "SAML2.0",
        "issuer": {
          "id": "0oath92zlO60urQOP0g3",
          "name": "SAML 2.0 App",
          "uri": "http://www.okta.com/exkth8lMzFm0HZOTU0g3"
        }
      },
      "session": {
        "id": "102LN9Bnuc4S_ewfc9BYwageA",
        "userId": "00uq8tMo3zV0OfJON0g3",
        "login": "administrator1@example.com",
        "createdAt": "2019-03-28T16:45:55.000Z",
        "expiresAt": "2019-03-28T21:15:23.000Z",
        "status": "ACTIVE",
        "lastPasswordVerification": "2019-03-28T16:45:55.000Z",
        "amr": [
          "PASSWORD"
        ],
        "idp": {
          "id": "00oq6kcVwvrDY2YsS0g3",
          "type": "OKTA"
        },
        "mfaActive": false
      },
      "user": {
        "id": "00uq8tMo3zV0OfJON0g3",
        "passwordChanged": "2018-09-11T23:19:12.000Z",
        "profile": {
          "login": "administrator1@example.com",
          "firstName": "Admin",
          "lastName": "Last",
          "locale": "en",
          "timeZone": "America/Los_Angeles"
        },
        "_links": {
          "groups": {
            "href": "https://${yourOktaDomain}/00uq8tMo3zV0OfJON0g3/groups"
          },
          "factors": {
            "href": "https://${yourOktaDomain}/api/v1/users/00uq8tMo3zV0OfJON0g3/factors"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "assertion": {
      "subject": {
        "nameId": "administrator1@example.com",
        "nameFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:unspecified",
        "confirmation": {
          "method": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:cm:bearer",
          "data": {
            "recipient": "http://www.example.com:7070/saml/sso"
          }
        }
      },
      "authentication": {
        "sessionIndex": "id1553800523546.312669168",
        "authnContext": {
          "authnContextClassRef": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:ac:classes:PasswordProtectedTransport"
        }
      },
      "conditions": {
        "audienceRestriction": [
          "urn:example:sp"
        ]
      },
      "claims": {
        "extPatientId": {
          "attributes": {
            "NameFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:unspecified"
          },
          "attributeValues": [
            {
              "attributes": {
                "xsi:type": "xs:integer"
              },
              "value": "4321"
            }
          ]
        },
        "array": {
          "attributes": {
            "NameFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:unspecified"
          },
          "attributeValues": [
            {
              "attributes": {
                "xsi:type": "xs:string"
              },
              "value": "Array 1"
            },
            {
              "attributes": {
                "xsi:type": "xs:string"
              },
              "value": "Array2"
            },
            {
              "attributes": {
                "xsi:type": "xs:string"
              },
              "value": "Array3"
            }
          ]
        },
        "middle": {
          "attributes": {
            "NameFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:unspecified"
          },
          "attributeValues": [
            {
              "attributes": {
                "xsi:type": "xs:string"
              },
              "value": "admin"
            }
          ]
        },
        "firstAndLast": {
          "attributes": {
            "NameFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:unspecified"
          },
          "attributeValues": [
            {
              "attributes": {
                "xsi:type": "xs:string"
              },
              "value": "7d6a50c8-4d7e-4058-9c5b-2cc98cecd294"
            }
          ]
        }
      },
      "lifetime": {
        "expiration": 300
      }
    }
  },
  "eventTypeVersion": "1.0",
  "cloudEventVersion": "0.1",
  "eventType": "com.okta.saml.tokens.transform",
  "contentType": "application/json"
}

Objects in response you send

For the SAML Assertion Inline Hook, the objects that you can return in the JSON payload of your response are defined as follows:

commands

The commands object is where you can tell Okta to add additional claims to the assertion or to modify the existing assertion statements.

commands is an array, allowing you to send multiple commands. In each array element, you include a type property and a value property. The type property is where you specify which of the supported commands you want to execute, and value is where you supply an operand for that command.

In the case of the SAML Assertion Inline Hook, the value property is itself a nested object, in which you specify a particular operation, a path to act on, and a value.

Property Description Data Type
type One of the supported commands String
value Operand to pass to the command. It specifies a particular op to perform. value

Supported commands

The following command is currently supported for the SAML Assertion Inline Hook type:

Command Description
com.okta.assertion.patch Modify a SAML assertion

value

The value object is where you specify the specific operation to perform. It is an array, allowing you to request more than one operation.

Property Description Data Type
op The name of one of the supported ops String
path Location, within the assertion, to apply the operation. See Specifying Location within the Assertion below. String
value The value of the claim that you add or replace, and can also include other attributes. If adding to a claim, you need to add another value attribute residing within an array called attributeValues. See the Sample listing of JSON payload response for an example. Any JSON object

List of supported ops

Op Description
add Add a new claim to the assertion
replace Modify any element of the assertion

Specify location within the assertion

Specify the location within the assertion where you want to apply your operation using a slash-delimited path, which follows JSON Patch conventions.

When you perform an add op to add a new attribute statement, begin with /claims/ and follow that with the name of the new attribute that you are adding.

When you modify an existing assertions statement, begin the path with /subject/, /authentication/, /conditions/, or /claims/, depending on which part of the assertion you want to modify. You then drill down within the child elements using slash-delimited element names, for example, /claims/array/attributeValues/1/value. (The /1/ in the path indicates the index of the array.)

URI claims

Okta supports URI claims with SAML assertion hooks. When you need to replace or add a URI claim, you must encode the claim name within the command per the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Pointer (opens new window) specification. Specifically, this replaces ~ with ~0 and / with ~1.

SessionNotOnOrAfter support

In some scenarios, your service provider may require the SessionNotOnOrAfter attribute for the <saml:AuthnStatement> in the SAML assertion, which sets the provider session time correctly. Use add op with the path /authentication/sessionLifetime and a value for session lifetime in seconds to add this attribute. See the Sample listing of JSON payload response for an example. Okta calculates SessionNotOnOrAfter by adding the /authentication/sessionLifetime value to the issueInstant attribute and returns it in the SAML assertion.

Sample listing of JSON payload of response 

{
   "commands": [
    {
      "type": "com.okta.assertion.patch",
      "value": [
        {
          "op": "replace",
          "path": "/claims/array/attributeValues/1/value",
          "value": "replacementValue"
        },
        {
          "op": "replace",
          "path": "/authentication/authnContext",
          "value": {
            "authnContextClassRef": "replacementValue"
          }
        },
        {
          "op": "add",
          "path": "/claims/extPatientId",
          "value": {
            "attributes": {
              "NameFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:basic"
            },
            "attributeValues": [
              {
                "attributes": {
                  "xsi:type": "xs:string"
                },
                "value": "4321"
              }
            ]
          }
        },
        {
          "op": "add",
          "path": "/authentication/sessionLifetime",
          "value": 300
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "com.okta.assertion.patch",
      "value": [
        {
          "op": "replace",
          "path": "/authentication/sessionIndex",
          "value": "definitelyARealSession"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

URI format response example

This example displays replace and add operations with the URI formatted claim encoded.

{
  "commands": [
    {
      "type": "com.okta.assertion.patch",
      "value": [
        {
          "op": "replace",
          "path": "/claims/http:~1~1schemas.xmlsoap.org~1ws~12005~105~1identity~1claims~1foo/attributeValues/0/value",
          "value": "replacementValue"
        },
        {
          "op": "replace",
          "path": "/claims/http:~1~1schemas.xmlsoap.org~1ws~12005~105~1identity~1claims~1foo/attributes",
          "value": {
            "attributes": {
              "NameFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:basic"
            }
          }
        },
        {
          "op": "add",
          "path": "/claims/http:~1~1schemas.xmlsoap.org~1ws~12005~105~1identity~1claims~1bar",
          "value": {
            "attributes": {
              "NameFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:basic"
            },
            "attributeValues": [
              {
                "attributes": {
                  "xsi:type": "xs:string"
                },
                "value": "bearer"
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Enabling a SAML Assertion Inline Hook

To activate the Inline Hook, you first need to register your external service endpoint with Okta using the Inline Hooks Management API.

You then need to associate the registered Inline Hook with a SAML app by completing the following steps in Admin Console:

  1. Go to Applications and select your SAML app.

  2. Click the General tab.

  3. In the SAML Settings section, click Edit.

  4. Click Next to get to SAML Settings section.

  5. Click Show Advanced Settings.

  6. In the Assertion Inline Hook field, select your registered Inline Hook.

Note: Only one Inline Hook can be associated with each app.

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