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auth0 logonode-jsonwebtoken

JsonWebToken implementation for node.js http://self-issued.info/docs/draft-ietf-oauth-json-web-token.html

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A simple library to work with JSON Web Token and JSON Web Signature

Quick Overview

node-jsonwebtoken is a popular Node.js library for generating and verifying JSON Web Tokens (JWTs). It provides a simple and secure way to create, sign, and validate tokens for authentication and information exchange between parties.

Pros

  • Easy to use with a straightforward API
  • Supports various algorithms for signing tokens (e.g., HMAC, RSA, ECDSA)
  • Actively maintained with regular updates and bug fixes
  • Extensive documentation and community support

Cons

  • Limited built-in support for token revocation (requires additional implementation)
  • Potential security risks if not used correctly (e.g., weak secret keys, improper algorithm selection)
  • Performance overhead for large-scale applications with high token generation/verification rates
  • Lack of built-in support for some advanced JWT features (e.g., nested JWTs)

Code Examples

  1. Generating a JWT:
const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');

const token = jwt.sign({ userId: 123 }, 'secret_key', { expiresIn: '1h' });
console.log(token);
  1. Verifying a JWT:
const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');

try {
  const decoded = jwt.verify(token, 'secret_key');
  console.log(decoded);
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Invalid token:', error.message);
}
  1. Generating a JWT with custom claims:
const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');

const payload = {
  userId: 123,
  username: 'john_doe',
  role: 'admin'
};

const token = jwt.sign(payload, 'secret_key', { expiresIn: '1d' });
console.log(token);

Getting Started

  1. Install the library:
npm install jsonwebtoken
  1. Import the library in your code:
const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');
  1. Generate a token:
const token = jwt.sign({ userId: 123 }, 'your_secret_key', { expiresIn: '1h' });
  1. Verify a token:
try {
  const decoded = jwt.verify(token, 'your_secret_key');
  console.log(decoded);
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Invalid token:', error.message);
}

Competitor Comparisons

10,174

Java JWT: JSON Web Token for Java and Android

Pros of jjwt

  • Written in Java, offering better performance for Java applications
  • Supports a wider range of cryptographic algorithms
  • More comprehensive documentation and examples

Cons of jjwt

  • Limited to Java ecosystem, less versatile for cross-platform development
  • Steeper learning curve for developers not familiar with Java

Code Comparison

node-jsonwebtoken (JavaScript):

const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');
const token = jwt.sign({ foo: 'bar' }, 'secret', { expiresIn: '1h' });

jjwt (Java):

String token = Jwts.builder()
    .claim("foo", "bar")
    .signWith(SignatureAlgorithm.HS256, "secret")
    .setExpiration(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + 3600000))
    .compact();

Key Differences

  • Language: node-jsonwebtoken is JavaScript-based, while jjwt is Java-based
  • Ecosystem: node-jsonwebtoken is more suitable for Node.js applications, jjwt for Java applications
  • Syntax: node-jsonwebtoken uses a more concise syntax, jjwt offers a builder pattern
  • Performance: jjwt may offer better performance in Java environments due to native compilation

Use Cases

  • Choose node-jsonwebtoken for Node.js and JavaScript projects
  • Opt for jjwt in Java-based applications or when working with JVM languages
  • Consider node-jsonwebtoken for rapid prototyping and simpler implementations
  • Use jjwt for enterprise-level Java applications requiring advanced security features

Java implementation of JSON Web Token (JWT)

Pros of java-jwt

  • Strong typing and compile-time checks due to Java's static typing
  • Better performance for high-volume JWT operations
  • Extensive support for Java-specific cryptographic libraries

Cons of java-jwt

  • Less flexibility compared to JavaScript's dynamic nature
  • Steeper learning curve for developers not familiar with Java
  • More verbose code due to Java's syntax and type system

Code Comparison

node-jsonwebtoken:

const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');
const token = jwt.sign({ foo: 'bar' }, 'secret', { expiresIn: '1h' });
console.log(token);

java-jwt:

Algorithm algorithm = Algorithm.HMAC256("secret");
String token = JWT.create()
    .withClaim("foo", "bar")
    .withExpiresAt(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + 3600000))
    .sign(algorithm);
System.out.println(token);

Both libraries provide similar functionality for creating and verifying JWTs. The node-jsonwebtoken library offers a more concise syntax, while java-jwt provides stronger type safety and integration with Java's ecosystem. The choice between them often depends on the project's language requirements and the development team's expertise.

9,353

PHP package for JWT

Pros of php-jwt

  • Written in PHP, making it ideal for PHP-based projects
  • Lightweight and focused solely on JWT functionality
  • Easy to integrate into existing PHP applications

Cons of php-jwt

  • Limited to PHP environments, less versatile than node-jsonwebtoken
  • Fewer features and options compared to node-jsonwebtoken
  • Smaller community and less frequent updates

Code Comparison

node-jsonwebtoken:

const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');
const token = jwt.sign({ data: 'payload' }, 'secret', { expiresIn: '1h' });
const decoded = jwt.verify(token, 'secret');

php-jwt:

use \Firebase\JWT\JWT;
$token = JWT::encode(['data' => 'payload'], 'secret', 'HS256');
$decoded = JWT::decode($token, 'secret', ['HS256']);

Both libraries offer similar core functionality for JWT encoding and decoding. node-jsonwebtoken provides more options and features out of the box, while php-jwt focuses on simplicity and PHP integration. The choice between the two largely depends on the project's programming language and specific requirements.

11,274

🔐 JSON Web Token Authentication for Laravel & Lumen

Pros of jwt-auth

  • Specifically designed for Laravel, offering seamless integration with the framework
  • Provides built-in middleware for easy JWT authentication in Laravel routes
  • Includes convenient methods for token refresh and invalidation

Cons of jwt-auth

  • Limited to Laravel ecosystem, not suitable for other PHP frameworks or vanilla PHP
  • Less frequently updated compared to node-jsonwebtoken
  • Smaller community and fewer resources available for troubleshooting

Code Comparison

jwt-auth (Laravel):

$token = JWTAuth::attempt($credentials);
$user = JWTAuth::toUser($token);
JWTAuth::invalidate($token);

node-jsonwebtoken (Node.js):

const token = jwt.sign(payload, secretKey);
const decoded = jwt.verify(token, secretKey);
// No built-in invalidation method

Summary

jwt-auth is a Laravel-specific JWT implementation, offering tight integration with the framework and convenient features for Laravel developers. However, it's limited to the Laravel ecosystem and has a smaller community.

node-jsonwebtoken is a more versatile and widely-used JWT library for Node.js, with broader application support and a larger community. It lacks some Laravel-specific features but offers greater flexibility across different projects and frameworks.

Choose jwt-auth for Laravel-specific projects where tight integration is valuable, and node-jsonwebtoken for more general-purpose JWT implementations in Node.js applications.

7,251

A simple library to work with JSON Web Token and JSON Web Signature

Pros of jwt

  • Written in PHP, offering native integration for PHP applications
  • Supports a wider range of algorithms, including EdDSA
  • More flexible token customization options

Cons of jwt

  • Less popular and potentially less maintained than node-jsonwebtoken
  • May have a steeper learning curve for developers not familiar with PHP
  • Limited ecosystem compared to the Node.js-based alternative

Code Comparison

node-jsonwebtoken:

const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');
const token = jwt.sign({ foo: 'bar' }, 'secret', { expiresIn: '1h' });

jwt:

use Lcobucci\JWT\Configuration;
use Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Hmac\Sha256;

$config = Configuration::forSymmetricSigner(new Sha256(), 'secret');
$token = $config->builder()
    ->withClaim('foo', 'bar')
    ->expiresAt(new \DateTimeImmutable('+1 hour'))
    ->getToken($config->signer(), $config->signingKey());

Summary

node-jsonwebtoken is a popular JWT library for Node.js applications, while jwt is a PHP-based alternative. node-jsonwebtoken offers simplicity and wide adoption in the JavaScript ecosystem, whereas jwt provides more flexibility and algorithm support for PHP projects. The choice between the two largely depends on the programming language and specific requirements of your application.

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README

jsonwebtoken

BuildDependency
Build StatusDependency Status

An implementation of JSON Web Tokens.

This was developed against draft-ietf-oauth-json-web-token-08. It makes use of node-jws

Install

$ npm install jsonwebtoken

Migration notes

Usage

jwt.sign(payload, secretOrPrivateKey, [options, callback])

(Asynchronous) If a callback is supplied, the callback is called with the err or the JWT.

(Synchronous) Returns the JsonWebToken as string

payload could be an object literal, buffer or string representing valid JSON.

Please note that exp or any other claim is only set if the payload is an object literal. Buffer or string payloads are not checked for JSON validity.

If payload is not a buffer or a string, it will be coerced into a string using JSON.stringify.

secretOrPrivateKey is a string (utf-8 encoded), buffer, object, or KeyObject containing either the secret for HMAC algorithms or the PEM encoded private key for RSA and ECDSA. In case of a private key with passphrase an object { key, passphrase } can be used (based on crypto documentation), in this case be sure you pass the algorithm option. When signing with RSA algorithms the minimum modulus length is 2048 except when the allowInsecureKeySizes option is set to true. Private keys below this size will be rejected with an error.

options:

  • algorithm (default: HS256)
  • expiresIn: expressed in seconds or a string describing a time span vercel/ms.

    Eg: 60, "2 days", "10h", "7d". A numeric value is interpreted as a seconds count. If you use a string be sure you provide the time units (days, hours, etc), otherwise milliseconds unit is used by default ("120" is equal to "120ms").

  • notBefore: expressed in seconds or a string describing a time span vercel/ms.

    Eg: 60, "2 days", "10h", "7d". A numeric value is interpreted as a seconds count. If you use a string be sure you provide the time units (days, hours, etc), otherwise milliseconds unit is used by default ("120" is equal to "120ms").

  • audience
  • issuer
  • jwtid
  • subject
  • noTimestamp
  • header
  • keyid
  • mutatePayload: if true, the sign function will modify the payload object directly. This is useful if you need a raw reference to the payload after claims have been applied to it but before it has been encoded into a token.
  • allowInsecureKeySizes: if true allows private keys with a modulus below 2048 to be used for RSA
  • allowInvalidAsymmetricKeyTypes: if true, allows asymmetric keys which do not match the specified algorithm. This option is intended only for backwards compatability and should be avoided.

There are no default values for expiresIn, notBefore, audience, subject, issuer. These claims can also be provided in the payload directly with exp, nbf, aud, sub and iss respectively, but you can't include in both places.

Remember that exp, nbf and iat are NumericDate, see related Token Expiration (exp claim)

The header can be customized via the options.header object.

Generated jwts will include an iat (issued at) claim by default unless noTimestamp is specified. If iat is inserted in the payload, it will be used instead of the real timestamp for calculating other things like exp given a timespan in options.expiresIn.

Synchronous Sign with default (HMAC SHA256)

var jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');
var token = jwt.sign({ foo: 'bar' }, 'shhhhh');

Synchronous Sign with RSA SHA256

// sign with RSA SHA256
var privateKey = fs.readFileSync('private.key');
var token = jwt.sign({ foo: 'bar' }, privateKey, { algorithm: 'RS256' });

Sign asynchronously

jwt.sign({ foo: 'bar' }, privateKey, { algorithm: 'RS256' }, function(err, token) {
  console.log(token);
});

Backdate a jwt 30 seconds

var older_token = jwt.sign({ foo: 'bar', iat: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) - 30 }, 'shhhhh');

Token Expiration (exp claim)

The standard for JWT defines an exp claim for expiration. The expiration is represented as a NumericDate:

A JSON numeric value representing the number of seconds from 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z UTC until the specified UTC date/time, ignoring leap seconds. This is equivalent to the IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition [POSIX.1] definition "Seconds Since the Epoch", in which each day is accounted for by exactly 86400 seconds, other than that non-integer values can be represented. See RFC 3339 [RFC3339] for details regarding date/times in general and UTC in particular.

This means that the exp field should contain the number of seconds since the epoch.

Signing a token with 1 hour of expiration:

jwt.sign({
  exp: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) + (60 * 60),
  data: 'foobar'
}, 'secret');

Another way to generate a token like this with this library is:

jwt.sign({
  data: 'foobar'
}, 'secret', { expiresIn: 60 * 60 });

//or even better:

jwt.sign({
  data: 'foobar'
}, 'secret', { expiresIn: '1h' });

jwt.verify(token, secretOrPublicKey, [options, callback])

(Asynchronous) If a callback is supplied, function acts asynchronously. The callback is called with the decoded payload if the signature is valid and optional expiration, audience, or issuer are valid. If not, it will be called with the error.

(Synchronous) If a callback is not supplied, function acts synchronously. Returns the payload decoded if the signature is valid and optional expiration, audience, or issuer are valid. If not, it will throw the error.

Warning: When the token comes from an untrusted source (e.g. user input or external requests), the returned decoded payload should be treated like any other user input; please make sure to sanitize and only work with properties that are expected

token is the JsonWebToken string

secretOrPublicKey is a string (utf-8 encoded), buffer, or KeyObject containing either the secret for HMAC algorithms, or the PEM encoded public key for RSA and ECDSA. If jwt.verify is called asynchronous, secretOrPublicKey can be a function that should fetch the secret or public key. See below for a detailed example

As mentioned in this comment, there are other libraries that expect base64 encoded secrets (random bytes encoded using base64), if that is your case you can pass Buffer.from(secret, 'base64'), by doing this the secret will be decoded using base64 and the token verification will use the original random bytes.

options

  • algorithms: List of strings with the names of the allowed algorithms. For instance, ["HS256", "HS384"].

    If not specified a defaults will be used based on the type of key provided

    • secret - ['HS256', 'HS384', 'HS512']
    • rsa - ['RS256', 'RS384', 'RS512']
    • ec - ['ES256', 'ES384', 'ES512']
    • default - ['RS256', 'RS384', 'RS512']
  • audience: if you want to check audience (aud), provide a value here. The audience can be checked against a string, a regular expression or a list of strings and/or regular expressions.

    Eg: "urn:foo", /urn:f[o]{2}/, [/urn:f[o]{2}/, "urn:bar"]

  • complete: return an object with the decoded { payload, header, signature } instead of only the usual content of the payload.
  • issuer (optional): string or array of strings of valid values for the iss field.
  • jwtid (optional): if you want to check JWT ID (jti), provide a string value here.
  • ignoreExpiration: if true do not validate the expiration of the token.
  • ignoreNotBefore...
  • subject: if you want to check subject (sub), provide a value here
  • clockTolerance: number of seconds to tolerate when checking the nbf and exp claims, to deal with small clock differences among different servers
  • maxAge: the maximum allowed age for tokens to still be valid. It is expressed in seconds or a string describing a time span vercel/ms.

    Eg: 1000, "2 days", "10h", "7d". A numeric value is interpreted as a seconds count. If you use a string be sure you provide the time units (days, hours, etc), otherwise milliseconds unit is used by default ("120" is equal to "120ms").

  • clockTimestamp: the time in seconds that should be used as the current time for all necessary comparisons.
  • nonce: if you want to check nonce claim, provide a string value here. It is used on Open ID for the ID Tokens. (Open ID implementation notes)
  • allowInvalidAsymmetricKeyTypes: if true, allows asymmetric keys which do not match the specified algorithm. This option is intended only for backwards compatability and should be avoided.
// verify a token symmetric - synchronous
var decoded = jwt.verify(token, 'shhhhh');
console.log(decoded.foo) // bar

// verify a token symmetric
jwt.verify(token, 'shhhhh', function(err, decoded) {
  console.log(decoded.foo) // bar
});

// invalid token - synchronous
try {
  var decoded = jwt.verify(token, 'wrong-secret');
} catch(err) {
  // err
}

// invalid token
jwt.verify(token, 'wrong-secret', function(err, decoded) {
  // err
  // decoded undefined
});

// verify a token asymmetric
var cert = fs.readFileSync('public.pem');  // get public key
jwt.verify(token, cert, function(err, decoded) {
  console.log(decoded.foo) // bar
});

// verify audience
var cert = fs.readFileSync('public.pem');  // get public key
jwt.verify(token, cert, { audience: 'urn:foo' }, function(err, decoded) {
  // if audience mismatch, err == invalid audience
});

// verify issuer
var cert = fs.readFileSync('public.pem');  // get public key
jwt.verify(token, cert, { audience: 'urn:foo', issuer: 'urn:issuer' }, function(err, decoded) {
  // if issuer mismatch, err == invalid issuer
});

// verify jwt id
var cert = fs.readFileSync('public.pem');  // get public key
jwt.verify(token, cert, { audience: 'urn:foo', issuer: 'urn:issuer', jwtid: 'jwtid' }, function(err, decoded) {
  // if jwt id mismatch, err == invalid jwt id
});

// verify subject
var cert = fs.readFileSync('public.pem');  // get public key
jwt.verify(token, cert, { audience: 'urn:foo', issuer: 'urn:issuer', jwtid: 'jwtid', subject: 'subject' }, function(err, decoded) {
  // if subject mismatch, err == invalid subject
});

// alg mismatch
var cert = fs.readFileSync('public.pem'); // get public key
jwt.verify(token, cert, { algorithms: ['RS256'] }, function (err, payload) {
  // if token alg != RS256,  err == invalid signature
});

// Verify using getKey callback
// Example uses https://github.com/auth0/node-jwks-rsa as a way to fetch the keys.
var jwksClient = require('jwks-rsa');
var client = jwksClient({
  jwksUri: 'https://sandrino.auth0.com/.well-known/jwks.json'
});
function getKey(header, callback){
  client.getSigningKey(header.kid, function(err, key) {
    var signingKey = key.publicKey || key.rsaPublicKey;
    callback(null, signingKey);
  });
}

jwt.verify(token, getKey, options, function(err, decoded) {
  console.log(decoded.foo) // bar
});

Need to peek into a JWT without verifying it? (Click to expand)

jwt.decode(token [, options])

(Synchronous) Returns the decoded payload without verifying if the signature is valid.

Warning: This will not verify whether the signature is valid. You should not use this for untrusted messages. You most likely want to use jwt.verify instead.

Warning: When the token comes from an untrusted source (e.g. user input or external request), the returned decoded payload should be treated like any other user input; please make sure to sanitize and only work with properties that are expected

token is the JsonWebToken string

options:

  • json: force JSON.parse on the payload even if the header doesn't contain "typ":"JWT".
  • complete: return an object with the decoded payload and header.

Example

// get the decoded payload ignoring signature, no secretOrPrivateKey needed
var decoded = jwt.decode(token);

// get the decoded payload and header
var decoded = jwt.decode(token, {complete: true});
console.log(decoded.header);
console.log(decoded.payload)

Errors & Codes

Possible thrown errors during verification. Error is the first argument of the verification callback.

TokenExpiredError

Thrown error if the token is expired.

Error object:

  • name: 'TokenExpiredError'
  • message: 'jwt expired'
  • expiredAt: [ExpDate]
jwt.verify(token, 'shhhhh', function(err, decoded) {
  if (err) {
    /*
      err = {
        name: 'TokenExpiredError',
        message: 'jwt expired',
        expiredAt: 1408621000
      }
    */
  }
});

JsonWebTokenError

Error object:

  • name: 'JsonWebTokenError'
  • message:
    • 'invalid token' - the header or payload could not be parsed
    • 'jwt malformed' - the token does not have three components (delimited by a .)
    • 'jwt signature is required'
    • 'invalid signature'
    • 'jwt audience invalid. expected: [OPTIONS AUDIENCE]'
    • 'jwt issuer invalid. expected: [OPTIONS ISSUER]'
    • 'jwt id invalid. expected: [OPTIONS JWT ID]'
    • 'jwt subject invalid. expected: [OPTIONS SUBJECT]'
jwt.verify(token, 'shhhhh', function(err, decoded) {
  if (err) {
    /*
      err = {
        name: 'JsonWebTokenError',
        message: 'jwt malformed'
      }
    */
  }
});

NotBeforeError

Thrown if current time is before the nbf claim.

Error object:

  • name: 'NotBeforeError'
  • message: 'jwt not active'
  • date: 2018-10-04T16:10:44.000Z
jwt.verify(token, 'shhhhh', function(err, decoded) {
  if (err) {
    /*
      err = {
        name: 'NotBeforeError',
        message: 'jwt not active',
        date: 2018-10-04T16:10:44.000Z
      }
    */
  }
});

Algorithms supported

Array of supported algorithms. The following algorithms are currently supported.

alg Parameter ValueDigital Signature or MAC Algorithm
HS256HMAC using SHA-256 hash algorithm
HS384HMAC using SHA-384 hash algorithm
HS512HMAC using SHA-512 hash algorithm
RS256RSASSA-PKCS1-v1_5 using SHA-256 hash algorithm
RS384RSASSA-PKCS1-v1_5 using SHA-384 hash algorithm
RS512RSASSA-PKCS1-v1_5 using SHA-512 hash algorithm
PS256RSASSA-PSS using SHA-256 hash algorithm (only node ^6.12.0 OR >=8.0.0)
PS384RSASSA-PSS using SHA-384 hash algorithm (only node ^6.12.0 OR >=8.0.0)
PS512RSASSA-PSS using SHA-512 hash algorithm (only node ^6.12.0 OR >=8.0.0)
ES256ECDSA using P-256 curve and SHA-256 hash algorithm
ES384ECDSA using P-384 curve and SHA-384 hash algorithm
ES512ECDSA using P-521 curve and SHA-512 hash algorithm
noneNo digital signature or MAC value included

Refreshing JWTs

First of all, we recommend you to think carefully if auto-refreshing a JWT will not introduce any vulnerability in your system.

We are not comfortable including this as part of the library, however, you can take a look at this example to show how this could be accomplished. Apart from that example there are an issue and a pull request to get more knowledge about this topic.

TODO

  • X.509 certificate chain is not checked

Issue Reporting

If you have found a bug or if you have a feature request, please report them at this repository issues section. Please do not report security vulnerabilities on the public GitHub issue tracker. The Responsible Disclosure Program details the procedure for disclosing security issues.

Author

Auth0

License

This project is licensed under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.

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