Many blogs discuss and show in detail how to integrate the Azure Active Directory (AAD) with VMware Workspace ONE Access (WoA) as a 3rd party IDP, and the following are my top post on that topic:
- Integrating Azure Active Directory With VMware Workspace ONE Access As 3rd Party Identity Provider – End User Computing Blog (sharingforbetter.net)
- Using Azure AD as a SAML IdP in Workspace ONE Access – Steve The Identity Guy
- VMware Workspace ONE Access on Azure Active Directory With JIT Provisioning – vDrone
- Refining My Azure-powered Workspace ONE Design – Mobile Jon’s Blog (mobile-jon.com)
However, in this blog post, I would like to shed more light on the SAML Authentication Flow between the Azure Active Directory (Identity Provider) and VMware Workspace ONE Access (Service Provider). When designing the WoA and AAD integration, the below flow helped me understand what is happening behind the scenes, and I thought of sharing my knowledge with you all.
- SAML Authentication Flow
- AuthnRequest
- Issuer
- NameIDPolicy
- RequestAuthnContext
- SAML Response that AAD sends to WoA
#ProTip – I use a Chrome/Edge extension called SAML-tracer to inspect the SAML responses back and forth within the browser.
SAML Authentication Flow
The diagram below describes the single sign-on sequence. The VMware Workspace ONE Access (the service provider) uses an HTTP Redirect binding to pass an AuthnRequest (authentication request) element to Azure AD (the 3rd party identity provider in case of WoA). Azure AD then uses an HTTP post binding to post a Response element to the cloud service.
| S. No. | Description Flow |
| 1. | End-user tries to access the VMware Workspace ONE Access portal |
| 2. | VMware Workspace ONE Access finds the identity provider to authenticate the user |
| 3. | VMware Workspace ONE Access generates a SAML 2.0 AuthnRequest and redirects the user’s browser to the Azure AD SAML single sign-on URL |
| 4. | If the end-user is not signed in, Azure AD authenticates the user using multi-factor authentication & generates a SAML token |
| 5. | Azure AD posts the SAML response to the WoA application via the user’s browser |
| 6. | VMware Workspace ONE Access verifies the SAML Response |
| 7. | VMware Workspace ONE Access completes the end-user sign-in and presents the desktop/app entitlements |
Note – I have randomly created the GUID within the XML response just for demonstration purposes.
AuthnRequest
To request a end-user authentication, from WoA portal send an AuthnRequest element to Azure AD. Following is the SAML SAML 2.0 AuthnRequest from WoA portal:
<samlp:AuthnRequest xmlns:samlp="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:protocol"
AssertionConsumerServiceURL="https://askaresh.com/SAAS/auth/saml/response"
Destination="https://login.microsoftonline.com/adsadas-2312asdasd-asdasda-2312asdda/saml2"
ForceAuthn="false"
ID="_sdasdwqezxdasdasd2313asdas"
IssueInstant="2021-08-04T00:24:08.092Z"
ProtocolBinding="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-POST"
ProviderName="askaresh.com"
Version="2.0"
>
</samlp:AuthnRequest>
Issuer
The Issuer element in an AuthnRequest must exactly match one of the ServicePrincipalNames in the cloud service in Azure AD. Typically, this is set to the App ID URI that is specified during application registration. (When the Enterprise Application is created under AAD portal)
<saml:Issuer xmlns:saml="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:assertion">https://askaresh.com/SAAS/API/1.0/GET/metadata/sp.xml</saml:Issuer>
NameIDPolicy
This element requests a particular name ID format in the response and is optional in AuthnRequest elements sent to Azure AD. A NameIdPolicy element looks like the following from WoA portal:
<samlp:NameIDPolicy AllowCreate="false"
Format="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress"/>
RequestAuthnContext
The RequestedAuthnContext element specifies the desired authentication methods. It is optional in AuthnRequest elements sent to Azure AD. Azure AD supports AuthnContextClassRef values snippet from WoA portal:
<samlp:RequestedAuthnContext>
<saml:AuthnContextClassRef xmlns:saml="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:assertion">urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:ac:classes:Password</saml:AuthnContextClassRef>
</samlp:RequestedAuthnContext>
SAML Response AAD sends to WoA portal (Step 5-6)
The SAML Repsonse that AAD sends back to WoA portal:
<samlp:Response xmlns:samlp="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:protocol"
ID="_2132sdasdasdas-asdasd-aeeqwq-adsa"
Version="2.0"
IssueInstant="2021-08-04T02:39:06.365Z"
Destination="https://askaresh.com/SAAS/auth/saml/response"
InResponseTo="_ad123123213qws12312asa1"
>
<Issuer xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:assertion">https://sts.windows.net/se13edsadsadasdasdasd2342342dasdas/</Issuer>
<samlp:Status>
<samlp:StatusCode Value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:status:Success" />
</samlp:Status>
<Assertion xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:assertion"
ID="_324sadasdsa-adsa-asd1312-adsasdas"
IssueInstant="2021-08-04T02:39:06.365Z"
Version="2.0"
>
<Issuer>https://sts.windows.net/123asdasdas-adsa-asdsad-asdsad-4523213432asd/</Issuer>
<Signature xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#">
<SignedInfo>
<CanonicalizationMethod Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2001/10/xml-exc-c14n#" />
<SignatureMethod Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmldsig-more#rsa-sha256" />
<Reference URI="#_54fb024a-f2f0-4495-99c7-f47e3fd37701">
<Transforms>
<Transform Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#enveloped-signature" />
<Transform Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2001/10/xml-exc-c14n#" />
</Transforms>
<DigestMethod Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#sha256" />
<DigestValue>3213asdasdase3432sdsadasd2342432423675=</DigestValue>
</Reference>
</SignedInfo>
<SignatureValue>SIGNATUREDATA==</SignatureValue>
<KeyInfo>
<X509Data>
<X509Certificate>CERTDATA==</X509Certificate>
</X509Data>
</KeyInfo>
</Signature>
<Subject>
<NameID Format="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress">aresh@askaresh.com</NameID>
<SubjectConfirmation Method="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:cm:bearer">
<SubjectConfirmationData InResponseTo="_aasdwqewqsadsadasdsa-asdasd-asdasd"
NotOnOrAfter="2021-08-04T03:39:04.318Z"
Recipient="https://askaresh.com/SAAS/auth/saml/response"
/>
</SubjectConfirmation>
</Subject>
<Conditions NotBefore="2021-08-04T02:34:04.318Z"
NotOnOrAfter="2021-08-04T03:39:04.318Z"
>
<AudienceRestriction>
<Audience>https://askaresh.com/SAAS/API/1.0/GET/metadata/sp.xml</Audience>
</AudienceRestriction>
</Conditions>
<AttributeStatement>
<Attribute Name="http://schemas.microsoft.com/identity/claims/tenantid">
<AttributeValue>adsad1-adsasdsa-adasdasd-adasdsa-12321321</AttributeValue>
</Attribute>
<Attribute Name="http://schemas.microsoft.com/identity/claims/objectidentifier">
<AttributeValue>123dsfssdfw12312asdasdadasdxsas21s</AttributeValue>
</Attribute>
<Attribute Name="http://schemas.microsoft.com/identity/claims/identityprovider">
<AttributeValue>https://sts.windows.net/131sdfsdfsdfsdcs13123123dsfsdfsdfxcr21e23rwadsadsa/</AttributeValue>
</Attribute>
<Attribute Name="http://schemas.microsoft.com/claims/authnmethodsreferences">
<AttributeValue>http://schemas.microsoft.com/ws/2008/06/identity/authenticationmethod/password</AttributeValue>
</Attribute>
<Attribute Name="email">
<AttributeValue>aresh@askaresh.com</AttributeValue>
</Attribute>
<Attribute Name="ExternalID">
<AttributeValue>8711aaae-b7b3-4202-8faf-f2408ffd7cf9</AttributeValue>
</Attribute>
<Attribute Name="userName">
<AttributeValue>aresh@askaresh.com</AttributeValue>
</Attribute>
<Attribute Name="userPrincipalName">
<AttributeValue>aresh@askaresh.com</AttributeValue>
</Attribute>
</AttributeStatement>
<AuthnStatement AuthnInstant="2021-08-04T02:38:59.239Z"
SessionIndex="_123123-adsasdsa-ad213123dsaasdsa"
>
<AuthnContext>
<AuthnContextClassRef>urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:ac:classes:Password</AuthnContextClassRef>
</AuthnContext>
</AuthnStatement>
</Assertion>
</samlp:Response>
Reference Link
The above flow I learnt from an excellent Microsoft page – Azure Single Sign On SAML Protocol – Microsoft identity platform | Microsoft Docs. Without this article, it wouldn’t have been possible to understand this under the hood.
I hope you will find the above information helpful in your journey with AAD/WoA. A small request if you see any scope of improvisation or refinements. I hope you can share it back with me?
Thanks,
Aresh Sarkari
