HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension (ESE)

Concepts

Concept of the HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension.

Realms

Realms are abstract representations of external sources of authentication or authorization information. The ESE uses realms to authenticate connecting clients and authorize the future actions of the connecting clients. Specific types of realms correspond to the different types of authentication and authorization sources that are available. For example, the source behind an SQL realm is an SQL database.

Each type of realm has a specific configuration.

This example realm-configuration structure uses an sql-realm (1):

Example SQL realm configuration structure
<enterprise-security-extension>
    ...

    <realms>
        <sql-realm> (1)
            <name>realm-name</name>
            <enabled>true</enabled>
            <configuration>
                <!-- enter specific configuration options, for example, database url and credentials -->
            </configuration>
        </sql-realm>

        <!-- configure additional realms -->
    </realms>

    ...
</enterprise-security-extension>

In general, realms need to establish connections to external services. You must ensure that these external services are available for connection establishment when you start the extension.

This example realm-configuration structure uses a jwt-realm (1):

Example JWT realm configuration structure
<jwt-realm>
    <name>jwt-backend</name> <!-- mandatory -->
    <enabled>true</enabled> <!-- mandatory -->
    <configuration>
        <jwks-endpoint>https://some.uri</jwks-endpoint> <!-- mandatory -->
        <jwks-cache-duration>1800</jwks-cache-duration> <!-- optional, default is 1800 -->
        <ssl-trust-store password="pass" type="jks">/file/path</ssl-trust-store>  <!-- optional -->
        <introspection-endpoint>https://another.uri</introspection-endpoint>  <!-- optional -->
        <simple-auth>  <!-- optional -->
            <user-name>clientName</user-name>
            <password>client-secret</password>
        </simple-auth>
    </configuration>
</jwt-realm>

Realms are configured in the <realms> tag of the ESE configuration file. Each realm needs a unique name so it can be accurately referenced in your pipelines. Since establishing a realm connection can be an expensive operation, all realms can be disabled for testing purposes.

Available Realm Types

Table 1. Available Realm Types

Realm

MQTT Client

Control-Center

Authentication

Authorization

Authentication

Authorization

SQL Realm

JWT Realm

LDAP Realm


Pipelines

When a client tries to connect to HiveMQ, the client runs through a pipeline of the Enterprise Security Extension before the connection is accepted. This pipeline contains the individual steps that are required to authenticate and authorize the client. It is possible to configure multiple pipelines to authenticate or authorize different types of clients with different mechanisms.

Pipelines are highly configurable. However, a pipeline usually has four stages:

  • Authentication preprocessing

  • Authentication

  • Authorization preprocessing

  • Authorization

MQTT client CONNECT sequence

Authentication Preprocessing

Preprocessing is done with ESE variables. When a client connects at the start of a pipeline, only the MQTT variables (mqtt-clientid, mqtt-username, mqtt-password) are filled with the values the client provides in its CONNECT packet. The purpose of authentication preprocessing is to fill the authentication variables that the next stage of the pipeline requires to actually authenticate the client. The way variables are preprocessed and transformed is explained in the Preprocessors section.

Authentication preprocessing is optional. By default, the MQTT username and password are filled in as the authentication key and authentication secret.

Authentication

Authentication is performed by an authentication manager. For example, an SQL authentication manager that uses a database realm. The authentication manager uses the authentication variables to verify whether a client is authenticated to connect to HiveMQ. Additionally, the authentication manager can provide values for some authorization variables. For example, provide a role key that can be used for authorization.

Authorization Preprocessing

Preprocessing for authorization is similar to authentication preprocessing. The only difference is that authorization preprocessing fills or transforms the authorization variables.

Authorization

Authorization is performed by an authorization manager. For example, an SQL authorization manager that uses a database realm. The authorization manager uses authorization variables to query permissions for a client. These permissions define which operations the client is allowed to perform.

Exmample Pipeline configuration structure
<enterprise-security-extension>
    ...

    <pipelines>
        <listener-pipeline listener="ALL">
            <authentication-preprocessors>
                ...
            </authentication-preprocessors>

            <sql-authentication-manager>
                ...
            </sql-authentication-manager>

            <authorization-preprocessors>
                ...
            </authorization-preprocessors>

            <sql-authorization-manager>
                ...
            </sql-authorization-manager>
        </listener-pipeline>

        <!-- configurations for additional pipelines -->
    </pipelines>

</enterprise-security-extension>


Listener Pipelines

When a client connects to HiveMQ, the Enterprise Security Extension selects the appropriate pipeline for the client.

It is possible to configure multiple pipelines that each map to different HiveMQ listeners. This enables you to authenticate and authorize backend applications and devices that connect over the internet differently.

Example Listener pipelines configuration
<enterprise-security-extension>
    ...

    <pipelines>
        <listener-pipeline listener="listener-internet"> (1)
            ...
        </listener-pipeline>

        <listener-pipeline listener="listener-backend">
            ...
        </listener-pipeline>

        <listener-pipeline listener="ALL"> (2)
            ...
        </listener-pipeline>
    </pipelines>

</enterprise-security-extension>
1 The listener attribute takes the name of the listener that is defined in the HiveMQ config.xml.
2 ALL is a keyword for a special pipeline. This pipeline is used if a client connects to a listener whose name does not match another pipeline.

If a client connects to a listener whose name does not match any pipeline and no ALL pipeline is configured, the ESE rejects the connection attempt.

Pipeline selection process


ESE Variables

The Enterprise Security Extension assigns a set of ESE variables to every connecting client. To give you maximum authentication and authorization flexibility, you can configure how the ESE variables are manipulated in the preprocessing stages of a pipeline.

There are two data types available for ESE variables:

  • String: ESE variables of this data type store a sequence of characters of arbitrary length or null

  • Byte: ESE variables of this data type store a sequence of bytes of arbitrary length or null

Additionally, ESE variables can be constant. Constant ESE variables contain read-only values that the ESE runtime system provides. Specific preprocessors can only use specific types of ESE variables.

Some ESE variables have predefined meanings, others can be used as general purpose variables. ESE variables are grouped into four categories:

MQTT Variables

MQTT variables are initialized by the ESE runtime system. The value of an MQTT variable is derived directly from the MQTT CONNECT packet of the connecting client.

Table 2. MQTT variables
Name Data type Description

mqtt-clientid

Constant string

Set to the client ID of the connecting client.

mqtt-username

Constant string

Set to the user name field of the connecting client.

mqtt-password

Constant byte

Set to the password field of the connecting client.

General Purpose Variables

General purpose variables do not have a predefined meaning. These variables can be used during pipeline processing as desired. At the start of a pipeline, the initial state of a general purpose variable is always null.

Table 3. General purpose variables
Name Data type

byte-1 byte-2 byte-3 byte-4 byte-5 byte-6

Byte

string-1 string-2 string-3 string-4 string-5 string-6

String

Authentication Variables

Authentication variables are used by the authentication managers to verify the identity of a connecting client. These variables are usually manipulated in the authentication-preprocessing step of a pipeline.

Table 4. Authentication variables
Name Data type Description

authentication-key

String

The authentication-key is generally used by the authentication manager to identify the connecting client.

authentication-byte-secret

Byte

The authentication-byte-secret is generally used by the authentication manager to ensure the claims of the connecting client.

Authorization Variables

Authorization variables are used by the authorization managers to specify access rights to MQTT topics. Based on the state of the authorization variables, the authorization manager assigns permissions to a connecting client. Authorization variables are usually manipulated in the authorization-preprocessing step of a pipeline.

Table 5. Authorization variables
Name Data type Description

authorization-key

String

The authorization-key is generally used by the authorization manager to assign client-specific permissions.

authorization-role-key

String

The authorization-role-key is generally used by the authentication manager to assign permissions that are inherent to a conceptional group of clients.

Permission Placeholders

Permission placeholders facilitate the creation of permissions for groups of clients that require similar, but client-specific permissions. The use of permission placeholders can eliminate the need to create individual permissions for each client.

The placeholders can be used inside the topic filter and shared group of a permission. All ESE variables of the string data type can be used as placeholders. At the end of the authorization step, the placeholders are dynamically replaced with the values of the referenced ESE variables.

To create a permission with a placeholder, insert the name of the ESE variable framed with ${ and } at the desired position in the permission.

Example for permission placeholders:

  • The authorization manager grants subscription to the topic filter topic/${mqtt-clientid}/${string-1}/subtopic.

  • If the value of mqtt-clientid is my-special-client and string-1 is last, then the connecting client is only allowed to subscribe with the topic filter topic/my-special-client/last/subtopic.

Only variables of the string data type can be substituted. Byte variables can not be replaced.


Preprocessors

In a pipeline, you can add preprocessing steps before authentication and before authorization. The preprocessing is done through the configuration of one or more preprocessors. Preprocessors are lightweight pipeline steps that work with the current state of the ESE variables and have no external dependencies.


Plain Preprocessor

The plain preprocessor offers a way to transfer the state of ESE variables. It contains a list of one or more transformations. During runtime, the transformations are processed in the order in which they appear in the configuration file.

Example Plain preprocessor configuration
<plain-preprocessor>
    <transformations>
        <transformation>...</transformation>
        <transformation>...</transformation>
        <transformation>...</transformation>
        <!-- add  more transformations-->
    </transformations>
</plain-preprocessor>

A transformation copies values from one ESE variable to another ESE variable. These variables are annotated as from and to variables. After the transformation process, the value in the from variable is stored in the to variable as well as in the from variable. Constant ESE variables are not permitted in a to variable.

If the data type of the from and to variables differ, an encoding must be specified.

Example Transformation configuration
<transformation encoding="UTF8">
    <from>byte-1</from>
    <to>string-1</to>
</transformation>
Table 6. Transformation parameters
Parameter Type Description

encoding

Encoding

Defines how the ESE variable referenced in the from tag is interpreted. This parameter is only valid if the from and to variables have different data types and require a type conversion.

from

String

References the ESE variable in which the incoming data of the transformation is stored.

to

String

References the ESE variable in which the outgoing data of the transformation is stored.
Table 7. Transformation encodings
Encoding Description

UTF8

Uses the UTF-8 encoding as specified in RFC 3629.

Base64

Uses the Base64 encoding as specified in RFC 4648. Some transformations produce or require padding of up to two = characters.


Regex Preprocessor

The regex preprocessor allows you to pull substrings from a string ESE variable with the help of regular expressions. The preprocessor takes the value of the selected string variable, matches a pattern, and writes the resulting matches back into the string variable.

The regex preprocessor is useful when just a part of an ESE variable must be used for authentication or authorization purposes. Here are some examples:

  • All client passwords start with the phrase password followed by the real secret.

  • A part of the client ID needs to be inserted into the topic permissions to specify the client.

  • Only the first three characters of the user name are relevant.

The regex preprocessor contains a regular expression pattern, an optional group number, and a list of ESE variables to which the preprocessor is applied.

Example Regex preprocessor configuration
<regex-preprocessor>
    <pattern>mqtt-client=((.{3})-(.{3}))</pattern>
    <group>1</group>
    <variable>authentication-key</variable>
</regex-preprocessor>
Table 8. Regex preprocessor parameters
Parameter Type Description

pattern

String

The regular expression that is used

group

Positive integer or 0

The group in the regular expression that is extracted. Groups are framed with parenthesis ( and ). The 0 group is always the whole pattern. The default is 0.

variable

String

References the ESE variable that is processed. This tag can be present multiple times.
Regular Expression Syntax

The regex preprocessor expands the regular expressions syntax that the HiveMQ Control Center uses to include grouping logic.

To add a group to a pattern, include a pair of matching parenthesis (). Groups are ordered by their opening parenthesis ( from left to right. Regardless of the parenthesis, the 0 group is always present and contains the whole matched pattern.

For example, a variable that contains the string "SOMETHINGmqtt-client=abc-defSOMETHING" is processed with the pattern mqtt-client=((.{3})-(.{3})) that contains four groups. Based on the matched group, the value of the string variable after preprocessing is as follows:

Table 9. Example Regular expression group
Group Number New Value

0

mqtt-client=abc-def

1

abc-def

2

abc

3

def


Concatenation Preprocessor

The Concatenation Preprocessor allows you to join the values of multiple string ESE variables and place the concatenated result into a single ESE variable.

The Concatenation Preprocessor contains one or more input string ESE variables and a single output string ESE variable. If desired, you can define a prefix and postfix to enclose the values of every input string ESE variable that is given.

Example Concatenation preprocessor configuration
<concatenation-preprocessor prefix="{{" postfix="}}">
    <from>string-1</from>
    <from>string-2</from>
    <to>string-3</to>
</concatenation-preprocessor>
Table 10. Concatenation preprocessor parameters
Parameter Type Description

prefix

String (XML attribute)

Specifies the characters that are used before a value to separate multiple values in a field (optional). Default: {{

postfix

String (XML attribute)

Specifies the characters that are used after a value to separate multiple values in a field (optional). Default: }}

from

String

References the string ESE variables that are concatenated. This tag can be present multiple times.

to

String

References the string ESE variable where the string that is the result of the concatenation is placed.
Concatenation Preprocessor Example

If you use the Concatenation Preprocessor example configuration, you can expect the following behavior:

Example 1. Example basic concatenation of variables

This example shows how the values of the string-1 and string-2 ESE variables are concatenated. The result of the concatenation is placed in the string-3 ESE variable.

The string-1 ESE variable contains the value "Lorem" and the string-2 ESE variable contains the value "Ipsum". After processing, the string-3 ESE variable contains the value "{{Lorem}}{{Ipsum}}".


Split Preprocessor

The Split Preprocessor allows you to divide the value of a string ESE variables into multiple tokens and place the resulting tokens into one or more ESE variables.

The Split Preprocessor contains one input string ESE variable and one or more output string ESE variables. You can also define a prefix and a postfix, that enclose the individual substrings in the input string ESE variable.

Example Split preprocessor configuration
<split-preprocessor prefix="{{" postfix="}}">
    <from>string-1</from>
    <to>string-2</to>
    <to>string-3</to>
</split-preprocessor>
Table 11. Split preprocessor parameters
Parameter Type Description

prefix

String (XML attribute)

The characters used before an extracted value to separate multiple values in a field. Default: {{ (must not be an empty string)

postfix

String (XML attribute)

The characters used after an extracted value to separate multiple values in a field. Default: }} (must not be an empty string)

from

String

References the string ESE variable that is divided into separate tokens.

to

String

References the string ESE variables where the tokens are placed. This tag can be present multiple times.
If more tokens are present than destination variables, the surplus tokens are not placed in a string ESE variable.
Split Preprocessor Example Usage

When you use the Split Preprocessor example configuration, you can expect the following behavior:

Example 2. Example basic splitting of a string ESE variable

This example shows how the value of the string-1 ESE variable is split into 2 strings (tokens) that are placed in the string-2 and string-3 ESE variables.
The string-1 ESE variable contains the value "{{Lorem}}{{Ipsum}}".
After processing, the string-2 ESE variable contains the value "Lorem" and the string-3 ESE variable contains the value "Ipsum".

Example 3. Example splitting of a string ESE variable into more tokens than destination ESE variables

This example shows how the value of the string-1 ESE variable is divided into tokens when only 2 destination ESE variables are given. As a result, the third token is ignored.
The string-1 ESE variable contains the value "{{Lorem}}{{Ipsum}}{{Dolor}}".
After processing, the string-2 ESE variable contains the value "Lorem" and the string-3 ESE variable contains the value "Ipsum".
The "Dolor" value is not placed in any ESE variable.


X.509 Preprocessor

The X.509 preprocessor makes it possible to use information that is provided in the X.509 certificate of a connecting MQTT client for authentication and authorization of the client in HiveMQ.

You can use the X.509 preprocessor to extract values from specific fields in the X.509 certificate of the client and copy the values to an ESE variable.

If desired, add one or more regex preprocessors to transform the information that you extract automatically.

The HiveMQ X.509 preprocessor can extract values from the following X.509 certificate fields:

  • Issuer Common Name: The name of the entity that provides the X.509 certificate. This field is limited to one entry and a maximum of 64 characters.

  • Subject Common Name: The name of the entity that the X.509 certificate protects. This field is limited to one entry and a maximum of 64 characters.

  • Common Names from the Issuer Alternative Names extension: Additional names for the entity that provides the certificate. This field can contain multiple entries. The object identifier (OID) for this field is 2.5.29.18.

  • Common Names from the Subject Alternative Names extension: Additional names for the subject of the certificate. This field can contain multiple entries. The OID for this field is 2.5.29.17.

X.509 Preprocessor Configuration

The X.509 preprocessor contains a list of X.509 extractions and a configurable prefix/postfix (for fields that allow multiple entries).

Example X.509 preprocessor configuration
<enterprise-security-extension>
    <pipelines>
        <listener-pipeline listener="listener">
            <authentication-preprocessors>
                <x509-preprocessor prefix="{{" postfix="}}">
                    <x509-extractions>
                        <x509-extraction>
                            <x509-field>subject-common-name</x509-field>
                            <ese-variable>authentication-key</ese-variable>
                        </x509-extraction>
                    </x509-extractions>
                </x509-preprocessor>
            </authentication-preprocessors>
        </listener-pipeline>
    </pipelines>
</enterprise-security-extension>
Table 12. X.509 preprocessor parameters
Parameter Type Description

prefix

String (XML attribute)

The characters used before an extracted value to separate multiple values in a field. Default: {{

postfix

String (XML attribute)

The characters used after an extracted value to separate multiple values in a field. Default: }}

x509-extractions

x509-extraction

A list of x509-extractions that specify how the values that are stored in an X.509 certificate are transformed into ESE variables.
Table 13. X.509 extraction parameters
Parameter Type Description

x509-field

XML enum

The field in the X.509 certificate that is extracted into the ESE variable. Possible values are: issuer-common-name, subject-common-name, issuer-alternative-common-names, and subject-alternative-common-names.

ese-variable

XML enum

The ESE variable that stores the extracted information. This ESE variable must be a non-constant string variable.


In an X.509 certificate, some fields can contain more than one entry. If a field contains multiple entries, the entries of the field are wrapped in the configured prefix and postfix and concatenated before they are written into the ESE variable.

For example, the MQTT client of a car-pool vehicle provides a certificate that contains the following two subject-alternative common names:

  • id-1234567 (the identification number of the car)

  • car-pool-south-east (the car-pool group to which the car belongs)

After extraction into an ESE variable with the default prefix/postfix, the ESE variable contains the following concatenated string:

{{id-1234567}}{{car-pool-south-east}}

In this example, a regex preprocessor with the pattern {{.}}{{(.)}} and group 1 is applied.
The regex preprocessor creates an ESE variable that contains the following string:

car-pool-south-east

Next, a preconfigured authorization manager uses the resulting ESE variable to assign role-based permissions to the MQTT client of the car-pool vehicle.


JWT Preprocessor

The JWT preprocessor makes it possible to extract information that is provided in the JSON Web Token (JWT) of a connecting MQTT client for authentication of the client in HiveMQ.

The HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension retrieves information from the payload of the JWT. The JWT payload contains Base64URL encoded information about the bearer of the token. Each statement in the JWT payload is called a claim.

You can use the JWT preprocessor to extract values from specific claims in the JWT that the MQTT client presents and copy the value to an ESE variable.

If desired, add one or more regex preprocessors to transform the information that you extract automatically.

JWT Preprocessor Configuration

The JWT preprocessor contains a list of extractions and a configurable prefix/postfix (for fields that allow multiple entries).

Example JWT preprocessor configuration
<jwt-preprocessor prefix="{{" postfix="}}">
    <source>authentication-byte-secret</source>
    <jwt-extractions>
        <jwt-extraction>
            <jwt-claim>azp</jwt-claim>
            <ese-variable>string-1</ese-variable>
        </jwt-extraction>
    </jwt-extractions>
</jwt-preprocessor>
Table 14. JWT preprocessor parameters
Parameter Type Description

prefix

String (XML attribute)

The characters used before an extracted value to separate multiple values in a field. Default: {{

postfix

String (XML attribute)

The characters used after an extracted value to separate multiple values in a field. Default: }}

source

ESE Variable

The byte variable that contains the JWT.

jwt-extractions

jwt-extraction

A list of jwt-extractions that specify how the values that are stored in a JWT are transformed into ESE variables.
Table 15. JWT extraction parameters
Parameter Type Description

claim

String

The field in the JWT that is extracted into the ESE variable. For example, reserved-claim values such as aud, sub, iss, and scope. Possible custom-claim values are based on your individual configuration.

ese-variable

ESE variables

The ESE variable that stores the extracted information. This ESE variable must not be constant.

In a JWT, some claims can contain more than one entry. If a claim contains multiple entries, the entries of the field are wrapped in the configured prefix and postfix and concatenated before they are written into the ESE variable.


Logging Preprocessor

The logging preprocessor offers a way to debug the state of ESE variables. At the pipeline stage where the preprocessor is placed, the content of the variables is output to a logger. The loggers are placed in the pipeline in same the order in which they appear in the configuration file.

Logging preprocessors impact performance. Only use logging preprocessors for debugging purposes.
Example Logging preprocessor configuration
<logging-preprocessor>
    <message>The content of the string-1 ESE-Variable: ${string-1}</message>
    <level>debug</level>
    <name>com.example.logger</name>
</logging-preprocessor>
Table 16. Logging preprocessor parameters
Parameter Type Default Description

message (required)

String

Defines the message that is output to the logger. Use the following syntax to input the ESE variables: ${ESE_VARRIABLE_NAME}.

level

logging level

debug

The logging level of the message.

name (required)

String

The name of the logger.

codec

encoding

Base64

The encoding of byte ESE variables.
Table 17. Transformation encodings
Level Description

trace

Trace Logging Level

debug

Debug Logging Level

info

Info Logging Level

warn

Warn Logging Level

error

Error Logging Level
Set the Log Level

By default, the root level that is set in the HiveMQ logback.xml is used. If you wish to set the log level for a specific logging preprocessor, you can define the level in the HiveMQ logback.xml.

Example to set a specific logging preprocessor to the debug level
<configuration scan="true" scanPeriod="60 seconds">

    ...

    <logger name="<LOGGING_PREPROCESSOR_NAME>" level="debug"/>

    ...

</configuration>
Example to set a specific logging preprocessor to the info level
<configuration scan="true" scanPeriod="60 seconds">

    ...

    <logger name="<LOGGING_PREPROCESSOR_NAME>" level="info"/>

    ...

</configuration>
Example to set a specific logging preprocessor to the trace level
<configuration scan="true" scanPeriod="60 seconds">

    ...

    <logger name="<LOGGING_PREPROCESSOR_NAME>" level="trace"/>

    ...

</configuration>


Cryptographic Operations

Usage of Cryptography

The ESE uses cryptography to compare securely-stored secrets with the secrets that the MQTT clients provide for authentication. To make the comparison, the ESE currently employs four different password hashing schemata.

All schemata can be scaled in computational difficulty and all schemata allow for the use of an optional salt. Difficulty scaling is done with a difficulty parameter (if the one-way function that is used supports this parameter) or by using the output of the function as input in additional rounds of hashing. The Salt is used in the way that is specified by the one-way function or it is prepended once before the first round of hashing is done.

The ESE expects all byte strings such as hashed passwords to be encoded with the Base64 encoding scheme.

Once the cryptographic processing of the client-provided secret is done, the ESE compares the result with the configured trust for bit equality.

MD5

The ESE can use the MD5 message digest.

  • The salt is prepended to the secret before the first round of hashing.

  • The difficulty is scaled by using the output of MD5 again as input for iteration-times rounds.

  • The resulting hash has a length of 16 bytes or 24 characters in Base64 encoding.

MD5 is proven to be insufficiently strong for modern security standards and is only made available for testing and legacy purposes.

SHA512

The ESE can use the Secure Hashing Algorithm 2 with an output bit-length of 512 (SHA512).

  • The salt is prepended to the secret before the first round of hashing.

  • The difficulty is scaled by using the output of SHA512 again as input for iteration-times rounds.

  • The resulting hash has a length of 64 bytes or 87 characters in Base64 encoding.

BCRYPT

The ESE can use the Blowfish cipher-based password hashing scheme bcrypt.

  • The salt is hashed with MD5 to resize it before use. Because bcrypt requires the use of a salt, an empty string is hashed and used if no salt is configured.

  • The secret is hashed with SHA512 to resize it before use.

  • The iteration parameter is directly used as the difficulty parameter of bcrypt. Only values between 4 and including 31 are allowed.

  • The resulting hash has a length of 24 bytes or 32 characters in Base64 encoding.

PKCS5S2

The ESE can use the PKCS 5 V2.0 Scheme 2 as described in RFC 2898.

  • The underlying one-way function is SHA512.

  • The difficulty and the salt are directly passed on to the scheme.

  • The resulting hash has a length of 32 bytes or 44 characters in Base64 encoding.

PLAIN

The PLAIN schema (available in ESE version 1.1) is not a cryptographic operation. This schema simply prompts the ESE to do a plain-text secret comparison (without any transformation of the provided secret beforehand).

  • No one-way function is used.

  • Any difficulty parameter or salt is ignored.

  • The length of the resulting byte string or Base64 encoding is highly dependent on the secret that is used.

Only use the PLAIN schema if you have a specific use case that requires this schema. Because the performance of the PLAIN schema is very different from real hash functions, the schema is unsuitable even for testing purposes.


Authentication and Authorization

The key tasks of the Enterprise Security Extension are authentication and authorization of MQTT clients. For a detailed explanation of these concepts in the context of HiveMQ, see Authorization Options for Your HiveMQ Extension.

Authentication Managers

Authentication verifies whether a person, device, or application is who they say they are.

In the ESE, authentication is done by authentication managers. An authentication manager is defined in a pipeline and handles the authentication processes of connecting MQTT clients by using the content of the authentication variables.

Authorization Managers

Authorization defines which actions a specific person, device, or application is allowed to perform. Authorization can be split up into the concepts of roles and permissions.

A permission contains a set of actions. Users who are granted a specific permission are allowed to do the actions that are defined in the permission.

Permissions can also be assigned to a role. This role can then be assigned to a set of users. Users who have a certain role receive all of the permissions that are assigned to the role.

In the ESE, authorization is done by authorization managers. An authorization manager is defined in a pipeline and handles the authorization processes of connecting MQTT clients by using the content of the authorization variables.

We highly recommend the use of roles to assign permissions rather than the assignment of user-specific permissions. The use of roles to manage permissions creates a clear authority structure on your system and can improve overall performance of the ESE.


Allow-all Authentication and Authorization Managers

The ESE provides two special authentication and authorization managers to facilitate testing. These managers allow all clients to connect to HiveMQ without checking the credentials or permissions of the connecting client. The allow-all managers are especially useful when you want to test your authentication or authorization workflow individually. For example, to test whether all clients can connect to your SQL authentication manager, you can use the allow-all authorization manager to exclude failed authentications that authorization causes.

The allow-all managers can be used for testing in the HiveMQ listener pipelines. Based on your use case, you can use the allow-managers separately or in unison.

Allow All Authentication Manager Configuration
Example Allow-All Authentication Manager configuration
  <pipelines>
    <pipeline>
        <allow-all-authentication-manager/>

        <!-- add authorization preprocessors if necessary -->
        <!-- add an authorization manager -->
    </pipeline>
   </pipelines>
Allow All Authorization Manager Configuration
Example Allow-All Authorization Manager configuration
  <pipelines>
    <pipeline>
        <!-- add authentication preprocessors if necessary -->
        <!-- add an authentication manager -->

        <allow-all-authorization-manager/>
    </pipeline>
   </pipelines>
The allow-all authentication and authorization managers are intended for testing purposes only. We do not recommend the use of these managers in a production environment.

SQL Databases

The HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension supports different SQL databases as external sources of authentication and authorization data. In the ESE configuration file, you can use the abstract representation of SQL realms to define the connection to one or more databases.
SQL realms can be referenced in SQL authentication managers and/or SQL authorization managers.
To enable the ESE to work with the stored information, the databases must adhere to the SQL structure that is described below.
In the ESE, SQL realms and the associated managers support access control for the HiveMQ Control Center. To use the access-control feature for your control center, you need to set up additional SQL tables.

The ESE supports the following SQL databases:

See the full list of supported database versions.


SQL Realm

To connect the HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension to an SQL database, simply configure an SQL realm in the <realms> section of your ESE configuration. The SQL realm must contain the database connection information and have a unique name that the authentication and authorization managers can reference.

Example SQL realm configuration
<enterprise-security-extension>
    ...

    <realms>
        <sql-realm>
            <name>sql-realm-name</name>
            <enabled>true</enabled>
            <configuration>
                <db-type>POSTGRES</db-type>
                <db-name>hivemq</db-name>
                <db-host>hostname</db-host>
                <db-port>5432</db-port>
                <db-username>hivemq</db-username>
                <db-password>password</db-password>
            </configuration>
        </sql-realm>
    </realms>

    ...
</enterprise-security-extension>
Table 18. SQL realm database configuration parameters
Parameter Type Mandatory Description

db-type

SQL type

Specifies the database technology

db-name

String

Specifies the database within the DBMS

db-host

String

Specifies the remote address of the database

db-port

Integer

Specifies the remote port of the database

db-username

String

Specifies the username that the ESE uses to connect to the database

db-password

String

Specifies the password that the ESE uses to authenticate itself

Caching

The querying of SQL databases incurs a significant overhead in execution time. To remedy this, ESE caches information gained from connected databases.

The amount of time each type of data is cached before a time-based eviction can occur is predefined:

As cache size is limited, evictions can occur before the caching time expires.
Authentication failures caused within the database, e.g. due to the user not existing, are also cached for one minute.

These caching rules also apply to the corresponding control-center data.

Supported Database Technologies

Since the ESE supports various types of SQL databases, you must specify the type of database for each realm. Use the following predefined strings to specify the SQL database type:

Table 19. SQL types for SQL realm configuration
SQL Type Database Technology

POSTGRES

Use this type to connect to a PostgreSQL database

MYSQL

Use this type to connect to a MySQL or MariaDB database

MSSQL

Use this type to connect to an MSSQL database

AURORA_POSTGRES

Use this type to connect to an Amazon Aurora database, using the PostgreSQL API.

AURORA_MYSQL

Use this type to connect to an Amazon Aurora database, using the MySQL API.

AZURE_SQL

Use this type to connect to an Azure SQL database
Amazon Aurora offers the possibility to use a PostgreSQL or a MySQL API. You can specify the preferred type at database creation. If you do not know which database type you are using, you can check the RDS overview in the AWS management console.


SQL Authentication Manager

To use an SQL database as an external source for authentication, configure an SQL authentication manager in the desired pipeline and reference the corresponding SQL realm name in the authentication manager.

The ESE uses the authentication variables to look up authentication information in the database. By default, the authentication variables are filled with the MQTT variables mqtt-username and mqtt-password. If you want to adapt the values of the authentication variables, you can use a preprocessor before the SQL authentication manager.

If you configure preprocessors before the authentication manager, make sure that the authentication variables are set. The mqtt-username and mqtt-password are not automatically used in this case.

To ensure that the ESE can find the authentication information in the database, the layout of the database must be in accordance with the database table 'users' of the SQL database structure. If the authentication manager gets also authorization information from the database, it sets the authorization variables authorization-key and authorization-role-key too.

Example SQL Authentication Manager configuration
<enterprise-security-extension>

    <!-- add realms configuration -->

    <pipelines>
        <pipeline>
            <!-- add authentication preprocessors if necessary -->

            <sql-authentication-manager>
                <realm>sql-realm-name</realm>
            </sql-authentication-manager>

            <!-- add authorization preprocessors if necessary -->
            <!-- add an authorization manager -->
        </pipeline>
    </pipelines>

</enterprise-security-extension>
Table 20. SQL authentication manager parameters
Parameter Type Mandatory Description

realm

String

References the SQL realm from which the authentication data is drawn.


SQL Authorization Manager

To use an SQL database as an external source for authorization, configure an SQL authorization manager in the desired pipeline and reference the corresponding SQL realm name in the authorization manager.

The authorization manager also lets you define whether you want to use roles and/or user-specific permissions. Based on the configuration, the ESE uses different authorization variables. These variables can be set and manipulated with a preprocessor before the authorization manager.

Table 21. SQL authorization manager parameters
Parameter Type Mandatory / Default Description

realm

String

References the SQL realm from which the authentication data is drawn.

use-authorization-key

Boolean

false

If this parameter is set to true, the ESE uses user-specific permissions.

use-authorization-role-key

Boolean

true

If this parameter is set to true, the ESE uses role permissions.
Using Role Permissions

If you want to use role permissions, set <use-authorization-role-key> to true. The variable authorization-role-key must be set, so that the ESE can query the corresponding role and its permissions from the database.

Example SQL Authorization Manager configuration using role permissions
<enterprise-security-extension>

    <!-- add realms configuration -->

    <pipelines>
        <pipeline>
            <!-- add authentication preprocessors if necessary -->
            <!-- add an authentication manager -->
            <!-- add authorization preprocessors if necessary -->

            <sql-authorization-manager>
                <realm>sql-realm-name</realm>
                <use-authorization-key>false</use-authorization-key>
                <use-authorization-role-key>true</use-authorization-role-key>
            </sql-authorization-manager>

        </pipeline>
    </pipelines>

</enterprise-security-extension>

To ensure that the ESE finds the authorization information in the database, the layout of the database must be in accordance with the following database tables from the SQL database structure:

We recommend that you use role permissions rather than of user-specific permissions.
Using User-specific Permissions

If you want to use user-specific permissions, set <use-authorization-key> to true. The variable authorization-key must be set, so that the ESE can query the corresponding user-specific permissions from the database.

Example SQL Authorization Manager configuration using user-specific permissions
<enterprise-security-extension>

    <!-- add realms configuration -->

    <pipelines>
        <pipeline>
            <!-- add  authentication preprocessors if necessary -->
            <!-- add  authentication manager -->
            <!-- add  authorization preprocessors if necessary -->

            <sql-authorization-manager>
                <realm>example-backend</realm>
                <use-authorization-key>true</use-authorization-key>
                <use-authorization-role-key>false</use-authorization-role-key>
            </sql-authorization-manager>

        </pipeline>
    </pipelines>

</enterprise-security-extension>

To ensure that the ESE finds the authorization information in the database, the layout of the database must be in accordance with the following database tables from the SQL database structure:


SQL Database Setup

SQL Driver Installation

Each SQL realm must create a JDBC database connection to the configured database instance. To create the connection, a database-specific JDBC Driver is required.

Because the license requirements of the different JDBC driver implementations differ widely, the ESE does not come prepackaged with a driver. To provide the ESE with the necessary JDBC driver, simply drop the corresponding jar file into the <ESE-Home>/drivers/jdbc directory. Include all of the JDBC driver jar files that you need, so that the drivers can be loaded at extension start.

The following table offers links to drivers and additional information:

Table 22. JDBC drivers
Database Download Link Minimum Version

PostgreSQL and Amazon Aurora

Download link

JDBC 4.2

MySQL, MariaDB, and Amazon Aurora

Download link

Connector/J 8.0

MSSQL and Azure SQL

Download link

JDB Driver 7.2
SQL Database Setup

For the ESE to work properly, the SQL database has to have a certain schema. This structure is described in detail below.

To facilitate database setup, the ESE provides an SQL setup snippet for every supported SQL database. This snippet creates a database with all the required tables and columns. The SQL setup snippet can be found in the <ESE-Home>/sql/<ESE-Version> folder as a text file. By copying the content and inserting it into your database management system or using it directly as SQL script it generates the needed structure automatically.

Once the necessary tables are created, use the usual SQL commands to fill the tables with the data of your clients as desired.

To help you store the passwords in an appropriate format, the ESE provides a CLI tool. For example, use the CLI tool to create SQL INSERT statements for the 'users' table and ensure that all passwords are stored in a way that the ESE can process. Of course, you can process passwords and store them in the database without the provided CLI tool. The cryptography section explains how the ESE processes passwords. Always ensure that the passwords are stored in a way so that the ESE can validate them.

If you already have a supported SQL database, simply verify that your data is stored in a way that the ESE can work with. If you do not have a matching SQL structure, this SQL view documentation shows a way to create a database view that is in accordance with the required database structure of the ESE.

SQL Database Structure

Entity Relation Diagram

If you use the provided sql scripts to set up your database in version 1.2 or later, two additional columns are added to each table: created_at and updated_at. These columns are of the appropriate database-specific data type for storing an uniquely identifiable timestamp. The entry created_at is always set to the time the database record was created. The entry updated_at is always set to the time of the last change to the database record. There is no need for you to interact with either created_at or updated_at manually.
Table 23. Table "users"
Column Data Type Description

username

Text

Primary Key, Unique, Not Null

password

Text

Base64 Encoded raw byte array

password_iterations

Integer

Not Null

password_salt

Text

Not Null

algorithm

Text

Not Null
Table 24. Table "roles"
Column Data Type Description

id

Serial

Primary Key, Unique, Not Null

name

Text

Unique, Not Null

description

Text
Table 25. Table "user_roles"
Column Data Type Description

user_id

Integer

Primary Key

role_id

Integer

Primary Key
Table 26. Table "permissions"
Column Data Type Description

id

Serial

Primary Key

topic

Text

Not Null

publish_allowed

Boolean

Default false, Not Null

subscribe-allowed

Boolean

Default false, Not Null

qos_0_allowed

Boolean

Default false, Not Null

qos_1_allowed

Boolean

Default false, Not Null

qos_2_allowed

Boolean

Default false, Not Null

retained_msgs_allowed

Boolean

Default false, Not Null

shared_sub_allowed

Boolean

Default false, Not Null

shared_group

Text
Table 27. Table "role_permissions"
Column Data type Description

role

Integer

Primary Key, Not Null

permission

Integer

Primary Key, Not Null
Table 28. Table "user_permissions"
Column Data Type Description

user_id

Integer

Primary Key, Not Null

permission

Integer

Primary Key, Not Null
SQL Database Structure for Control Center Access Control

The ESE-access control feature for your control center requires additional tables in your SQL database. If you only want to authenticate or authorize MQTT clients, no additional tables are required.

Entity Relation Diagram

If you use the provided sql scripts to set up your database in version 1.2 or later, two additional columns are added to each table: created_at and updated_at. These columns are of the appropriate database-specific data type for storing a uniquely-identifiable timestamp. The entry created_at is always set to the time that the database record was created. The entry updated_at is always set to the time of the last change to the database record. There is no need for you to interact with either created_at or updated_at manually.
Table 29. Table "cc_users"
Column Data Type Description

username

Text

Primary Key, Unique, Not Null

password

Text

Base64 Encoded raw byte array

password_iterations

Integer

Not Null

password_salt

Text

Not Null

algorithm

Text

Not Null
Table 30. Table "cc_roles"
Column Data Type Description

id

Serial

Primary Key, Unique, Not Null

name

Text

Unique, Not Null

description

Text
Table 31. Table "cc_user_roles"
Column Data Type Description

user_id

Integer

Primary Key

role_id

Integer

Primary Key
Table 32. Table "cc_permissions"
Column Data Type Description

id

Serial

Primary Key

topic_string

Text

Not Null

description

Text

A script to insert all supported HiveMQ permissions is provided in the sql folder or you can copy and paste the following script:

SQL INSERT HiveMQ Control-Center Permissions
-- insert the default permissions strings that are supported by HiveMQ into the cc_permissions
insert into cc_permissions (permission_string, description)
values ('HIVEMQ_SUPER_ADMIN', 'special cc_permission, that allows access to everything'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_CLIENT_LIST', 'allowed to view client list'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_CLIENT_DETAIL', 'allowed to view client detail'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_LICENSE', 'allowed to view license page'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_TRACE_RECORDINGS', 'allowed to view trace recording page'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_DROPPED_MESSAGES', 'allowed to dropped message page'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_BACKUP', 'allowed to view backup page'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_CLIENT_ID', 'allowed to see client identifiers'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_IP', 'allowed to see client''s IPs'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_PAYLOAD', 'allowed to see message payloads'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_PASSWORD', 'allowed to see client''s passwords'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_USERNAME', 'allowed to see client''s usernames'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_WILL_MESSAGE', 'allowed to see client''s LWT'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_TOPIC', 'allowed to see client''s topics'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_SUBSCRIPTION', 'allowed to see client''s subscriptions'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_PROXY', 'allowed to see client''s proxy information'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_TLS', 'allowed to see client''s TLS information'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_KAFKA_DASHBOARD', 'allowed to view the HiveMQ Extension for Kafka page'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_RETAINED_MESSAGE_LIST', 'allowed to view retained message list'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_RETAINED_MESSAGE_DETAIL', 'allowed to view retained message details'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_USER_PROPERTIES', 'allowed to see user properties of messages'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_SESSION_ATTRIBUTES', 'allowed to see session attributes of clients'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_CLIENT_EVENT_HISTORY', 'allowed to see the event history of clients'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_SHARED_SUBSCRIPTION_LIST', 'allowed to view shared subscription list'),
       ('HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_SHARED_SUBSCRIPTION_DETAIL', 'allowed to view shared subscription details'),
;
Table 33. Table "cc_role_permissions"
Column Data type Description

role

Integer

Primary Key, Not Null

permission

Integer

Primary Key, Not Null
Table 34. Table "user_permissions"
Column Data Type Description

user_id

Integer

Primary Key, Not Null

permission

Integer

Primary Key, Not Null
Supported SQL database versions
Table 35. Supported SQL database versions
SQL Database Supported Versions

MySQL

  • 5.7

  • 8.0

MSSQL

  • 2017-CU12

  • 2019-CTP3.1

PostgreSQL

  • 10

  • 11

  • 12

  • 13

  • 14

MariaDB

  • 10.3

  • 10.4

  • 10.5

  • 10.6

  • 10.7

  • 10.8

Amazon Aurora

  • Amazon Aurora with MySQL compatibility (see our supported versions for MySQL)

  • Amazon Aurora with PostgreSQL compatibility (see our supported versions for PostgreSQL)

Azure SQL

  • See our supported versions for MSSQL


OAuth 2.0 / JWT

The HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension enables clients to authenticate via provided JSON Web Tokens (JWT). These tokens are frequently used for authentication and authorization in HTTP-based web applications. The HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension makes it possible to integrate JWTs into your MQTT infrastructure.

JWTs are self-contained, digitally signed collections of JSON key-value pairs (claims). Claims are provided in the payload of the JWT and are used to assert information about the bearer of the token.

The JWT can contain two types of claims. You can configure the ESE authentication manager to validate one or more claims as needed to fulfill your use case:

  • Reserved claims: Statement name and value pairs with predefined names.

  • Custom claims: Statement name and value pairs that can be defined as desired.

Custom claims require specialized solutions to map or read and are more expensive to deserialize and validate.
Table 36. Reserved Claims
Reserved Claim Name Description

aud

The intended recipient of the JWT. This entry is the audience of the JWT.

sub

The name of the entity to which the JWT refers. This entry is the subject of the JWT.

iss

The name of the authority that provides the JWT. This entry is the issuer of the JWT.

scope

The actions for which the JWT is intended. The name of this entry can be adjusted with the alt attribute.

Example JWT Payload

{
  "iss": "jwt-service",
  "sub": "my-mqtt-client",
  "aud": "hivemq.com",
  "iat": 1573567292,
  "exp": 1573653692,
  "scope": [
    "publish",
    "subscribe"
  ],
  "service": "mqtt-broker"
}

To add a trusted JWT provider, configure a <jwt-realm> in the <realms> section of your ESE configuration. The HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension can work with many different kinds of JWT providers. Here are some of the popular JWT providers ESE supports:

  • Cloud solutions such as Okta or Auth0

  • Social identity providers such as Google or Github

  • On premise services such as Keycloak

  • Embedded solutions such as ORY Hydra

JWT Realm

The abstraction of a JWT provider in the ESE configuration is a jwt-realm. The JWT realm provides all of the information that the ESE needs to fetch the JSON Web Key Set (JWKS) and the optional introspection endpoint for the JWTs.

The JWKS is a set of public keys that the JWT provider issues for verification of the JWTs.

Introspection is an optional method to online verify the validity of a token, after it was issued.

Example JWT realm configuration
<enterprise-security-extension>
    <jwt-realm>
        <name>jwt-provider</name>
        <enabled>true</enabled>
        <configuration>
            <jwks-endpoint>https://jwt-service/keys</jwks-endpoint>
            <jwks-default-cache-duration>1800</jwks-default-cache-duration>
            <tls-trust-store>path/to/truststore.jks</tls-trust-store>
            <introspection-endpoint>https://jwt-service/token/introspect</introspection-endpoint>
            <simple-auth>
                <username>ese</username>
                <password>client-secret</password>
            </simple-auth>
        </configuration>
    </jwt-realm>
</enterprise-security-extension>
Table 37. JWT realm parameters
Parameter Type Mandatory Description

jwks-endpoint

URI

Specifies the HTTP (GET) endpoint where the JWKS of the provider is located.

jwks-default-cache-duration

Integer

If this information is not specified by the provider in the HTTP response, this entry configures the duration that the JWKS is cached in seconds.

tls-trust-store

Trust Store

If the default system-wide TLS trust store is not used, this entry specifies an alternative trust store.

introspection-endpoint

URI

Specifies the HTTP (POST) endpoint where the JWT of the client is sent for further validation as specified in RFC-7662.

simple-auth

Simple Auth

Defines the HTTP Simple Auth parameters that are used for introspection requests from ESE to the identity server.
TLS Trust Store
<tls-trust-store password="secret">path/to/truststore.jks</tls-trust-store>
Parameter Type Mandatory Description

XML Value

File Path

Path where the trust store is located.

password

String

Password to open the truststore.
Simple Auth
<simple-auth>
    <username>ese</username>
    <password>client-secret</password>
</simple-auth>
Parameter Type Mandatory Description

username

String

The username portion of the HTTP Simple Auth. This string is usually the name of the OAuth realm.

password

String

The password portion of the HTTP Simple Auth. This string is usually the OAuth client secret.

JWT Authentication Manager

JWT is an open standard (RFC 7519) that defines a compact and self-contained way to securely transmit information as a JSON object. The information in the digitally signed JWT can be trusted and verified.

To implement custom logic for authentication with JWTs, you must configure a JWT authentication manager in your ESE configuration.

Example JWT authentication manager configuration
<jwt-authentication-manager>
    <realm>jwt-backend</realm>
    <!-- every tag in the configuration must contain a value. All tags except the realm name and custom claims have a default value. -->
    <validation>
        <!-- default: no disconnect after expiration date -->
        <exp-grace disconnect-after-expiry="true">300</exp-grace>
        <!-- default: false -->
        <enable-introspection sampling="0.5">true</enable-introspection>
        <reserved-claims>
            <aud>hivemq</aud>
            <sub>${mqtt-clientid}</sub>
            <iss>jwt-service</iss>
            <!-- scope is an OpendID Connect standard not a JWT standard -->
            <scope alt="scp">publish subscribe</scope>
        </reserved-claims>
        <!-- only use direct match string values -->
        <custom-claims>
            <claim>
                <name>defined-name</name>
                <value>defined-value</value>
            </claim>
        </custom-claims>
    </validation>
</jwt-authentication-manager>
Parameter Type Default Value Description

realm

Name reference

*

Defines the JWT realm that the authentication manager accesses. * The realm parameter is mandatory and does not have a default value.

exp-grace

Integer

300

Defines the number of seconds before the Issued At (iat) and after the Expired (exp) in which the CONNECT can occur and the claims remain valid. A token presented outside the time interval iat - exp-grace and exp + exp-grace fails verification. The iat and exp are values in the JWT payload that the client sends in the MQTT CONNECT packet at the beginning of the MQTT connection.

disconnect-after-expiry

Boolean (XML Attribute)

false

Defines whether the ESE automatically disconnects the client when the token that the client bears expires.

enable-introspection

Boolean

false

Defines whether the ESE checks with the identity server that issued the JWT for an additional validation of the token after successful local validation.

sampling

Float [0.0 .. 1.0] (XML Attribute)

1.0

Sets the probability that ESE selects a token for introspection.

reserved-claims

Reserved Claims

Shows the reserved claims that are validated.

custom-claims

Custom Claims

Shows the custom claims that are validated.

The JWT authentication manager can contain various validations. By default, every JWT authentication manager includes the following validations:

  • Signature

  • Expiration date

  • Issue date

To successfully complete a JWT authentication flow in the ESE, the provided JWT must pass all configured and default validations. Once validation is successful, the MQTT client can proceed to the authorization step of the pipeline.

The JWT authentication manager expects the token to be present in the authentication-byte-secret ESE variable.

Automatic Client Disconnection

The ESE observes the expiration date of the JWT token. If desired, you can configure the ESE to automatically disconnect clients when the JWT that the client bears expires. When the JWT token of a client expires the ESE disconnects the client.

You can also configure an expiration grace period in the JWT authentication manager of your ESE. When you configure an expiration grace period, the ESE disconnects the client after the grace period expires.

If you do not configure the ESE to disconnect clients when the JWT expires, clients with an expired token can remain connected.

If a client connects with an additional authentication method, the ESE respects that method even if the JWT expires.

Validation of Claims

The payload of JSON Web Tokens consists of various claims, which are key-value pairs. ESE can validate the claims against static configured values or values dynamically generated from ESE variables with the permission placeholders mechanic.

For example, the <sub>${mqtt-clientid}</sub> line in the configuration example tells the ESE to compare the value of the subject claim (sub) with the value of the clientID in the MQTT CONNECT packet.

Reserved Claims

Example Reserved Claims configuration
<reserved-claims>
    <aud>hivemq</aud>
    <sub>${mqtt-clientid}</sub>
    <iss>jwt-service other-jwt-service</iss>
    <scope alt="scp">publish subscribe</scope>
</reserved-claims>
Claim Type Semantic

aud

String

The audience (aud) claim identifies the intended recipients of the JWT. A single token can have multiple audiences. The validation configuration of the JWT authentication manager must include one of the audiences that is listed in the claim.

sub

String

The subject (sub) claim identifies the bearer of the token. The bearer is the entity the token was issued to. The sub claim must be unique in the token and an exact match to the validation configuration of the JWT authentication manager.

iss

List of Strings

The issuer (iss) claim identifies the service that created and signed the token. Multiple instances can be configured. Only one of them must match the one in the token, which itself must be unique.

scope

List of Strings

The scope claim specifies the intended use of the token. All scope values that are defined in the validation configuration of the JWT authentication manager must be present in the token. If desired, you can use the alt attribute to rename the scope key. Different token providers use different names for this key. For example, scp.
The JWT authentication manager of the ESE uses information from the scope claim to populate the authorization-role-key. Information from the sub claim is used to populate the authorization-key ESE Variables.

Custom Claims

ESE can validate information from custom claims. Custom claims can contain a single string value of your choice. Permission placeholder substitution is performed before validation.

Example Custom Claims configuration
<custom-claims>
    <claim>
        <name>service</name>
        <value>mqtt-broker</value>
    </claim>
    <claim>
        <name>userName</name>
        <value>${mqtt-username}</value>
    </claim>
</custom-claims>
Parameter Type Semantic

name

String

The name (key) of the custom claim.

value

String

The value of the custom claim.
The ESE only requires a JWT Bearer Token. Do not put secret information in the JWT or share Identity or Refresh tokens. Although the information in the JWT cannot be altered without detection, a third party can read the information that the JWT contains.

JWT Authentication Flow

JWTs are frequently generated and consumed in authentication flows. Because these flows require HTTP mechanics, it is not possible to implement a JWT authentication directly in MQTT. Before an MQTT client starts a JWT authentication flow with the ESE, the client must aquire a token from the JWT provider of your choice.

JWT Authentication Flow in the ESE

ESE JWT Authentication Flow

  1. The HiveMQ ESE gets the JSON Web Key Set (JWKS) from the JWT provider that is defined in the JWT realm of your ESE configuration.

  2. The MQTT client gets a JWT from the selected JWT provider.

  3. The MQTT client sends a CONNECT packet to HiveMQ with the provided JWT in the password field.

  4. The HiveMQ ESE verifies the claims in the JWT that the MQTT client provided.

  5. The HiveMQ ESE validates the digital signature of the JWT against the JWKS from the JWT provider.

  6. Optionally, HiveMQ introspects the JWT against the JWT provider.

  7. Successfully authenticated MQTT clients proceed to the authorization stage of the HiveMQ ESE pipeline.

  8. After successful authorization processing, HiveMQ ESE sends the MQTT client a CONNACK packet.

If the authentication fails, the MQTT client is not allowed to connect. The HiveMQ ESE sends a CONNACK with an error code and closes the TCP connection.


Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, LDAP for short, is an open standard protocol for interacting with directory servers. LDAP is widely-used to authenticate and store information about users, groups, and applications.

The current standard, LDAPv3, is defined in RFC 4510.

The HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension (ESE) can work with any standard-compliant LDAP server. For example:

  • Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and Microsoft Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS), which was previously named Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM)

  • OpenLDAP

  • Apache Directory Studio (ApacheDS)

Basic LDAP Concepts

Unlike SQL databases that store information in structured matrices (tables), LDAP stores information in a hierarchical data structure (tree). The LDAP data structure is called a Directory Information Tree (DIT).

ese basic ldap tree
Figure 1. Example LDAP Directory Information Tree (DIT)

Entries

Each node in an LDAP tree is called an entry. An LDAP entry is a collection of information about a particular object. Entries have three main components:

Distinguished Names (DN)

The distinguished name (DN) of an entry specifies the name and position of the entry in the LDAP tree. In an LDAP tree, each DN is unique and describes the fully qualified path to a particular entry. DN are made up of a sequence of zero or more comma-separated components called relative distinguished names (RDN).

Relative Distinguished Names (RDN)

A relative distinguished name (RDN) is a component of a DN. In an LDAP tree, RDN describe the partial path to an entry relative to another entry in the tree. Each RDN contains at least one attribute name-value pair.

In the DIT example diagram, the DN of the green client consists of the following RDN: cn=client-1,ou=mqtt-clients,dc=hivemq,dc=com. The DN of the red permission consists of these RDN: cn=permission-1,ou=permissions,dc=hivemq,dc=com.
cn stands for common name, ou organizational unit, and dc the domain component.

Distinguished names are written LEFT to RIGHT. Although a DN is similar to an absolute path on a filesystem, filesystem paths typically start with the root of the filesystem and descend the tree from left to right. In LDAP, a DN ascends the tree from left to right. The base DN is on the right.

LDAP Association

There are two main ways to associate entries in LDAP:

  • Direct Reference: Uses information from attributes in the distinguished name of an entry to create a direct association.

  • Descent: Uses the position of the entry in the LDAP tree to create association through a subtree.

ese associate reference
Figure 2. Example direct reference association
Direct reference in LDAP is similar to the way foreign keys are used in an SQL database.

In the direct reference diagram, the RDN of client 1 includes a memberOf attribute that contains the DN of Topic Permissions. The memberOf attribute automatically associates Topic Permissions to client 1 with a direct reference.

ese associate decent
Figure 3. Example subtree/decent association

In the subtree/descent diagram, descent is used to give permission group 1 all of the permissions that appear below permission group 1 in the tree.

LDAP Realms

In the ESE configuration, the abstraction of an LDAP server is an ldap-realm.

The LDAP realm provides all of the information that the ESE needs to connect to the LDAP server, perform the necessary bind requests, and execute LDAP searches.

Bind requests are the way that the LDAP protocol performs authentication.

LDAP search operations are equivalent to an SQL query. Caching on data returned from the LDAP server is also performed in the same manner.

Example LDAP Realm Configuration
<ldap-realm>
    <name>my-ldap-server</name>
    <enabled>true</enabled>
    <configuration>
        <servers>
          <ldap-server>
            <host>host-1</host>
            <port>389</port>
          </ldap-server>
          <ldap-server>
            <host>host-2</host>
            <port>389</port>
          </ldap-server>
        </servers>
        <tls>tcp</tls>
        <tls-trust-store>/path/to/truststore.jks</tls-trust-store>
        <base-dn>dc=hivemq,dc=com</base-dn>
        <simple-bind>
            <rn>cn=ese,cn=hivemq</rn>
            <userPassword>password</userPassword>
        </simple-bind>
    </configuration>
</ldap-realm>
Table 38. LDAP Realm Parameters
Parameter Type Mandatory Description

servers

LDAP Server

Specifies one or more LDAP servers that the ESE accesses.

tls

Enum

Specifies the transport security type that the ESE uses to connect to the LDAP servers. Possible settings are: tcp, tls, and start-tls (start-tls is an opportunistic transport encryption mechanism). TCP (no transport security) is the default setting.

tls-trust-store

Trust Store

Specifies an alternative trust store when the default system-wide TLS trust store is not used.

base-dn

LDAP distinguished name

Specifies the starting point that the ESE uses in the LDAP tree. All ESE searches and bind requests are relative to this base DN.

simple-bind

Simple Bind

Defines the simple bind parameters that the ESE uses to authenticate itself to the LDAP servers.

LDAP Server

The LDAP server setting configures a single LDAP instance. If you run LDAP in a clustered environment, the setting configures multiple instances. During runtime, the ESE accesses each instance in a round-robin fashion.

<ldap-server>
    <host>my.ldap.host</host>
    <port>389</port>
</ldap-server>
Table 39. LDAP Server Parameters
Parameter Type Mandatory Description

host

Domain name or IP Address

The network address where the LDAP server is located.

port

Integer

The port on which the LDAP server listens. This port is usually based on the type of transport security that is used. The default port setting is 389 (TCP).

Simple Bind

<simple-bind>
    <rdns>cn=ese,cn=broker</rdns>
    <userPassword>password</userPassword>
</simple-bind>
Table 40. Simple Bind parameters
Parameter Type Mandatory Description

rdns

String

The relative distinguished names (RDN) of the base DN that the ESE uses to bind to the LDAP server. Make sure that this DN is bindable and has the necessary rights to search for the users and permissions.

userPassword

String

The password portion that the ESE uses to perform a simple bind operation on the LDAP server.

LDAP Authentication Manager

To implement custom logic for authentication over LDAP, you must configure an LDAP authentication manager in your ESE configuration.

Example LDAP Authentication Manager configuration
<ldap-authentication-manager>
    <realm>my-ldap-server</realm>
    <clients-rdns>ou=mqtt-clients,ou=iot-services</clients-rdns>
    <uid-attribute>cn</uid-attribute>
    <required-object-class>hmq-mqttClient</required-object-class>
</ldap-authentication-manager>
Table 41. LDAP Authentication Manager parameters
Parameter Type Mandatory Description

realm

String

The LDAP realm on which this authentication manager is based.

clients-rdns

LDAP directory name.

The starting RDN where ESE begins searches for client authentication information.

uid-attribute

String

The unique LDAP attribute that is used to identify every entry in the subtree of client RDNs. The default setting is uid.

required-object-class

String

Configures an object class that all entries which are considered for authentication purposes, must have. The default is none.

First, the LDAP authentication manager does an LDAP search for the entry that has a uid equals to the authentication-key. Next, LDAP authentication manager binds to the returned DN with the authentication-byte-secret.

After successful authentication, the LDAP authentication manager sets the ESE variable authorization-key to the DN of the client entry that is found.

If the found entry contains memberOf attributes, the authorization-role-key variable is set to the grouping information that the memberOf attributes provide.

LDAP Authorization Manager

To implement custom logic for authorization over LDAP, you must configure an LDAP authorization manager in your ESE configuration.

Example LDAP Authorization Manager configuration
<ldap-authorization-manager>
    <realm>my-ldap-server</realm>
    <directory-descent>false</directory-descent>
    <use-authorization-key>true</use-authorization-key>
    <use-authorization-role-key>true</use-authorization-role-key>
</ldap-authorization-manager>

The LDAP authorization manager requires full DNs in the ESE authorization variables.

Table 42. LDAP Authorization Manager parameters
Parameter Type Mandatory Description

directory-descent

Boolean

Specifies whether permissions are searched by descent (instead of direct reference). The default setting is false.

use-authorization-key

Boolean

Specifies whether the authorization-key variable is used. The default setting is true.

use-authorization-role-key

Boolean

Specifies whether the authorization-role-key variable is used. The default setting is true.

LDAP Server Setup

  • Entries used for authentication must be bindable through simple bind requests

  • Special object classes and attributes are only needed for authorization

  • Scripts for the new LDAP object classes and attributes that the ESE uses are available in [ese-dir]/scripts/ldap/[ese-version] (AD, ApacheDS, OpenLDAP, rfc compliant)

  • The configuration of an LDAP server is specific to the individual server that is used. Always follow the procedures and best practices that are associated with the selected server.

  • To enable direct reference, you must add the auxiliary class hmq-mqttClient or hmq-controlCenterUser to the desired user or group object

  • All LDAP object classes and attributes that are used in the ESE have a unique object identifier (OID) that is registered at the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)

Object Classes

Object classes indicate what type of object an LDAP entry represents. Every LDAP entry must have exactly one structural object class and can have zero or more auxiliary object classes. Each object class has a unique name and defines which attributes are mandatory (Must) or optional (May) for a particular entry.

Since the LDAP schema that the ESE uses has only one structural object class, all entries can include the hmq-mqttPermission object class.

Table 43. LDAP Object classes
Name Type Mandatory Attributes Optional Attributes Description

hmq-mqttPermission

Structural

hmq-topicFilter

hmq-qualityOfService, hmq-publish, hmq-subscribe, hmq-retain, hmq-share, hmq-sharedGroup, description, cn

Defines the authorization data for an MQTT topic. If multiple permissions for the same topic string are used, include the common name in the distinguished name of the entry.

hmq-mqttClient

Auxiliary

hmq-topicPermission

Authorizes an MQTT client with one or more permissions. If attached to a group of names or group of unique names, the entry can represent multiple clients that share an RBAC role.

hmq-controlCenterUser

Auxiliary

hmq-controlCenterPermission

Defines which control center views a control center user is granted.

Attributes

Attributes hold the data for an LDAP entry. Each attribute has a unique name, a unique object identifier (OID), and is a member of one or more object classes.

Since the hmq-topicFilter attribute is a required element of the mandatory hmq-mqttPermission object class, all entries include this attribute.

In the LDAP schema that the ESE uses, each LDAP attribute begins with 1.3.6.1.4.1.54795. followed by a unique sequence. For example, the OID of the hmq-topicPermission attribute is 1.3.6.1.4.1.54795.2.3.1. The unique portion of the OID is emphasized in the following attributes table.
Table 44. LDAP Attributes
Name Identifier Description

hmq-topicPermission

1.3.6.1.4.1.54795.2.3.1

The topic permission attribute represents all permissions that are associated with a specific MQTT topic.

hmq-topicFilter

1.3.6.1.4.1.54795.2.3.2

The topic filter string that determines to which topics the topic permission applies. The topic permission applies to all topic-strings that are matched by the topic filter.

hmq-controlCenterPermission

1.3.6.1.4.1.54795.2.3.9

The permission string for the HiveMQ Control Center.

hmq-qualityOfService

1.3.6.1.4.1.54795.2.3.3

The quality of service level (QoS) to which the topic permission applies. Possible values are 0, 1, and 2.

hmq-publish

1.3.6.1.4.1.54795.2.3.4

The publish topic to which the topic permission applies. The topic must match the topic filter.

hmq-subscribe

1.3.6.1.4.1.54795.2.3.5

The subscribe topic to which the topic permission applies. The topic must match the topic filter.

hmq-retain

1.3.6.1.4.1.54795.2.3.6

The retained messages to which the topic permission applies. The topic must match the topic filter.

hmq-share

1.3.6.1.4.1.54795.2.3.7

The shared subscriptions to which the topic permission applies. The topic must match the topic filter.

hmq-sharedGroup

1.3.6.1.4.1.54795.2.3.8

The shared group ($share/<group>/topic) to which the topic permission applies. This attribute is only relevant when the hmq-share attribute (OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.54795.2.3.7) is set to TRUE.

Access Log

The access log provides a single, unified log for tracking security-relevant data. This log has several use cases:

  • You can audit all accesses that the ESE grants retroactively.

  • Your intrusion-prevention software (for example, Fail2Ban) can use the access log to create firewall rules.

  • The chronological records of the access log can provide valuable information for the post-mortem of a data breach.

The access log shows you precisely who was granted access to HiveMQ, what kind of access occurred, and when the access was granted. The timezone of events in the access log is always Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

The following is a good start for a fail-regex: ^ - authentication-failed - Client failed authentication: ID [^\s]+, IP <HOST>, reason \“((authorization timed out)|(unknown authentication key or wrong authentication secret)|(authentication timed out)|(other))\“\.$


Access Events

The three primary access events are Authentication Failed, Authentication Succeeded, and Authorization Succeeded. Each of these events provides the public client IP address and the MQTT client ID of the connecting client.

Table 45. Access log events
Event Type Logged Values Log Statement

Authentication Failed

  • Client ID

  • Client IP

  • Reason of failure

yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss,sss UTC - authentication-failed - Client failed authentication: ID <client id>, IP <public client ip>, reason "<reason string>"

Authentication Succeeded

  • Client ID

  • Client IP

yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss,sss UTC - access.authentication-succeeded - Client succeeded authentication: ID <client id>, IP <public client ip>.

Authorization Succeeded

  • Client ID

  • Client IP

  • List of permissions

yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss,sss UTC - access.authorization-succeeded - Client succeeded authorization: ID <client id>, IP <public client ip>, permissions <[permission]>.

Authentication Failed

This event triggers when an MQTT client does not pass the ESE authentication and is not allowed to connect to HiveMQ. Each Authentication Failed event provides one of the following reasons for the failure:

Table 46. Authentication failed reasons
Reason Description Corresponding Metrics

unknown authentication key or wrong authentication secret

The client cannot be authenticated against the information that the configured realm of the authentication manager provided

unknown-key, wrong-secret

authentication timed out

The process timed out during the authentication step of the pipeline

authentication-timeout

authorization timed out

The process timed out during the authorization step of the pipeline

authorization-timeout

other

Something exceptional happened during the process. In this case, you can look for more information in the DEBUG output of the hivemq.log.

other

Authentication Succeeded

This event triggers when an MQTT client passes the ESE authentication successfully. These events correspond to the authentication-succeeded metric.

Authorization Succeeded

This event triggers after an MQTT client is granted permissions. The event references the Topic Permissions that the client is granted in the following format:

Permission{topicFilter='<topic-string>', qos=[<0, 1, 2>], activity=[<publish, subscribe>], retainedPublishAllowed=<true|false>, sharedSubscribeAllowed=<true|false>, sharedGroup='<group-id>', from='<source>'}.

The <source> in the reference is dependent on the type of authorization manager that you use. For an SQL authorization manager, the source can either be the roles.name or the users.username that the permission is associated with.


Access Log File

By default, the access log writes to the <HiveMQ Home>/log/access/access.log. You can customize this path in the ESE configuration file.

The HiveMQ access log is a rolling log file. Once per day at midnight, the old access-log files are automatically compressed with the gzip algorithm and archived with the filename access.<yyyy-MM-dd>.log.gz. For example, after two days of operation the access folder contains the following files:

├─ access.2019-07-04.log.gz
├─ access.2019-07-05.log.gz
└─ access.log
The ESE never deletes the access log files that are archived. If you need to remove old access logs regularly, you must take additional action. For example, set up a scheduled cron job to alleviate data protection concerns or storage constraints.


Access Log Configuration

In the enterprise-security-extension.xml file, you can use the optional <access-log> tag to configure the behavior of the access log.

Implicit default access log configuration
<access-log>
    <enabled>true</enabled>
    <file-name>access</file-name>
    <sub-folder>access</sub-folder>
    <write-through>false</write-through>
</access-log>
Table 47. Access log configuration parameters
Parameter Type Description Default

enabled

Boolean

Enables or disables the writing of access events to the access log file

true

file-name

String

The name of the access log file. The suffix .log is added. This file name changes the name of the archived log file, as well.

access

sub-folder

String

The name of the subfolder in the log directory of HiveMQ where the access log file and the archived log files are stored.

access

write-through

Boolean

Enables or disables also writing access events to the hivemq.log file. The log level of the access events is DEBUG. To only write access events to the hivemq.log file, set the enabled tag to false and write-through tag to true.

false


Control Center Access Control

The ESE provides access control for the HiveMQ Control Center. You can use both fine-grained access control that is based on user permissions and role-based access control (RBAC).

Requirements for Control Center Access Control

  • HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension 1.2.0 or higher

  • HiveMQ Enterprise Edition 4.2.0 or higher

Control Center Pipeline

Similar to the authentication and authorization of MQTT clients, the handling of control-center users is done in a separate pipeline: the <control-center-pipeline>. This special ESE pipeline works like a listener pipeline for MQTT clients, but omits authentication and authorization preprocessing and does not require transformation of ESE variables.

The control center pipeline uses the User form of the login page as the authentication-key and authorization-key. After the Password form is decoded with the UTF8 codec, this information is used as the authentication-byte-secret.

Control center login page

HiveMQ control center login page

Example control center pipeline configuration
<enterprise-security-extension>
    <pipelines>
        <!-- only one <control-center-pipeline> allowed -->
        <!-- secure access to the control center -->
        <control-center-pipeline>
            <!-- authenticate over a sql db -->
            <sql-authentication-manager>
                <realm>postgres-backend</realm>
            </sql-authentication-manager>
            <!-- authorize over a sql db -->
            <sql-authorization-manager>
                <realm>postgres-backend</realm>
                <use-authorization-key>true</use-authorization-key>
                <use-authorization-role-key>true</use-authorization-role-key>
            </sql-authorization-manager>
        </control-center-pipeline>
    </pipelines>
</enterprise-security-extension>
Refer to the description of each realm to learn how to enable access control for the control center from the desired realm.

Control Center Permissions

To implement fine-grained access control for your control center, you assign specific control-center permissions to your users. If desired, you can assign a set of control-center permissions to a role. All users with a specific role are granted the permissions that are assigned to the role. Role-based access control can simplify permission management and increase performance.

The following permissions are available for the HiveMQ control center:

Table 48. Control center permissions
Permission Description

HIVEMQ_SUPER_ADMIN

Allows the user to access everything in your control center. This special permission is the default role for users in the HiveMQ config.xml.

HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_CLIENT_LIST

Allows the user to view the client list on your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_CLIENT_DETAIL

Allows the user to view client details on your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_LICENSE

Allows the user to view the license information on your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_TRACE_RECORDINGS

Allows the user to view trace recordings on your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_DROPPED_MESSAGES

Allows the user to view dropped messages on your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_RETAINED_MESSAGE_LIST

Allows the user to view the retained messages list on your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_RETAINED_MESSAGE_DETAILS

Allows the user to view the retained messages details on your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_BACKUP

Allows the user to view backup information on your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_KAFKA_DASHBOARD

Allows the user to view the dashboard of the HiveMQ Enterprise Extension for Kafka.

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_CLIENT_ID

Allows the user to view client identifiers on your control center

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • The user cannot view the Clients, Analytics, or Trace Recordings pages of your control center

  • Client identifiers are hidden from the user on all pages of your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_IP

Allows the user to view client IP information in your control center

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • The user cannot view the Trace Recordings page of your control center

  • The IP information of clients is hidden from the user on all pages of your control center.

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_PAYLOAD

Allows the user to view message payloads on your control center

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • The user cannot view the Trace Recordings page in your control center

  • Message payloads are hidden from the user on all pages of your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_PASSWORD

Allows the user to view client passwords in your control center

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • The user cannot view the Trace Recordings page of your control center

  • Client passwords are hidden from the user on all pages of your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_USERNAME

Allowed to see client’s usernames.

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • The user cannot view the Trace Recording page of your control center

  • User name information of clients is hidden from the user on all pages of your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_WILL_MESSAGE

Allows the user to view the LWT of clients on your control center

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • The user cannot view the Trace Recording page of your control center

  • LWT information is hidden from the user on all pages of your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_TOPIC

Allows the user to view the PUBLISH and SUBSCRIBE topics of clients on your control center

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • The user cannot view the Trace Recordings page of your control center

  • Topic information is hidden from the user on all pages of your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_SUBSCRIPTION

Allows the user to see client subscriptions on your control center

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • The user cannot view the Trace Recordings page of your control center

  • Subscription information is hidden from the user on all pages of your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_PROXY

Allows the user to view the proxy information of clients on your control center

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • The user cannot view the Trace Recordings page of your control center

  • Client-proxy information is hidden from the user on all pages of your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_TLS

Allows the user to view the TLS information of clients on your control center

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • TLS information is hidden from the user on all pages of the control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_USER_PROPERTIES

Allows the user to view the User Properties information of MQTT5 messages

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_SESSION_ATTRIBUTES

Allows the user to view Session Attributes of MQTT clients.

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • Session Attributes are hidden from the user on all pages of the control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_DATA_CLIENT_EVENT_HISTORY

Allows the user to view the Event History of clients

Lack of this permission has the following result:

  • The Client Event History is hidden from the user on all pages of the control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_SHARED_SUBSCRIPTION_LIST

Allows the user to view the Shared Subscription list on your control center

HIVEMQ_VIEW_PAGE_SHARED_SUBSCRIPTION_DETAIL

Allows the user to view Shared Subscription details on your control center


Monitoring

The ESE exposes several metrics over the standard HiveMQ monitoring interface.

All HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension metrics start with the prefix com.hivemq.extensions.ese.

The following table lists each metric that ESE exposes. For increased readability, the com.hivemq.extensions.ese. prefix is omitted in the tables. For more information on HiveMQ metrics, see metric types.

Table 49. ESE Metrics
Metric (without prefix) Type Description

connect

Counter

Shows the total number of incoming MQTT client connection attempts that the ESE processes

access.authentication-succeeded

Counter

Shows the total number of successful authentication requests

access.authorization-succeeded

Counter

Shows the total number of successful authorization requests

access.authentication-failed

Counter

Shows the total number of unsuccessful authentication requests

access.authentication-failed.unknown-key

Counter

Shows the total number of authentication requests that failed due to unknown authentication keys

access.authentication-failed.wrong-secret

Counter

Shows the total number of authentication requests that failed due to incorrect authentication secrets

access.authentication-failed.authentication-timeout

Counter

Shows the total number of authentication requests that failed due to timed-out authentications

access.authentication-failed.authorization-timeout

Counter

Shows the total number of authentication requests that failed due to timed-out authorizations

access.authentication-failed.other

Counter

Shows the total number of authentication requests that failed due to other reasons

Each SQL realm has its own metrics. The name of the realm is included in the metric name.

Table 50. ESE SQL Metrics
Metric (without prefix) Type Description

sql.permission.role.cache.hitrate.<realm_name>

Meter

Shows the rate of requests for role-based permission data that are handled from the ESE cache. The rate is provided in requests per a pre-defined time interval for the specified SQL realm.

sql.permission.user.cache.hitrate.<realm_name>

Meter

Shows the rate of requests for user-based permission data that are handled from the ESE cache. The rate is provided in requests per a pre-defined time interval for the specified SQL realm.

sql.permission.time.<realm_name>

Timer

Shows the duration and frequency of requests for authorization data from the specified SQL realm

sql.user.time.<realm_name>

Timer

Shows the duration and frequency of requests for authentication data from the specified SQL realm

sql.authentication.cache.hitrate.<realm_name>

Meter

Shows the rate of requests for user-based permission data that are handled from the ESE cache. The rate is provided in requests per a pre-defined time interval for the specified SQL realm.

ESE exposes several metrics about the usage of JSON Web Tokens (JWT).
Most of the JWT metrics are realm-specific and include the realm name in the metric name.

Table 51. ESE JWT Metrics
Metric (without prefix) Type Description

jwt.parsed.total

Counter

Shows the total number of parsed JWTs. This includes JWTs parsed by the JWT preprocessor.

jwt.validate.success.<realm_name>

Meter

Shows the rate of successfully validated JWTs for the specified realm.

jwt.validate.failed.<realm_name>

Meter

Shows the rate of unsuccessfully validated JWTs for the specified realm.

jwt.introspection.rate.<realm_name>

Meter

Shows the rate of token introspection requests against the specified realm.

jwt.introspection.time.<realm_name>

Timer

Shows the duration and frequency of introspection requests against the specified realm.


Table 52. ESE LDAP Metrics
Metric (without prefix) Type Description

ldap.user.time

Timer

Shows the duration of queries for authentication data from LDAP realms.

ldap.bind.time

Timer

Shows the duration of LDAP bind requests to authenticate users.

ldap.user.search.failed

Counter

Shows the number of failed searches for LDAP users (MQTT and control center).

ldap.mqtt-permission.time

Timer

Shows the duration of LDAP searches for hmq-mqttPermissions.

ldap.mqtt-permission.role.cache.hitrate

Meter

Shows the rate of requests for LDAP role permissions that are handled from the ESE cache.

ldap.mqtt-permission.user.cache.hitrate

Meter

Shows the rate of requests for LDAP user permissions that are handled from the ESE cache.

ldap.mqtt-permission.cache.hitrate

Meter

Shows the rate of requests for hmq-mqttPermissions that are handled from the ESE cache.

ldap.mqtt-permission.search.failed

Counter

Shows the number of failed searches for MQTT permissions.

ldap.control-center-permission.search.failed

Counter

Shows the number of failed searches for control center permissions.

ldap.authentication.cache.hitrate

Meter

Shows the rate of requests for authentication credentials that are handled from the ESE cache.

Support

If you need help with the HiveMQ Enterprise Security Extension or have suggestions on how we can improve the extension, please contact us at contact@hivemq.com.