Active Support Message Encryptor
MessageEncryptor
is a simple way to encrypt values which get stored somewhere you don’t trust.
The cipher text and initialization vector are base64 encoded and returned to you.
This can be used in situations similar to the MessageVerifier
, but where you don’t want users to be able to determine the value of the payload.
len = ActiveSupport::MessageEncryptor.key_len
salt = SecureRandom.random_bytes(len)
key = ActiveSupport::KeyGenerator.new('password').generate_key(salt, len) # => "\x89\xE0\x156\xAC..."
crypt = ActiveSupport::MessageEncryptor.new(key) # => #<ActiveSupport::MessageEncryptor ...>
encrypted_data = crypt.encrypt_and_sign('my secret data') # => "NlFBTTMwOUV5UlA1QlNEN2xkY2d6eThYWWh..."
crypt.decrypt_and_verify(encrypted_data) # => "my secret data"
The decrypt_and_verify
method will raise an ActiveSupport::MessageEncryptor::InvalidMessage
exception if the data provided cannot be decrypted or verified.
crypt.decrypt_and_verify('not encrypted data') # => ActiveSupport::MessageEncryptor::InvalidMessage
Confining messages to a specific purpose
By default any message can be used throughout your app. But they can also be confined to a specific :purpose
.
token = crypt.encrypt_and_sign("this is the chair", purpose: :login)
Then that same purpose must be passed when verifying to get the data back out:
crypt.decrypt_and_verify(token, purpose: :login) # => "this is the chair"
crypt.decrypt_and_verify(token, purpose: :shipping) # => nil
crypt.decrypt_and_verify(token) # => nil
Likewise, if a message has no purpose it won’t be returned when verifying with a specific purpose.
token = crypt.encrypt_and_sign("the conversation is lively")
crypt.decrypt_and_verify(token, purpose: :scare_tactics) # => nil
crypt.decrypt_and_verify(token) # => "the conversation is lively"
Making messages expire
By default messages last forever and verifying one year from now will still return the original value. But messages can be set to expire at a given time with :expires_in
or :expires_at
.
crypt.encrypt_and_sign(parcel, expires_in: 1.month)
crypt.encrypt_and_sign(doowad, expires_at: Time.now.end_of_year)
Then the messages can be verified and returned up to the expire time. Thereafter, verifying returns nil
.
Rotating keys
MessageEncryptor
also supports rotating out old configurations by falling back to a stack of encryptors. Call rotate
to build and add an encryptor so decrypt_and_verify
will also try the fallback.
By default any rotated encryptors use the values of the primary encryptor unless specified otherwise.
You’d give your encryptor the new defaults:
crypt = ActiveSupport::MessageEncryptor.new(@secret, cipher: "aes-256-gcm")
Then gradually rotate the old values out by adding them as fallbacks. Any message generated with the old values will then work until the rotation is removed.
crypt.rotate old_secret # Fallback to an old secret instead of @secret.
crypt.rotate cipher: "aes-256-cbc" # Fallback to an old cipher instead of aes-256-gcm.
Though if both the secret and the cipher was changed at the same time, the above should be combined into:
crypt.rotate old_secret, cipher: "aes-256-cbc"
- D
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Constants
OpenSSLCipherError | = | OpenSSL::Cipher::CipherError |
Class Public methods
key_len(cipher = default_cipher) Link
Given a cipher, returns the key length of the cipher to help generate the key of desired size
new(secret, sign_secret = nil, **options) Link
Initialize a new MessageEncryptor
. secret
must be at least as long as the cipher key size. For the default ‘aes-256-gcm’ cipher, this is 256 bits. If you are using a user-entered secret, you can generate a suitable key by using ActiveSupport::KeyGenerator
or a similar key derivation function.
The first additional parameter is used as the signature key for MessageVerifier
. This allows you to specify keys to encrypt and sign data. Ignored when using an AEAD cipher like ‘aes-256-gcm’.
ActiveSupport::MessageEncryptor.new('secret', 'signature_secret')
Options
:cipher
-
Cipher to use. Can be any cipher returned by
OpenSSL::Cipher.ciphers
. Default is ‘aes-256-gcm’. :digest
-
Digest
used for signing. Ignored when using an AEAD cipher like ‘aes-256-gcm’. :serializer
-
The serializer used to serialize message data. You can specify any object that responds to
dump
andload
, or you can choose from several preconfigured serializers::marshal
,:json_allow_marshal
,:json
,:message_pack_allow_marshal
,:message_pack
.The preconfigured serializers include a fallback mechanism to support multiple deserialization formats. For example, the
:marshal
serializer will serialize usingMarshal
, but can deserialize usingMarshal
,ActiveSupport::JSON
, orActiveSupport::MessagePack
. This makes it easy to migrate between serializers.The
:marshal
,:json_allow_marshal
, and:message_pack_allow_marshal
serializers support deserializing usingMarshal
, but the others do not. Beware thatMarshal
is a potential vector for deserialization attacks in cases where a message signing secret has been leaked. If possible, choose a serializer that does not supportMarshal
.The
:message_pack
and:message_pack_allow_marshal
serializers useActiveSupport::MessagePack
, which can roundtrip some Ruby types that are not supported byJSON
, and may provide improved performance. However, these require themsgpack
gem.When using Rails, the default depends on
config.active_support.message_serializer
. Otherwise, the default is:marshal
. :url_safe
-
By default,
MessageEncryptor
generates RFC 4648 compliant strings which are not URL-safe. In other words, they can contain “+” and “/”. If you want to generate URL-safe strings (in compliance with “Base 64 Encoding with URL and Filename Safe Alphabet” in RFC 4648), you can passtrue
. :force_legacy_metadata_serializer
-
Whether to use the legacy metadata serializer, which serializes the message first, then wraps it in an envelope which is also serialized. This was the default in Rails 7.0 and below.
If you don’t pass a truthy value, the default is set using
config.active_support.use_message_serializer_for_metadata
.
# File activesupport/lib/active_support/message_encryptor.rb, line 183 def initialize(secret, sign_secret = nil, **options) super(**options) @secret = secret @cipher = options[:cipher] || self.class.default_cipher @aead_mode = new_cipher.authenticated? @verifier = if !@aead_mode MessageVerifier.new(sign_secret || secret, **options, serializer: NullSerializer) end end
Instance Public methods
decrypt_and_verify(message, **options) Link
Decrypt and verify a message. We need to verify the message in order to avoid padding attacks. Reference: www.limited-entropy.com/padding-oracle-attacks/.
Options
:purpose
-
The purpose that the message was generated with. If the purpose does not match,
decrypt_and_verify
will returnnil
.message = encryptor.encrypt_and_sign("hello", purpose: "greeting") encryptor.decrypt_and_verify(message, purpose: "greeting") # => "hello" encryptor.decrypt_and_verify(message) # => nil message = encryptor.encrypt_and_sign("bye") encryptor.decrypt_and_verify(message) # => "bye" encryptor.decrypt_and_verify(message, purpose: "greeting") # => nil
# File activesupport/lib/active_support/message_encryptor.rb, line 241 def decrypt_and_verify(message, **options) catch_and_raise :invalid_message_format, as: InvalidMessage do catch_and_raise :invalid_message_serialization, as: InvalidMessage do catch_and_ignore :invalid_message_content do read_message(message, **options) end end end end
encrypt_and_sign(value, **options) Link
Encrypt and sign a message. We need to sign the message in order to avoid padding attacks. Reference: www.limited-entropy.com/padding-oracle-attacks/.
Options
:expires_at
-
The datetime at which the message expires. After this datetime, verification of the message will fail.
message = encryptor.encrypt_and_sign("hello", expires_at: Time.now.tomorrow) encryptor.decrypt_and_verify(message) # => "hello" # 24 hours later... encryptor.decrypt_and_verify(message) # => nil
:expires_in
-
The duration for which the message is valid. After this duration has elapsed, verification of the message will fail.
message = encryptor.encrypt_and_sign("hello", expires_in: 24.hours) encryptor.decrypt_and_verify(message) # => "hello" # 24 hours later... encryptor.decrypt_and_verify(message) # => nil
:purpose
-
The purpose of the message. If specified, the same purpose must be specified when verifying the message; otherwise, verification will fail. (See
decrypt_and_verify
.)