HMAC authentication - REST API reference

Article
04/14/2023

You can authenticate HTTP requests by using the HMAC-SHA256 authentication scheme. (HMAC refers to hash-based message authentication code.) These requests must be transmitted over TLS.

Prerequisites

Credential - <Access Key ID>
Secret - base64 decoded Access Key Value. base64_decode(<Access Key Value>)

The values for credential (also called id) and secret (also called value) must be obtained from the instance of Azure App Configuration. You can do this by using the Azure portal or the Azure CLI.

Provide each request with all HTTP headers required for authentication. The minimum required are:

Request header	Description
Host	Internet host and port number. For more information, see section 3.2.2.
Date	Date and time at which the request was originated. It can't be more than 15 minutes off from the current Coordinated Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time). The value is an HTTP-date, as described in section 3.3.1.
x-ms-date	Same as `Date` above. You can use it instead when the agent can't directly access the `Date` request header, or a proxy modifies it. If `x-ms-date` and `Date` are both provided, `x-ms-date` takes precedence.
x-ms-content-sha256	base64 encoded SHA256 hash of the request body. It must be provided even if there is no body. `base64_encode(SHA256(body))`
Authorization	Authentication information required by the HMAC-SHA256 scheme. Format and details are explained later in this article.

Example:

Host: {myconfig}.azconfig.io
Date: Fri, 11 May 2018 18:48:36 GMT
x-ms-content-sha256: {SHA256 hash of the request body}
Authorization: HMAC-SHA256 Credential={Access Key ID}&SignedHeaders=x-ms-date;host;x-ms-content-sha256&Signature={Signature}

Authorization header

Syntax

Authorization: HMAC-SHA256 Credential=<value>&SignedHeaders=<value>&Signature=<value>

Argument	Description
HMAC-SHA256	Authorization scheme. (required)
Credential	The ID of the access key used to compute the signature. (required)
SignedHeaders	HTTP request headers added to the signature. (required)
Signature	base64 encoded HMACSHA256 of String-To-Sign. (required)

Credential

ID of the access key used to compute the signature.

Signed headers

HTTP request header names, separated by semicolons, required to sign the request. These HTTP headers must be correctly provided with the request as well. Don't use white spaces.

Required HTTP request headers

x-ms-date[or Date];host;x-ms-content-sha256

Any other HTTP request headers can also be added to the signing. Just append them to the SignedHeaders argument.

Example:

x-ms-date;host;x-ms-content-sha256;Content-Type;Accept

Signature

Base64 encoded HMACSHA256 hash of the String-To-Sign. It uses the access key identified by Credential. base64_encode(HMACSHA256(String-To-Sign, Secret))

String-To-Sign

It is a canonical representation of the request:

String-To-Sign=

HTTP_METHOD + '\n' + path_and_query + '\n' + signed_headers_values

Argument	Description
HTTP_METHOD	Uppercase HTTP method name used with the request. For more information, see section 9.
path_and_query	Concatenation of request absolute URI path and query string. For more information, see section 3.3.
signed_headers_values	Semicolon-separated values of all HTTP request headers listed in `SignedHeaders`. The format follows `SignedHeaders` semantics.

Example:

string-To-Sign=
            "GET" + '\n' +                                                                                  // VERB
            "/kv?fields=*&api-version=1.0" + '\n' +                                                         // path_and_query
            "Fri, 11 May 2018 18:48:36 GMT;{myconfig}.azconfig.io;{value of ms-content-sha256 header}"      // signed_headers_values

Errors

HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
WWW-Authenticate: HMAC-SHA256, Bearer

Reason: Authorization request header with HMAC-SHA256 scheme isn't provided.

Solution: Provide a valid Authorization HTTP request header.

HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
WWW-Authenticate: HMAC-SHA256 error="invalid_token" error_description="The access token has expired", Bearer

Reason: Date or x-ms-date request header is more than 15 minutes off from the current Coordinated Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time).

Solution: Provide the correct date and time.

HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
WWW-Authenticate: HMAC-SHA256 error="invalid_token" error_description="Invalid access token date", Bearer

Reason: Missing or invalid Date or x-ms-date request header.

HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
WWW-Authenticate: HMAC-SHA256 error="invalid_token" error_description="[Credential][SignedHeaders][Signature] is required", Bearer

Reason: Missing a required parameter from the Authorization request header.

HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
WWW-Authenticate: HMAC-SHA256 error="invalid_token" error_description="Invalid Credential", Bearer

Reason: The provided [Host]/[Access Key ID] isn't found.

Solution: Check the Credential parameter of the Authorization request header. Make sure it's a valid Access Key ID, and make sure the Host header points to the registered account.

HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
WWW-Authenticate: HMAC-SHA256 error="invalid_token" error_description="Invalid Signature", Bearer

Reason: The Signature provided doesn't match what the server expects.

Solution: Make sure the String-To-Sign is correct. Make sure the Secret is correct and properly used (base64 decoded prior to using).

HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
WWW-Authenticate: HMAC-SHA256 error="invalid_token" error_description="Signed request header 'xxx' is not provided", Bearer

Reason: Missing request header required by SignedHeaders parameter in the Authorization header.

Solution: Provide the required header, with the correct value.

HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
WWW-Authenticate: HMAC-SHA256 error="invalid_token" error_description="XXX is required as a signed header", Bearer

Reason: Missing parameter in SignedHeaders.

Solution: Check Signed Headers minimum requirements.

Code snippets

JavaScript

Prerequisites: Crypto-JS

function signRequest(host,
                     method,      // GET, PUT, POST, DELETE
                     url,         // path+query
                     body,        // request body (undefined of none)
                     credential,  // access key id
                     secret)      // access key value (base64 encoded)
{
        var verb = method.toUpperCase();
        var utcNow = new Date().toUTCString();
        var contentHash = CryptoJS.SHA256(body).toString(CryptoJS.enc.Base64);

        //
        // SignedHeaders
        var signedHeaders = "x-ms-date;host;x-ms-content-sha256"; // Semicolon separated header names

        //
        // String-To-Sign
        var stringToSign =
            verb + '\n' +                              // VERB
            url + '\n' +                               // path_and_query
            utcNow + ';' + host + ';' + contentHash;   // Semicolon separated SignedHeaders values

        //
        // Signature
        var signature = CryptoJS.HmacSHA256(stringToSign, CryptoJS.enc.Base64.parse(secret)).toString(CryptoJS.enc.Base64);

        //
        // Result request headers
        return [
            { name: "x-ms-date", value: utcNow },
            { name: "x-ms-content-sha256", value: contentHash },
            { name: "Authorization", value: "HMAC-SHA256 Credential=" + credential + "&SignedHeaders=" + signedHeaders + "&Signature=" + signature }
        ];
}

C#

using (var client = new HttpClient())
{
    var request = new HttpRequestMessage()
    {
        RequestUri = new Uri("https://{config store name}.azconfig.io/kv?api-version=1.0"),
        Method = HttpMethod.Get
    };

    //
    // Sign the request
    request.Sign(<Credential>, <Secret>);

    await client.SendAsync(request);
}

static class HttpRequestMessageExtensions
{
    public static HttpRequestMessage Sign(this HttpRequestMessage request, string credential, string secret)
    {
        string host = request.RequestUri.Authority;
        string verb = request.Method.ToString().ToUpper();
        DateTimeOffset utcNow = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow;
        string contentHash = Convert.ToBase64String(request.Content.ComputeSha256Hash());

        //
        // SignedHeaders
        string signedHeaders = "date;host;x-ms-content-sha256"; // Semicolon separated header names

        //
        // String-To-Sign
        var stringToSign = $"{verb}\n{request.RequestUri.PathAndQuery}\n{utcNow.ToString("r")};{host};{contentHash}";

        //
        // Signature
        string signature;

        using (var hmac = new HMACSHA256(Convert.FromBase64String(secret)))
        {
            signature = Convert.ToBase64String(hmac.ComputeHash(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(stringToSign)));
        }

        //
        // Add headers
        request.Headers.Date = utcNow;
        request.Headers.Add("x-ms-content-sha256", contentHash);
        request.Headers.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("HMAC-SHA256", $"Credential={credential}&SignedHeaders={signedHeaders}&Signature={signature}");

        return request;
    }
}

static class HttpContentExtensions
{
    public static byte[] ComputeSha256Hash(this HttpContent content)
    {
        using (var stream = new MemoryStream())
        {
            if (content != null)
            {
                content.CopyToAsync(stream).Wait();
                stream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
            }

            using (var alg = SHA256.Create())
            {
                return alg.ComputeHash(stream.ToArray());
            }
        }
    }
}

Java

public CloseableHttpResponse signRequest(HttpUriRequest request, String credential, String secret)
        throws IOException, URISyntaxException {
    Map<String, String> authHeaders = generateHeader(request, credential, secret);
    authHeaders.forEach(request::setHeader);

    return httpClient.execute(request);
}

private static Map<String, String> generateHeader(HttpUriRequest request, String credential, String secret)
        throws URISyntaxException, IOException {
    String requestTime = GMT_DATE_FORMAT.format(new Date());

    String contentHash = buildContentHash(request);
    // SignedHeaders
    String signedHeaders = "x-ms-date;host;x-ms-content-sha256";

    // Signature
    String methodName = request.getRequestLine().getMethod().toUpperCase();
    URIBuilder uri = new URIBuilder(request.getRequestLine().getUri());
    String scheme = uri.getScheme() + "://";
    String requestPath = uri.toString().substring(scheme.length()).substring(uri.getHost().length());
    String host = new URIBuilder(request.getRequestLine().getUri()).getHost();
    String toSign = String.format("%s\n%s\n%s;%s;%s", methodName, requestPath, requestTime, host, contentHash);

    byte[] decodedKey = Base64.getDecoder().decode(secret);
    String signature = Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(new HmacUtils(HMAC_SHA_256, decodedKey).hmac(toSign));

    // Compose headers
    Map<String, String> headers = new HashMap<>();
    headers.put("x-ms-date", requestTime);
    headers.put("x-ms-content-sha256", contentHash);

    String authorization = String.format("HMAC-SHA256 Credential=%s, SignedHeaders=%s, Signature=%s",
            credential, signedHeaders, signature);
    headers.put("Authorization", authorization);

    return headers;
}

private static String buildContentHash(HttpUriRequest request) throws IOException {
    String content = "";
    if (request instanceof HttpEntityEnclosingRequest) {
        try {
            StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
            IOUtils.copy(((HttpEntityEnclosingRequest) request).getEntity().getContent(), writer,
                    StandardCharsets.UTF_8);

            content = writer.toString();
        }
        finally {
            ((HttpEntityEnclosingRequest) request).getEntity().getContent().close();
        }
    }

    byte[] digest = new DigestUtils(SHA_256).digest(content);
    return Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(digest);
}

Golang

import (
    "bytes"
    "crypto/hmac"
    "crypto/sha256"
    "encoding/base64"
    "io/ioutil"
    "net/http"
    "strings"
    "time"
)

//SignRequest Setup the auth header for accessing Azure App Configuration service
func SignRequest(id string, secret string, req *http.Request) error {
    method := req.Method
    host := req.URL.Host
    pathAndQuery := req.URL.Path
    if req.URL.RawQuery != "" {
        pathAndQuery = pathAndQuery + "?" + req.URL.RawQuery
    }

    content, err := ioutil.ReadAll(req.Body)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    req.Body = ioutil.NopCloser(bytes.NewBuffer(content))

    key, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(secret)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }

    timestamp := time.Now().UTC().Format(http.TimeFormat)
    contentHash := getContentHashBase64(content)
    stringToSign := fmt.Sprintf("%s\n%s\n%s;%s;%s", strings.ToUpper(method), pathAndQuery, timestamp, host, contentHash)
    signature := getHmac(stringToSign, key)

    req.Header.Set("x-ms-content-sha256", contentHash)
    req.Header.Set("x-ms-date", timestamp)
    req.Header.Set("Authorization", "HMAC-SHA256 Credential="+id+", SignedHeaders=x-ms-date;host;x-ms-content-sha256, Signature="+signature)

    return nil
}

func getContentHashBase64(content []byte) string {
    hasher := sha256.New()
    hasher.Write(content)
    return base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(hasher.Sum(nil))
}

func getHmac(content string, key []byte) string {
    hmac := hmac.New(sha256.New, key)
    hmac.Write([]byte(content))
    return base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(hmac.Sum(nil))
}

Python


import base64
import hashlib
import hmac
from datetime import datetime
import six

def sign_request(host,
                method,     # GET, PUT, POST, DELETE
                url,        # Path + Query
                body,       # Request body
                credential, # Access Key ID
                secret):    # Access Key Value
    verb = method.upper()

    utc_now = str(datetime.utcnow().strftime("%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S ")) + "GMT"

    if six.PY2:
        content_digest = hashlib.sha256(bytes(body)).digest()
    else:
        content_digest = hashlib.sha256(bytes(body, 'utf-8')).digest()

    content_hash = base64.b64encode(content_digest).decode('utf-8')

    # Signed Headers
    signed_headers = "x-ms-date;host;x-ms-content-sha256"  # Semicolon separated header names

    # String-To-Sign
    string_to_sign = verb + '\n' + \
                    url + '\n' + \
                    utc_now + ';' + host + ';' + content_hash  # Semicolon separated SignedHeaders values

    # Decode secret
    if six.PY2:
        decoded_secret = base64.b64decode(secret)
        digest = hmac.new(decoded_secret, bytes(
            string_to_sign), hashlib.sha256).digest()
    else:
        decoded_secret = base64.b64decode(secret, validate=True)
        digest = hmac.new(decoded_secret, bytes(
            string_to_sign, 'utf-8'), hashlib.sha256).digest()

    # Signature
    signature = base64.b64encode(digest).decode('utf-8')

    # Result request headers
    return {
        "x-ms-date": utc_now,
        "x-ms-content-sha256": content_hash,
        "Authorization": "HMAC-SHA256 Credential=" + credential + "&SignedHeaders=" + signed_headers + "&Signature=" + signature
    }

PowerShell

function Sign-Request(
    [string] $hostname,
    [string] $method,      # GET, PUT, POST, DELETE
    [string] $url,         # path+query
    [string] $body,        # request body
    [string] $credential,  # access key id
    [string] $secret       # access key value (base64 encoded)
)
{  
    $verb = $method.ToUpperInvariant()
    $utcNow = (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime().ToString("R", [Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo]::InvariantInfo)
    $contentHash = Compute-SHA256Hash $body

    $signedHeaders = "x-ms-date;host;x-ms-content-sha256";  # Semicolon separated header names

    $stringToSign = $verb + "`n" +
                    $url + "`n" +
                    $utcNow + ";" + $hostname + ";" + $contentHash  # Semicolon separated signedHeaders values

    $signature = Compute-HMACSHA256Hash $secret $stringToSign

    # Return request headers
    return @{
        "x-ms-date" = $utcNow;
        "x-ms-content-sha256" = $contentHash;
        "Authorization" = "HMAC-SHA256 Credential=" + $credential + "&SignedHeaders=" + $signedHeaders + "&Signature=" + $signature
    }
}

function Compute-SHA256Hash(
    [string] $content
)
{
    $sha256 = [System.Security.Cryptography.SHA256]::Create()
    try {
        return [Convert]::ToBase64String($sha256.ComputeHash([Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetBytes($content)))
    }
    finally {
        $sha256.Dispose()
    }
}

function Compute-HMACSHA256Hash(
    [string] $secret,      # base64 encoded
    [string] $content
)
{
    $hmac = [System.Security.Cryptography.HMACSHA256]::new([Convert]::FromBase64String($secret))
    try {
        return [Convert]::ToBase64String($hmac.ComputeHash([Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetBytes($content)))
    }
    finally {
        $hmac.Dispose()
    }
}

# Stop if any error occurs
$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"

$uri = [System.Uri]::new("https://{myconfig}.azconfig.io/kv?api-version=1.0")
$method = "GET"
$body = $null
$credential = "<Credential>"
$secret = "<Secret>"

$headers = Sign-Request $uri.Authority $method $uri.PathAndQuery $body $credential $secret
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $uri -Method $method -Headers $headers -Body $body

Bash

Prerequisites:

Prerequisite	Command	Versions Tested
Bash	bash	3.5.27, 4.4.23
coreutils	tr	8.28
curl	curl	7.55.1, 7.58.0
OpenSSL	openssl	1.1.0g, 1.1.1a
util-linux	hexdump	2.14.1, 2.31.1

#!/bin/bash

sign_request () {
    local host="$1"
    local method="$2"      # GET, PUT, POST, DELETE
    local url="$3"         # path+query
    local body="$4"        # request body
    local credential="$5"  # access key id
    local secret="$6"      # access key value (base64 encoded)

    local verb=$(printf "$method" | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]')
    local utc_now="$(date -u '+%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S GMT')"
    local content_hash="$(printf "$body" | openssl sha256 -binary | base64)"

    local signed_headers="x-ms-date;host;x-ms-content-sha256"  # Semicolon separated header names
    local string_to_sign="$verb\n$url\n$utc_now;$host;$content_hash"  # Semicolon separated signed_headers values

    local decoded_secret="$(printf "$secret" | base64 -d | hexdump -v -e '/1 "%02x"')"
    local signature="$(printf "$string_to_sign" | openssl sha256 -mac HMAC -macopt hexkey:"$decoded_secret" -binary | base64)"

    # Output request headers
    printf '%s\n' \
           "x-ms-date: $utc_now" \
           "x-ms-content-sha256: $content_hash" \
           "Authorization: HMAC-SHA256 Credential=$credential&SignedHeaders=$signed_headers&Signature=$signature"
}

host="{config store name}.azconfig.io"
method="GET"
url="/kv?api-version=1.0"
body=""
credential="<Credential>"
secret="<Secret>"

headers=$(sign_request "$host" "$method" "$url" "$body" "$credential" "$secret")

while IFS= read -r line; do
    header_args+=("-H$line")
done <<< "$headers"
curl -X "$method" -d "$body" "${header_args[@]}" "https://$host$url"

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HMAC authentication - REST API reference

Prerequisites

Authorization header

Syntax

Credential

Signed headers

Required HTTP request headers

Signature

String-To-Sign

Errors

Code snippets

JavaScript

C#

Java

Golang

Python

PowerShell

Bash

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