What is federated session management, and how does it work?
What is federated session management, and how does it work?
22809-May-2023
Updated on 09-May-2023
Home / DeveloperSection / Forums / What is federated session management, and how does it work?
What is federated session management, and how does it work?
Aryan Kumar
09-May-2023Federated Session Management is a mechanism that allows users to access resources across multiple domains or applications without requiring separate authentication. It works by establishing a trust relationship between different domains or applications so that once a user is authenticated, they can use their credentials to access resources in the trusted domain or application.
Here's how it works:
A user logs into her Identity Provider (IdP), the system responsible for authenticating users and issuing her tokens for security. An IdP can be an SSO (single sign-on) system, an IAM (identity and access management) system, or any other system that can authenticate users.
Once a user is authenticated, the IdP issues a security token containing information about the user's identity, access rights, and other relevant information. Security tokens are digitally signed by the IdP to ensure their authenticity.
A user is trying to access a resource in another domain or application that is configured to trust the IdP. Resources can be web applications, databases, cloud services, or other types of resources.
The resource sends the security token to her IdP for validation. The IdP verifies the security token's signature to ensure its authenticity and verifies that the user has the required access to access the resource.
If the security token is valid and the user has the required access, the IdP issues a new security token containing information about the user's access to the requested resource. The new security token is sent back to the resource that uses it to grant user access.
The user's session is managed by her IdP. IdPs can monitor user activity and enforce security policies such as: B. Session Timeouts, Multi-Factor Authentication, or Blocked Access.
Federated session management allows users to securely and efficiently access resources across different domains and applications without having to remember multiple usernames and passwords. And by centralizing authentication and authorization in her one system, administrators can manage user access and enforce security policies more effectively.