Is it possible for the browser to know the currently logged in AD user without explicitly logging in? I want the code in the server to execute with the same permissions as the user in the browser. Is that possible or do I have to require the user to explicitly log on?
Context: ASP.NET, mostly IE 7, IIS 7.
Thanks.
If you...
use Integrated Windows Authentication in IIS
in web.config where relevant
and your users and IIS server are on the same domain
...then it is possible to pass credentials through the browser. IE (being Microsoft's creation) can do this without prompting, other browsers may still insist on users inputting their credentials at the start of a new session.
OK there are a couple parts to this question so I'll take them one at a time:
First, you would like to authenticate "without explicitly logging in". This is definitely possible with Internet Explorer using Windows Integrated authentication. Please see this article (Internet Explorer May Prompt You for a Password) for more details on requirements for your environment. You will want to enable this with ASP.NET Windows Authentication mode.
Second, you want server side code to run as the client's locally logged in user. This is called Identity Impersonation, and you should read this MSDN article to show how to configure it: Using IIS Authentication with ASP.NET Impersonation
Also See: MSDN Windows Authentication Provider
Related
I'm currently experiencing an issue with some users of an ASP.NET 4.8 Web API application hosted on Windows Server 2012 and IIS. The following properties are not returning that user's correct user name, and instead returning the name of a service account used for this server:
HttpContext.Current.User.Identity.Name
HttpContext.Current.Request.LogonUserIdentity.Name
I have no idea how to begin troubleshooting this - myself and most other users do not experience this issue, but for a handful of users the above does not return the correct username, returning the username of a service account used to remotely connect to the server in question. Forcing a login via a browser private window does rectify the issue, and the application correctly returns the expected username for each of the above properties.
What could be a cause for Windows Authentication not returning the correct user name and what is the best way to troubleshoot an issue like this?
edit: I was able to resolve the issue, see my answer below
After some additional research and troubleshooting, I determined that the users experiencing the issue described above had the service account in question stored in the Windows Credential Manager:
Removing the service account in question allowed them to be authenticated with the Intranet site with their normal Windows domain\username. As #pcalkins suggested, at some point the affected users had used these credentials on their machine, and Chrome, Edge, IE were using that saved credential when authenticating with the Intranet site.
Please check the following steps:
Make sure that windows authentication is enable and Anonymous Authentication is disable for the website.
Enable integrated security in Interner Explorer (Options/Advanced and checkin the "Enable Integrated Windows Authentication" option).
Add your website to Local Intranet zone and select at least "Automatic logon only in Intranet Zone" option under Options/Security Settings/Local intranet/Custom level).
Aake sure the user and application server are in the same domain.
I need to implement something like Single Sign On for a application that is being used on both Intranet and Internet.
Now , the application uses its own table for storing User information and has more users than that present in the AD for the Company. Example contract workers/3rd party vendors etc and hence many users who don't belong to the Active directory of domain are listed in the User Table.
The Application is a bit old and currently it uses Form to authenticate the users.
But strangely authentication mode in the web.config file has the following entry for authentication. <authentication mode="None" />
I changed the authentication mode to Windows in web.config and in IIS 6 selected integrated Windows authentication and unchecked the anonymous access.
Now I have following two scenarios.
#1 Intranet
User logs in to the system using the System Credential which is stored in a AD
Now if user hits the link for the web application he should be logged in.
I have implemented this part by using Page.User.Identity.name in the Page load of login.aspx to check if the user exists in the DB.
#2 Internet
If I check it from a external network the browser prompts me for credential.
The requirement is that the user should not be prompted for credential instead should be shown the current Login page
I googled and ended up on stackoverflow every time. Sadly the solutions did not work out for me.
I stumbled upon this post by Scott Enabling Windows Authentication within an Intranet ASP.NET Web application and if you check the comments Scott refers to use of solution by commenter ripster in case application is accessed from internet as well as intranet. Though it didn't work out for me or may be I didn't do it properly.
It seems you require a mix of Windows and Forms authentication : The requirement is that the user should not be prompted for credential instead should be shown the current Login page
Thought to share this . May be it can help you as mostly I have seen people to like the second below mentioned solution a lot. ( Atleast when they read it.)
If you're in classic mode - you can have both Windows and Forms authentication. An alert will pop up
Challenge-based and login redirect-based authentication cannot be used
simultaneously
you can however ignore this warning. CarlosAg says that:
we decided to leave it there was because it is still behavior that many user
scenarios would be consider incorrect, since most of the time forms
authentication uses anonymous authentication and not windows.
Read here.
Now when you want to use integrated mode, This stack question : iis7 Challenge-based and login redirect-based authentication cannot be used simultaneously leads to this famous link: http://mvolo.com/iis-70-twolevel-authentication-with-forms-authentication-and-windows-authentication/, which allows to change the authentication way for a page.
Another way you can manage this when using windows authentication is to manage usernames using code:
string user = Request.ServerVariables["LOGON_USER"];
Refer this link: http://beensoft.blogspot.in/2008/06/mixing-forms-and-windows-authentication.html , which gives a different way of mixing Forms and Windows authentication.
I created an ASP.NET application for an internal purpose, where the domain user accesses a simple web form, fills in the form and submits. The application impersonates the user and sends an email as the logged on domain user to our ticketing system where a ticket is generated from the user who filled out the form. Now, everything works when I test by logging onto the same server that IIS (7.5) is located and submit the form, but when I try to do the same from my desktop (opening browser and pointing to web server), it does not work. After investigating the issue, I discovered that this is likely a double-hop issue (which I confirmed when the exchange admin checked logs after a few failed attempts and found that site was trying to send email as NTAuthority/Anonymous.)
I've combed the web and found a lot of info on this issue, but all I can seem find are articles detailing the issue in relation to earlier versions of IIS (IIS 5 or 6.) I’m using 7.5 so I’m not certain of how the process for resolving this would differ. Could someone who has had this issue on IIS 7.5 post the basic step by step instructions for resolving double-hop as it relates to IIS 7.5 and sending impersonated email to an Exchange server? Something to the effect of, step one – do this, step 2 – do this, etc…
Another question that I have is the following: Many articles that I have read specify setting up a service account for delegation, and then create SPNs...However with IIS 7.5, I have the option of using application pool identities. Would application pool identities work with delegating impersonation, or would a service account be required to fix the issue?
Thanks all!
From your description, it sounds like your ASP.NET application is trying to determine the logged in user by their Windows network login credentials?
If so, all you should need to do is turn off "Enable Anonymous Access" in your IIS site and make sure that "Authenticated Access" has the "Integrated Windows Authentication" turned on. Then IIS should properly query the browser for their login info and the session should use the user's credentials. This assumes a few things about the client browser used and if something other than Internet Explorer is used, then you might also need to turn on one of the other authentication methods so that the other browsers will properly prompt the user for their network login credentials. Sorry I don't have a running IIS 7.5 server at the moment to give you the exact site properties and descriptions to look at. So if you cannot determine it from my description here, hopefully someone else might add on with that or I can try to follow up later if you need.
I am developing an intranet MVC3 application that will be used by both domain and non domain computers.
Everyone has a domain account so whenever a non domain computer is to open the website a windows credentials prompt input box is expected to appear.
If i understand correctly this will be standard browser behavior since they won't pass windows credentials to a website unless they are in the same domain.
The problem however is that whenever i debug on my localhost i am in the same domain as the server(since i am the server obviously). This results in me being "logged in" with my workgroup windows account in stead of my domain account.
What i'm looking for is a way to trigger the prompt box so i can use my domain account to login rather then to get useless access with my workgroup account.
You can use Forms authentication with the ActiveDirectoryMembershipProvider.
Take a look to this tutorial on MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms998360.aspx and this post: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326340/en-us (sorry it's VB code).
Addendum: if you want just to test another user credentials you can use impersonation, just set-up your web.config.
I have a website with a large user base configured with asp.net 2.0 forms authentication. Before the user logs in via forms authentication is it possible to retrieve the windows login name/user account name on the machine they are using?
Many thanks
It certainly is possible--by adding another web application to your system. Here's roughly how I have done it:
Your primary web app uses Forms authentication. On the forms login page, any user that is determined to be on the local LAN (check IP address), redirect them to another app that uses Windows authentication. In this second app, you can determine the user (assuming the browser is configured to send credentials automatically to the zone in which your app resides), then set a cookie which your first app can read, and redirect the user back to the original app.
This does work.
This would only be possible if you were using Windows Authentication in your web application and then only if the user had logged in.
The kind of information you are after is not sent as part of the web request (quite rightly) and is therefore unknown to the web server.
Unfortunately no - if the user has not logged on, they are browsing anonymously, and are therefore unknown to the server. There is no way to identify them.
Once they're logged on, if you're using impersonation use WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name. However, for forms authentication there's no direct way to ask the browser for their Windows credentials as they may not even be running Windows!
Not BEFORE no (not from the server).
Depending on the type of Auth you use, though, and the way the site is configured, you CAN get them to log in with their windows details.
See Mixing Forms and Windows Security in ASP.NET on Microsoft's MSDN.
The main difference with #TheObjectGuy answer is that instead of using 2 websites, this does all in a single website by configuring IIS to use the Integrated Windows authentication just in a "single" page (WinLogin.aspx).