How to Validate Signature of Jwt from Jwks Without X5C

How to validate signature of JWT from jwks without x5c

Using x5c is just one way, but you can also retrieve the public key with the parameters e (public exponent) and n (modulus), which is also documented on the jose-jwt github page:

//If kid was found then load public key
if (jwkkey != null)
{
    RSACryptoServiceProvider key = new RSACryptoServiceProvider();
    key.ImportParameters(new RSAParameters
    {
        Modulus = Base64Url.Decode(jwkkey.n),
        Exponent = Base64Url.Decode(jwkkey.e)
    });
}

// get the public key in PEM format, e.g. to use it on jwt.io
var pubkey = Convert.ToBase64String(key.ExportSubjectPublicKeyInfo());
const string pemHeader = "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----";
const string pemFooter = "-----END PUBLIC KEY-----";
var publicKeyPem = pemHeader + Environment.NewLine + pubkey + Environment.NewLine + pemFooter;

var o = Jose.JWT.Decode(jsonToken.RawData, key);

You can also export the public key in PEM format again as shown in the code above, which will look like this:

and later use that key to manually verify your token on https://jwt.io

(key export corrected after a hint from @Topaco)

Verify a signature in JWT.IO

jwt.io says to enter the key

Public Key or Certificate. Enter it in plain text only if you want to verify a token

so I have converted the JSON Web Key to a PEM format guessing it would need a base64 format, and it works!.

jwt validation ok

This is the public key built from modulus and exponent

After some attemps I decided to write a simple test program to check if JWT signature is correct or it was a key format issue. You can test it (Java 8). It is fully functional

package test;

import java.math.BigInteger;
import java.security.InvalidKeyException;
import java.security.KeyFactory;
import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
import java.security.NoSuchProviderException;
import java.security.PublicKey;
import java.security.Signature;
import java.security.SignatureException;
import java.security.spec.InvalidKeySpecException;
import java.security.spec.RSAPublicKeySpec;
import java.util.Base64;

public class JWKTest {
    private static final String[] HEX_TABLE = new String[]{
        "00", "01", "02", "03", "04", "05", "06", "07", "08", "09", "0a", "0b", "0c", "0d", "0e", "0f",
        "10", "11", "12", "13", "14", "15", "16", "17", "18", "19", "1a", "1b", "1c", "1d", "1e", "1f",
        "20", "21", "22", "23", "24", "25", "26", "27", "28", "29", "2a", "2b", "2c", "2d", "2e", "2f",
        "30", "31", "32", "33", "34", "35", "36", "37", "38", "39", "3a", "3b", "3c", "3d", "3e", "3f",
        "40", "41", "42", "43", "44", "45", "46", "47", "48", "49", "4a", "4b", "4c", "4d", "4e", "4f",
        "50", "51", "52", "53", "54", "55", "56", "57", "58", "59", "5a", "5b", "5c", "5d", "5e", "5f",
        "60", "61", "62", "63", "64", "65", "66", "67", "68", "69", "6a", "6b", "6c", "6d", "6e", "6f",
        "70", "71", "72", "73", "74", "75", "76", "77", "78", "79", "7a", "7b", "7c", "7d", "7e", "7f",
        "80", "81", "82", "83", "84", "85", "86", "87", "88", "89", "8a", "8b", "8c", "8d", "8e", "8f",
        "90", "91", "92", "93", "94", "95", "96", "97", "98", "99", "9a", "9b", "9c", "9d", "9e", "9f",
        "a0", "a1", "a2", "a3", "a4", "a5", "a6", "a7", "a8", "a9", "aa", "ab", "ac", "ad", "ae", "af",
        "b0", "b1", "b2", "b3", "b4", "b5", "b6", "b7", "b8", "b9", "ba", "bb", "bc", "bd", "be", "bf",
        "c0", "c1", "c2", "c3", "c4", "c5", "c6", "c7", "c8", "c9", "ca", "cb", "cc", "cd", "ce", "cf",
        "d0", "d1", "d2", "d3", "d4", "d5", "d6", "d7", "d8", "d9", "da", "db", "dc", "dd", "de", "df",
        "e0", "e1", "e2", "e3", "e4", "e5", "e6", "e7", "e8", "e9", "ea", "eb", "ec", "ed", "ee", "ef",
        "f0", "f1", "f2", "f3", "f4", "f5", "f6", "f7", "f8", "f9", "fa", "fb", "fc", "fd", "fe", "ff",
    };
    
    public static String toHexFromBytes(byte[] bytes) {
        StringBuffer rc = new StringBuffer(bytes.length * 2);
        for (int i = 0; i < bytes.length; i++) {
            rc.append(HEX_TABLE[0xFF & bytes[i]]);
        }
        return rc.toString();
    }
    
    // Build the public key from modulus and exponent
    public static PublicKey getPublicKey (String modulusB64u, String exponentB64u) throws NoSuchAlgorithmException, InvalidKeySpecException{
        //conversion to BigInteger. I have transformed to Hex because new BigDecimal(byte) does not work for me
        byte exponentB[] = Base64.getUrlDecoder().decode(exponentB64u);
        byte modulusB[] = Base64.getUrlDecoder().decode(modulusB64u);
        BigInteger exponent = new BigInteger(toHexFromBytes(exponentB), 16);
        BigInteger modulus = new BigInteger(toHexFromBytes(modulusB), 16);
        
        //Build the public key
        RSAPublicKeySpec spec = new RSAPublicKeySpec(modulus, exponent);
        KeyFactory factory = KeyFactory.getInstance("RSA");
        PublicKey pub = factory.generatePublic(spec);
        
        return pub;
    }
    
    public final static void main (String argv[]) throws NoSuchAlgorithmException, InvalidKeySpecException, SignatureException, NoSuchProviderException, InvalidKeyException{
        String exponentB64u = "AQAB";
        String modulusB64u = "qnTksBdxOiOlsmRNd-mMS2M3o1IDpK4uAr0T4_YqO3zYHAGAWTwsq4ms-NWynqY5HaB4EThNxuq2GWC5JKpO1YirOrwS97B5x9LJyHXPsdJcSikEI9BxOkl6WLQ0UzPxHdYTLpR4_O-0ILAlXw8NU4-jB4AP8Sn9YGYJ5w0fLw5YmWioXeWvocz1wHrZdJPxS8XnqHXwMUozVzQj-x6daOv5FmrHU1r9_bbp0a1GLv4BbTtSh4kMyz1hXylho0EvPg5p9YIKStbNAW9eNWvv5R8HN7PPei21AsUqxekK0oW9jnEdHewckToX7x5zULWKwwZIksll0XnVczVgy7fCFw";
        String jwt = "eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsIng1dCI6ImEzck1VZ01Gdjl0UGNsTGE2eUYzekFrZnF1RSIsImtpZCI6ImEzck1VZ01Gdjl0UGNsTGE2eUYzekFrZnF1RSJ9.eyJub25jZSI6IjYzNjA3MDM0OTc3NDIzODg2NS5OMlkxTldKbU1EZ3RZbU13TkMwME9XWTNMVGt5TlRJdE9ERXpOell4Wm1NME0yVmxNV1l5TkdOaFlXTXRaVEpqT1MwME4yRmpMVGd6WmpVdFpXWTVOVEEwWmpFMU1qWTEiLCJpYXQiOjE0NzE0MzgxODIsImF0X2hhc2giOiJLWUJpVkl1Uy1YZERzU3NHcWU5dTJBIiwic3ViIjoiMSIsImFtciI6InBhc3N3b3JkIiwiYXV0aF90aW1lIjoxNDcxNDM4MTgyLCJpZHAiOiJpZHNydiIsImlzcyI6Imh0dHBzOi8vZWx3ZWJhcHBsaWNhdGlvbjEuYXp1cmV3ZWJzaXRlcy5uZXQvaWRlbnRpdHkiLCJhdWQiOiJtdmMiLCJleHAiOjE0NzE0Mzg0ODIsIm5iZiI6MTQ3MTQzODE4Mn0.Ehck2-rA09cJzlfURhDMp-WcXm_t_dl-u0Mli3exdv1HxX8i77x5VfFPM6rP4lcpI3lpN8Yj-FefZYDTUY_UmxCYvXf6ILSrhzEfQVaXSPKX1RUQQIDJGPU6NuFLcR416JpUAkE8joYae3WPj5VsM4yNENGGjUANm4qgj6G_mYy_BiXcSqvRGRYwW5GHDsnnANrIw4oktIYS05yCbjdiNYgQZ043L6Pb2p-5eTPCFqG7WRHp208dhg8D3nhtYEov2Kxod93oKHXSp1zf-Ot0cadk6Ss4fClaTE9S1f29lbwxw7ZxI1L3R4oOL3FZPSSHGp4d3a3AdUKOjKvvTVPv6w";
        
        //Build the public key from modulus and exponent
        PublicKey publicKey = getPublicKey (modulusB64u,exponentB64u);
        
        //print key as PEM (base64 and headers)
        String publicKeyPEM = 
              "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\n" 
            + Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(publicKey.getEncoded()) +"\n"
            + "-----END PUBLIC KEY-----";
        System.out.println(  publicKeyPEM);
        
        //get signed data and signature from JWT
        String signedData = jwt.substring(0, jwt.lastIndexOf("."));
        String signatureB64u = jwt.substring(jwt.lastIndexOf(".")+1,jwt.length());
        byte signature[] = Base64.getUrlDecoder().decode(signatureB64u);
        
        //verify Signature
        Signature sig = Signature.getInstance("SHA256withRSA");
        sig.initVerify(publicKey);
        sig.update(signedData.getBytes());
        boolean v = sig.verify(signature);
        System.out.println(v);
        
        
    }

}

Verifying JWT Signature using public key endpoint

x5c contains the certification chain. The first certificate of the chain must match with the key value represented by the other values in the JWK, in this case n and e, therefore the public key extracted from x5c[0] and the one built with n and e must be exactly the same

JWK values are encoded in base64url, not in base64. Change

BigInteger modulus = new BigInteger(1, Base64.decodeBase64(jsonKey.getN()));
BigInteger exponent = new BigInteger(1, Base64.decodeBase64(jsonKey.getE()));

with

BigInteger modulus = new BigInteger(1, Base64.getUrlDecoder().decode(jsonKey.getN()));
BigInteger exponent = new BigInteger(1, Base64.getUrlDecoder().decode(jsonKey.getE()));

How to parse a set of JWK with x5c and verify JWT?

The reason for that error (required field e is missing) is that the JWK Set from this url is invalid. Even if a JWK contains x5c it still must contain the other required public key members for that specific kty, which for the RSA keys listed in that URL means having n and e.

How to verify JWT signature with JWK in Go?

Below is an example of JWT decoding and verification. It uses both the jwt-go and jwk packages:

package main

import (
    "errors"
    "fmt"

    "github.com/dgrijalva/jwt-go"
    "github.com/lestrrat-go/jwx/jwk"
)

const token = `eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsImtpZCI6Ind5TXdLNEE2Q0w5UXcxMXVvZlZleVExMTlYeVgteHlreW1ra1h5Z1o1T00ifQ.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.OtVyCK0sE6Cuclg9VMD2AwLhqEyq2nv3a1bfxlzeS-bdu9KtYxcPSxJ6vxMcSSbMIIq9eEz9JFMU80zqgDPHBCjlOsC5SIPz7mm1Z3gCwq4zsFJ-2NIzYxA3p161ZRsPv_3bUyg9B_DPFyBoihgwWm6yrvrb4rmHXrDkjxpxCLPp3OeIpc_kb2t8r5HEQ5UBZPrsiScvuoVW13YwWpze59qBl_84n9xdmQ5pS7DklzkAVgqJT_NWBlb5uo6eW26HtJwHzss7xOIdQtcOtC1Gj3O82a55VJSQnsEEBeqG1ESb5Haq_hJgxYQnBssKydPCIxdZiye-0Ll9L8wWwpzwig`

const jwksURL = `https://companyx.okta.com/oauth2/v1/keys`

func getKey(token *jwt.Token) (interface{}, error) {

    // TODO: cache response so we don't have to make a request every time
    // we want to verify a JWT
    set, err := jwk.FetchHTTP(jwksURL)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }

    keyID, ok := token.Header["kid"].(string)
    if !ok {
        return nil, errors.New("expecting JWT header to have string kid")
    }

    if key := set.LookupKeyID(keyID); len(key) == 1 {
        return key[0].Materialize()
    }

    return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to find key %q", keyID)
}

func main() {
    token, err := jwt.Parse(token, getKey)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    claims := token.Claims.(jwt.MapClaims)
    for key, value := range claims {
        fmt.Printf("%s\t%v\n", key, value)
    }
}

How to Validate Signature of Jwt from Jwks Without X5C