Kerberos is a network authentication protocol that securely verifies the identities of users and services using secret-key cryptography. It operates on a client-server model, centered around a Key Distribution Center (KDC), which includes:

Authentication Server (AS): Issues Ticket Granting Tickets (TGTs).

Ticket Granting Server (TGS): Provides service tickets for accessing network services.
The authentication process follows these steps:

1. Client Sends Credentials to AS
   The client sends its credentials (username) to the Authentication Server (AS).

2. AS Verifies Credentials and Issues TGT
   If the credentials are verified, the Authentication Server (AS) issues a Ticket Granting Ticket (TGT).

3. Client Requests Service Ticket from TGS
   The client uses the TGT to request a service ticket from the Ticket Granting Server (TGS).

4. TGS Issues Service Ticket
   The Ticket Granting Server (TGS) verifies the TGT and issues a service ticket for the requested service.

5. Client Presents Service Ticket to Service Server
   The client presents the service ticket to the desired service server for authentication.

This method ensures secure and efficient authentication across the network, making Kerberos a widely used solution for identity verification.

Prerequisites

To use the Kerberos Auth Method in Akeyless, the following accounts and permissions need to be configured:

• Service Account for the Gateway: This Domain User account is used by the Akeyless Gateway to authenticate with services and perform actions on behalf of users.

• Service Account for the LDAP Server: This Domain User account is responsible for supplying user data to the Gateway, enabling it to verify credentials and complete the authentication process.

• Admin access to the Active Directory Domain Controller: Administrative privileges on the Active Directory Domain Controller are required to manage the accounts and services for Kerberos authentication.

• Active Directory module for Windows: This module needs to be installed in your Windows environment to run the commands described later in this guide.

Configuration

To authenticate users or clients to services using Kerberos, a Service Principal Name (SPN) must be registered with an account:

setspn -U -S HTTP/<SPN> <AccountName>

Where:

U: Updates the SPN in Active Directory.

S: Checks for duplicates before adding the SPN

Authentication

Once the SPN is successfully registered, we can proceed with authenticating to the Active Directory using Kerberos.

First, we will retrieve the msDS-KeyVersionNumber value:

Get-ADUser <AccountName> -Property msDS-KeyVersionNumber

• msDS-KeyVersionNumber: An integer that indicates the version of the Kerberos key associated with a user or service principal.

The retrieved value will be used as the kvno parameter on the ktpass command.

keytab Generation

A keytab is a file used in Kerberos authentication that contains pairs of Kerberos principals and their corresponding secret keys. It allows services to authenticate to the Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC) without needing to interactively enter a password.

Run the following command to generate a keytab for the user who will be authenticated via Kerberos:

ktpass /princ <username>@<REALM> /ptype krb5_nt_principal /crypto <EncryptionType> /out <OutputFile> /mapuser <MapUser> /kvno <KeyVersionNumber> /pass <Password>

Where:

princ: Specifies the Kerberos principal name to be created or modified

ptype: Indicates the principal type, defining the nature of the principal

crypto: Defines the encryption type used for the principal's key

out: Specifies the output filename for the keytab file that will be generated

mapuser: Maps the specified principal to a user account in Active Directory

kvno: Sets the Key Version Number (KVNO) for the principal, used for key management

pass: Indicates that a password is required for the user account

krb5 File

The krb5 file is a configuration file for the Kerberos 5 authentication system. It contains settings that define the Kerberos realm, KDC (Key Distribution Center) servers, and other Kerberos-related parameters necessary for authentication.

Create the krb5.conf File:

[libdefaults]
  default_realm = MY.TEST.COM
  dns_lookup_realm = false
  dns_lookup_kdc = true
  ticket_lifetime = 24h
  renew_lifetime = 7d
  forwardable = true
  rdns = false
  preferred_preauth_types = 23
[realms]
  MY.TEST.COM = {
    kdc = DC.TEST.COM
    admin_server = DC.TEST.COM
    master_kdc = DC.TEST.COM
    default_domain = MY.TEST.COM
  }

Where:

• default_realm: Defines the default Kerberos realm

• dns_lookup_realm: Controls whether the realm can be discovered via DNS

• dns_lookup_kdc: Controls whether the KDC can be discovered via DNS

• ticket_lifetime: Specifies how long tickets are valid

• renew_lifetime: Specifies how long tickets can be renewed

• forwardable: Allows tickets to be forwarded to other services

• rdns: Enables or disables reverse DNS lookups for KDC

• preferred_preauth_types: Specifies which pre-authentication methods are preferred by the client

Once done, continue with creating a Kerberos Authentication Method:

akeyless auth-method create kerberos \
--name kerberos \      
--krb5conf-file-path /path/to/krb5.conf  \                        
--keytab-file-path /path/to/.keytab \
--ldap-url <LDAP server URL> \
--bind-dn CN=user,CN=Users,DC=TEST,DC=COM \   
--bind-dn-password <bind dn password> \
--user-dn CN=Users,DC=TEST,DC=COM \             
--user-attribute sAMAccountName \
--group-dn CN=Users,DC=TEST,DC=COM \
--group-filter (sAMAccountName={{.Username}}) \      
--group-attr memberOf \
--gateway-url '<https://<Your-Akeyless-GW-URL:8000>' \
--unique-identifier sAMAccountName 

Where:

• name: A unique name for the authentication method. The name can include the path to the virtual folder where you want to create the new authentication method, using slash / separators. If the folder does not exist, it will be created together with the authentication method.

• krb5conf-file-path: The path to a valid krb5.conf file, specifying the settings and parameters required for Kerberos authentication

• keytab-file-path: The path to a valid keytab file, containing the service account's entry

• ldap-url: LDAP server URL, e.g., ldap://ldap.domain.com:389

• bind-dn: Full DN of the LDAP user to bind with

• bind-dn-password: Password for the LDAP Bind DN

• user-dn: The base DN for user searches

• user-attribute: LDAP attribute that maps to the username used for signing in

• group-dn: Base DN for group membership searches

• group-filter: Go template for constructing the group membership query

• group-attr: LDAP attribute to follow on objects returned by ldap_group_filter to enumerate user group membership

• gateway-url: Gateway URL (Configuration Management port)

• unique-identifier: A unique identifier (ID) value which is a sub-claim name that contains details uniquely identifying that resource. This sub-claim is used to distinguish between different identities

You can find the complete list of additional parameters for this command in the CLI Reference - Authentication section

Once created, you can use the akeyless auth command to authenticate a user via Kerberos:

akeyless auth \
--access-id <Access ID> \
--access-type=kerberos \
--krb5conf-file-path /path/to/krb5.conf \
--keytab-file-path /path/to/keytab

Running this command will authenticate the user specified in the keytab file to akeyless using Kerberos