Authentication Failures
Problem Symptoms
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Authentication failures usually manifest themselves with the following symptoms:
401 Unauthorizederrors403 Forbiddenerrors- Token validation errors
- User login issues
- API key validation errors
Problem Causes
Authentication failures can usually be caused by the following factors:
- Invalid Credentials: Wrong username, password, or token
- Token Expired: Token's expiration time expiring
- Wrong Token Format: Token format not being in expected format
- Identity Provider Issues: LDAP, Database, or Security Manager issues
- Policy Configuration Errors: Authentication policy being incorrectly configured
- Network Issues: Identity provider access issues
- Certificate Issues: mTLS or JWT certificate issues
Detection Methods
1. Log Analysis
Check Log Files
Search for authentication errors in log files:
kubectl logs <pod-name> | grep -i "authentication"
kubectl logs <pod-name> | grep -i "401"
kubectl logs <pod-name> | grep -i "403"
kubectl logs <pod-name> | grep -i "unauthorized"
2. Analytics Dashboard
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Monitor authentication errors in Analytics dashboard:
- Authentication failure rate
- Error type distribution
- Endpoint-based error analysis
- User-based error analysis
3. Policy Test
Test the authentication policy:
- Test the policy using test endpoint
- Test with different credentials
- Check policy logs
Solution Recommendations
1. Checking Credentials
Check credentials:
- Are username and password correct?
- Is token valid and not expired?
- Is token format correct?
- Is API key valid?
2. Token Management
Check token management:
- Check token expiration times
- Check token refresh mechanism
- Verify token format
- Check token signature
3. Checking Identity Provider Connection
Check Identity provider connection:
LDAP:
- Is LDAP server accessible?
- Are Bind DN and password correct?
- Are Base DN and search filter correct?
Database:
- Is database connection working?
- Are user table and columns correct?
- Is password hash algorithm correct?
Security Manager:
- Is user defined in Security Manager?
- Is user active?
- Are roles correctly assigned?
4. Checking Authentication Policy Configuration
Check authentication policy configuration:
- Is correct Identity Provider selected?
- Are username and password variables correct?
- Are token location and prefix settings correct?
- Are conditions correctly configured?
5. Certificate Check (mTLS/JWT)
Check certificates:
- Is CA certificate correctly loaded?
- Is client certificate valid?
- Have certificate expiration dates been checked?
- Is Issuer ACL correctly configured?
6. Network and Firewall Check
Check network and firewall rules:
- Do pods have access to Identity Provider?
- Are ports open?
- Are network policies blocking connection?
Common Error Scenarios and Solutions
Scenario 1: Token Expired
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Symptoms:
401 Unauthorizederror- "Token expired" message
Solution:
- Refresh token
- Increase token expiration time
- Use token refresh mechanism
Scenario 2: Wrong Token Format
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Symptoms:
401 Unauthorizederror- "Invalid token format" message
Solution:
- Check token format
- Check token prefix (Bearer, Basic, etc.)
- Check token location (Header, Query Parameter, etc.)
Scenario 3: Identity Provider Connection Error
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Symptoms:
500 Internal Server Error- "Connection refused" or "Timeout" message
Solution:
- Check Identity Provider accessibility
- Check network connection
- Check connection pool settings
Scenario 4: User Not Found
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Symptoms:
401 Unauthorizederror- "User not found" message
Solution:
- Check that user is defined in Identity Provider
- Check user search filter
- Check username format
Preventive Measures
1. Monitoring and Alerting
- Monitor authentication error rates
- Perform anomaly detection
- Set up alerts
2. Testing and Validation
- Perform regular authentication tests
- Test different scenarios
- Include authentication in load tests
3. Documentation
- Document authentication configuration
- Prepare troubleshooting guides
- Share best practices