XMLAttributeFilter

Overview

Identified by type="XML", this AttributeFilter implements an XML-based rule syntax for filtering attributes that was forked off from the original filtering language that was designed for the Identity Provider software.

As of V3.1, a serious attempt has been made to rationalize the language to better align to what is currently supported by the V4 IdP. Further details on the differences are outlined below.

This filter's configuration is implemented as a reloadable XML resource, which means that the XML content can be supplied inline, in a local file, or a remote file, and can be monitored for changes and reloaded on the fly. The root of the XML in any of those cases MUST be an <afp:AttributeFilterPolicyGroup> element, either as a child element in an existing file or the root of a different file (usually the latter).

General Configuration

The language in SP V3.0 (and prior) was generally similar to that of the V2 Identity Provider. V3.1 has been updated with changes that bring the language largely into alignment with the V4 IdP, including the deprecation (and eventual elimination) of the additional "basic" and "saml" namespaces, the shortening of many plugin names, and some additional (though generally minor) functionality.

The match is not exact because not every IdP feature can be supported in the SP and there are features needed in the SP that aren't relevant to the IdP.

As of V3.1, only the "top-level" namespace, "urn:mace:shibboleth:2.0:afp" is needed in policies, and warnings are logged when the other two namespaces are encountered.

Supported Plugin Types

The following IdP policy and attribute rule function types are supported. Unless otherwise noted, the syntax should be assumed to be identical to the IdP version.

The following additional types are also supported:

NameIDQualifierString

Enforces the content of NameQualifier and SPNameQualifier attributes in decoded <NameID>-valued attributes. It supports the following XML attributes for configuration:

Rule Referencing

One feature maintained in the SP that was not supported by the IdP is rule referencing. The <afp:PolicyRequirementRule>, <afp:PermitValueRule>, and <afp:DenyValueRule> elements can appear alone, with an id attribute. In turn, anywhere these elements would be used within an <afp:AttributeFilterPolicy> or <afp:AttributeRule>, the previously defined rules can be referenced via <afp:PolicyRequirementRuleReference>, <afp:PermitValueRuleReference>, <afp:DenyValueRuleReference>, and <afp:RuleReference> elements.

The default policy distributed with the software includes an example of this approach.

Wildcarding

Another SP-only feature is wildcarding. The SP does not require that a rule be defined for every possible attribute mapped since a lot of attributes would simply be passed through to applications unfiltered and the mapping capability itself can be used to ignore unwanted inputs. As a result, an <afp:AttributeRule> can contain an attributeID set to "*" in order to auto-apply the contained rule to every attribute not otherwise identified by a dedicated rule.

Reference

Attributes

Aside from the type="XML" attribute itself, there is no other attribute content specific to this plugin type.

It supports all of the attributes common to all reloadable configuration resources:

Child Elements

The following child element must be provided, either inline, or as the root element of a local or remote XML resource to load from, which would be specified via the attribute(s) above.

When a non-inline configuration is used, it supports the following child elements common to all reloadable configuration resources.