Configure TLS mutual authentication for Azure App Service

You can restrict access to your Azure App Service app by enabling different types of authentication for it. One way to do it is to request a client certificate when the client request is over TLS/SSL and validate the certificate. This mechanism is called TLS mutual authentication or client certificate authentication. This article shows how to set up your app to use client certificate authentication.

Prepare your web app

To create custom TLS/SSL bindings or enable client certificates for your App Service app, your App Service plan must be in the Basic, Standard, Premium, or Isolated tier. To make sure that your web app is in the supported pricing tier, follow these steps:

Go to your web app

1. In the Azure portal search box, find and select App Services.

   

2. On the App Services page, select your web app's name.

   

   You're now on your web app's management page.

Check the pricing tier

1. In the left menu for your web app, under the Settings section, select Scale up (App Service plan).

   

2. Make sure that your web app isn't in the F1 or D1 tier, which doesn't support custom TLS/SSL.

3. If you need to scale up, follow the steps in the next section. Otherwise, close the Scale up page, and skip the Scale up your App Service plan section.

Scale up your App Service plan

1. Select any non-free tier, such as B1, B2, B3, or any other tier in the Production category.

2. When you're done, select Select.

   When the following message appears, the scale operation has completed.

   

Enable client certificates

To set up your app to require client certificates:

1. From the left navigation of your app's management page, select Configuration > General Settings.

2. Select Client certificate mode of choice. Select Save at the top of the page.

az webapp update --set clientCertEnabled=true --name <app-name> --resource-group <group-name>

resource appService 'Microsoft.Web/sites@2020-06-01' = {
  name: webSiteName
  location: location
  kind: 'app'
  properties: {
    serverFarmId: appServicePlan.id
    siteConfig: {
      linuxFxVersion: linuxFxVersion
    }
    clientCertEnabled: true
    clientCertMode: 'Required'
    clientCertExclusionPaths: '/sample1;/sample2'
  }
}

{
    "type": "Microsoft.Web/sites",
    "apiVersion": "2020-06-01",
    "name": "[parameters('webAppName')]",
    "location": "[parameters('location')]",
    "dependsOn": [
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('appServicePlanPortalName'))]"
    ],
    "properties": {
        "serverFarmId": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('appServicePlanPortalName'))]",
        "siteConfig": {
            "linuxFxVersion": "[parameters('linuxFxVersion')]"
        },
        "clientCertEnabled": true,
        "clientCertMode": "Required",
        "clientCertExclusionPaths": "/sample1;/sample2"
    }
}

Exclude paths from requiring authentication

When you enable mutual auth for your application, all paths under the root of your app require a client certificate for access. To remove this requirement for certain paths, define exclusion paths as part of your application configuration.

1. From the left navigation of your app's management page, select Configuration > General Settings.

2. Next to Certificate exclusion paths, select the edit icon.

3. Select New path, specify a path, or a list of paths separated by , or ;, and select OK.

4. Select Save at the top of the page.

In the following screenshot, any path for your app that starts with /public doesn't request a client certificate. Path matching is case-insensitive.

Access client certificate

In App Service, TLS termination of the request happens at the frontend load balancer. When App Service forwards the request to your app code with client certificates enabled, it injects an X-ARR-ClientCert request header with the client certificate. App Service doesn't do anything with this client certificate other than forwarding it to your app. Your app code is responsible for validating the client certificate.

For ASP.NET, the client certificate is available through the HttpRequest.ClientCertificate property.

For other application stacks (Node.js, PHP, etc.), the client cert is available in your app through a base64 encoded value in the X-ARR-ClientCert request header.

ASP.NET Core sample

For ASP.NET Core, middleware is provided to parse forwarded certificates. Separate middleware is provided to use the forwarded protocol headers. Both must be present for forwarded certificates to be accepted. You can place custom certificate validation logic in the CertificateAuthentication options.

public class Startup
{
    public Startup(IConfiguration configuration)
    {
        Configuration = configuration;
    }

    public IConfiguration Configuration { get; }

    public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
    {
        services.AddControllersWithViews();
        // Configure the application to use the protocol and client ip address forwared by the frontend load balancer
        services.Configure<ForwardedHeadersOptions>(options =>
        {
            options.ForwardedHeaders =
                ForwardedHeaders.XForwardedFor | ForwardedHeaders.XForwardedProto;
            // Only loopback proxies are allowed by default. Clear that restriction to enable this explicit configuration.
            options.KnownNetworks.Clear();
            options.KnownProxies.Clear();
        });       
        
        // Configure the application to client certificate forwarded the frontend load balancer
        services.AddCertificateForwarding(options => { options.CertificateHeader = "X-ARR-ClientCert"; });

        // Add certificate authentication so when authorization is performed the user will be created from the certificate
        services.AddAuthentication(CertificateAuthenticationDefaults.AuthenticationScheme).AddCertificate();
    }

    public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IWebHostEnvironment env)
    {
        if (env.IsDevelopment())
        {
            app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();
        }
        else
        {
            app.UseExceptionHandler("/Home/Error");
            app.UseHsts();
        }
        
        app.UseForwardedHeaders();
        app.UseCertificateForwarding();
        app.UseHttpsRedirection();

        app.UseAuthentication()
        app.UseAuthorization();

        app.UseStaticFiles();

        app.UseRouting();
        
        app.UseEndpoints(endpoints =>
        {
            endpoints.MapControllerRoute(
                name: "default",
                pattern: "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");
        });
    }
}

ASP.NET WebForms sample

    using System;
    using System.Collections.Specialized;
    using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;
    using System.Web;

    namespace ClientCertificateUsageSample
    {
        public partial class Cert : System.Web.UI.Page
        {
            public string certHeader = "";
            public string errorString = "";
            private X509Certificate2 certificate = null;
            public string certThumbprint = "";
            public string certSubject = "";
            public string certIssuer = "";
            public string certSignatureAlg = "";
            public string certIssueDate = "";
            public string certExpiryDate = "";
            public bool isValidCert = false;

            //
            // Read the certificate from the header into an X509Certificate2 object
            // Display properties of the certificate on the page
            //
            protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
            {
                NameValueCollection headers = base.Request.Headers;
                certHeader = headers["X-ARR-ClientCert"];
                if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(certHeader))
                {
                    try
                    {
                        byte[] clientCertBytes = Convert.FromBase64String(certHeader);
                        certificate = new X509Certificate2(clientCertBytes);
                        certSubject = certificate.Subject;
                        certIssuer = certificate.Issuer;
                        certThumbprint = certificate.Thumbprint;
                        certSignatureAlg = certificate.SignatureAlgorithm.FriendlyName;
                        certIssueDate = certificate.NotBefore.ToShortDateString() + " " + certificate.NotBefore.ToShortTimeString();
                        certExpiryDate = certificate.NotAfter.ToShortDateString() + " " + certificate.NotAfter.ToShortTimeString();
                    }
                    catch (Exception ex)
                    {
                        errorString = ex.ToString();
                    }
                    finally 
                    {
                        isValidCert = IsValidClientCertificate();
                        if (!isValidCert) Response.StatusCode = 403;
                        else Response.StatusCode = 200;
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    certHeader = "";
                }
            }

            //
            // This is a SAMPLE verification routine. Depending on your application logic and security requirements, 
            // you should modify this method
            //
            private bool IsValidClientCertificate()
            {
                // In this example we will only accept the certificate as a valid certificate if all the conditions below are met:
                // 1. The certificate isn't expired and is active for the current time on server.
                // 2. The subject name of the certificate has the common name nildevecc
                // 3. The issuer name of the certificate has the common name nildevecc and organization name Azure Corp
                // 4. The thumbprint of the certificate is 30757A2E831977D8BD9C8496E4C99AB26CB9622B
                //
                // This example doesn't test that this certificate is chained to a Trusted Root Authority (or revoked) on the server 
                // and it allows for self signed certificates
                //

                if (certificate == null || !String.IsNullOrEmpty(errorString)) return false;

                // 1. Check time validity of certificate
                if (DateTime.Compare(DateTime.Now, certificate.NotBefore) < 0 || DateTime.Compare(DateTime.Now, certificate.NotAfter) > 0) return false;

                // 2. Check subject name of certificate
                bool foundSubject = false;
                string[] certSubjectData = certificate.Subject.Split(new char[] { ',' }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
                foreach (string s in certSubjectData)
                {
                    if (String.Compare(s.Trim(), "CN=nildevecc") == 0)
                    {
                        foundSubject = true;
                        break;
                    }
                }
                if (!foundSubject) return false;

                // 3. Check issuer name of certificate
                bool foundIssuerCN = false, foundIssuerO = false;
                string[] certIssuerData = certificate.Issuer.Split(new char[] { ',' }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
                foreach (string s in certIssuerData)
                {
                    if (String.Compare(s.Trim(), "CN=nildevecc") == 0)
                    {
                        foundIssuerCN = true;
                        if (foundIssuerO) break;
                    }

                    if (String.Compare(s.Trim(), "O=Microsoft Corp") == 0)
                    {
                        foundIssuerO = true;
                        if (foundIssuerCN) break;
                    }
                }

                if (!foundIssuerCN || !foundIssuerO) return false;

                // 4. Check thumprint of certificate
                if (String.Compare(certificate.Thumbprint.Trim().ToUpper(), "30757A2E831977D8BD9C8496E4C99AB26CB9622B") != 0) return false;

                return true;
            }
        }
    }

Node.js sample

The following Node.js sample code gets the X-ARR-ClientCert header and uses node-forge to convert the base64-encoded PEM string into a certificate object and validate it:

import { NextFunction, Request, Response } from 'express';
import { pki, md, asn1 } from 'node-forge';

export class AuthorizationHandler {
    public static authorizeClientCertificate(req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction): void {
        try {
            // Get header
            const header = req.get('X-ARR-ClientCert');
            if (!header) throw new Error('UNAUTHORIZED');

            // Convert from PEM to pki.CERT
            const pem = `-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----${header}-----END CERTIFICATE-----`;
            const incomingCert: pki.Certificate = pki.certificateFromPem(pem);

            // Validate certificate thumbprint
            const fingerPrint = md.sha1.create().update(asn1.toDer(pki.certificateToAsn1(incomingCert)).getBytes()).digest().toHex();
            if (fingerPrint.toLowerCase() !== 'abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12') throw new Error('UNAUTHORIZED');

            // Validate time validity
            const currentDate = new Date();
            if (currentDate < incomingCert.validity.notBefore || currentDate > incomingCert.validity.notAfter) throw new Error('UNAUTHORIZED');

            // Validate issuer
            if (incomingCert.issuer.hash.toLowerCase() !== 'abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12') throw new Error('UNAUTHORIZED');

            // Validate subject
            if (incomingCert.subject.hash.toLowerCase() !== 'abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12') throw new Error('UNAUTHORIZED');

            next();
        } catch (e) {
            if (e instanceof Error && e.message === 'UNAUTHORIZED') {
                res.status(401).send();
            } else {
                next(e);
            }
        }
    }
}

Java sample

The following Java class encodes the certificate from X-ARR-ClientCert to an X509Certificate instance. certificateIsValid() validates that the certificate's thumbprint matches the one given in the constructor and that certificate hasn't expired.

import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
import java.security.cert.*;
import java.security.MessageDigest;

import sun.security.provider.X509Factory;

import javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverter;
import java.util.Base64;
import java.util.Date;

public class ClientCertValidator { 

    private String thumbprint;
    private X509Certificate certificate;

    /**
     * Constructor.
     * @param certificate The certificate from the "X-ARR-ClientCert" HTTP header
     * @param thumbprint The thumbprint to check against
     * @throws CertificateException If the certificate factory cannot be created.
     */
    public ClientCertValidator(String certificate, String thumbprint) throws CertificateException {
        certificate = certificate
                .replaceAll(X509Factory.BEGIN_CERT, "")
                .replaceAll(X509Factory.END_CERT, "");
        CertificateFactory cf = CertificateFactory.getInstance("X.509");
        byte [] base64Bytes = Base64.getDecoder().decode(certificate);
        X509Certificate X509cert =  (X509Certificate) cf.generateCertificate(new ByteArrayInputStream(base64Bytes));

        this.setCertificate(X509cert);
        this.setThumbprint(thumbprint);
    }

    /**
     * Check that the certificate's thumbprint matches the one given in the constructor, and that the
     * certificate hasn't expired.
     * @return True if the certificate's thumbprint matches and hasn't expired. False otherwise.
     */
    public boolean certificateIsValid() throws NoSuchAlgorithmException, CertificateEncodingException {
        return certificateHasNotExpired() && thumbprintIsValid();
    }

    /**
     * Check certificate's timestamp.
     * @return Returns true if the certificate hasn't expired. Returns false if it has expired.
     */
    private boolean certificateHasNotExpired() {
        Date currentTime = new java.util.Date();
        try {
            this.getCertificate().checkValidity(currentTime);
        } catch (CertificateExpiredException | CertificateNotYetValidException e) {
            return false;
        }
        return true;
    }

    /**
     * Check the certificate's thumbprint matches the given one.
     * @return Returns true if the thumbprints match. False otherwise.
     */
    private boolean thumbprintIsValid() throws NoSuchAlgorithmException, CertificateEncodingException {
        MessageDigest md = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA-1");
        byte[] der = this.getCertificate().getEncoded();
        md.update(der);
        byte[] digest = md.digest();
        String digestHex = DatatypeConverter.printHexBinary(digest);
        return digestHex.toLowerCase().equals(this.getThumbprint().toLowerCase());
    }

    // Getters and setters

    public void setThumbprint(String thumbprint) {
        this.thumbprint = thumbprint;
    }

    public String getThumbprint() {
        return this.thumbprint;
    }

    public X509Certificate getCertificate() {
        return certificate;
    }

    public void setCertificate(X509Certificate certificate) {
        this.certificate = certificate;
    }
}

Python sample

The following Flask and Django Python code samples implement a decorator named authorize_certificate that can be used on a view function to permit access only to callers that present a valid client certificate. It expects a PEM formatted certificate in the X-ARR-ClientCert header and uses the Python cryptography package to validate the certificate based on its fingerprint (thumbprint), subject common name, issuer common name, and beginning and expiration dates. If validation fails, the decorator ensures that an HTTP response with status code 403 (Forbidden) is returned to the client.

from functools import wraps
from datetime import datetime, timezone
from flask import abort, request
from cryptography import x509
from cryptography.x509.oid import NameOID
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import hashes


def validate_cert(request):

    try:
        cert_value =  request.headers.get('X-ARR-ClientCert')
        if cert_value is None:
            return False
        
        cert_data = ''.join(['-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\n', cert_value, '\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n',])
        cert = x509.load_pem_x509_certificate(cert_data.encode('utf-8'))
    
        fingerprint = cert.fingerprint(hashes.SHA1())
        if fingerprint != b'12345678901234567890':
            return False
        
        subject = cert.subject
        subject_cn = subject.get_attributes_for_oid(NameOID.COMMON_NAME)[0].value
        if subject_cn != "contoso.com":
            return False
        
        issuer = cert.issuer
        issuer_cn = issuer.get_attributes_for_oid(NameOID.COMMON_NAME)[0].value
        if issuer_cn != "contoso.com":
            return False
    
        current_time = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
    
        if current_time < cert.not_valid_before_utc:
            return False
        
        if current_time > cert.not_valid_after_utc:
            return False
        
        return True

    except Exception as e:
        # Handle any errors encountered during validation
        print(f"Encountered the following error during certificate validation: {e}")
        return False
    
def authorize_certificate(f):
    @wraps(f)
    def decorated_function(*args, **kwargs):
        if not validate_cert(request):
            abort(403)
        return f(*args, **kwargs)
    return decorated_function

@app.route('/hellocert')
@authorize_certificate
def hellocert():
   print('Request for hellocert page received')
   return render_template('index.html')

from functools import wraps
from datetime import datetime, timezone
from django.core.exceptions import PermissionDenied
from cryptography import x509
from cryptography.x509.oid import NameOID
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import hashes


def validate_cert(request):

    try:
        cert_value =  request.headers.get('X-ARR-ClientCert')
        if cert_value is None:
            return False
        
        cert_data = ''.join(['-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\n', cert_value, '\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n',])
        cert = x509.load_pem_x509_certificate(cert_data.encode('utf-8'))
    
        fingerprint = cert.fingerprint(hashes.SHA1())
        if fingerprint != b'12345678901234567890':
            return False
        
        subject = cert.subject
        subject_cn = subject.get_attributes_for_oid(NameOID.COMMON_NAME)[0].value
        if subject_cn != "contoso.com":
            return False
        
        issuer = cert.issuer
        issuer_cn = issuer.get_attributes_for_oid(NameOID.COMMON_NAME)[0].value
        if issuer_cn != "contoso.com":
            return False
    
        current_time = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
    
        if current_time < cert.not_valid_before_utc:
            return False
        
        if current_time > cert.not_valid_after_utc:
            return False
        
        return True

    except Exception as e:
        # Handle any errors encountered during validation
        print(f"Encountered the following error during certificate validation: {e}")
        return False

def authorize_certificate(view):
    @wraps(view)
    def _wrapped_view(request, *args, **kwargs):
        if not validate_cert(request):
            raise PermissionDenied
        return view(request, *args, **kwargs)
    return _wrapped_view

@authorize_certificate
def hellocert(request):
    print('Request for hellocert page received')
    return render(request, 'hello_azure/index.html')