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ADR 08: Use Lightweight Authentication (OAuth2, Shiro)

  • Title: Use lightweight authentication (OAuth2, Shiro)

  • Status: Accepted

  • Context:
    ClearView requires secure authentication mechanisms to protect access to its services, especially for candidates, employers, and administrators. While security is critical, the current scope and scale of the system do not justify the complexity and overhead of implementing a heavy-duty, enterprise-grade authentication solution. To keep the architecture simple and manageable while still ensuring secure access control, ClearView will implement lightweight authentication mechanisms, such as OAuth2 or Apache Shiro. These solutions provide sufficient security for the current phase of the system without introducing unnecessary complexity, allowing for quick implementation and ease of maintenance.

  • Decision:
    ClearView will use lightweight authentication for managing access to its services, with OAuth2 or Apache Shiro being the preferred options:

    1. OAuth2: Provides an industry-standard, secure, and simple protocol for token-based authentication, making it easy to integrate with external identity providers (e.g., Google, GitHub) and enabling single sign-on (SSO) capabilities if needed.
    2. Apache Shiro: Offers a lightweight framework for authentication, authorization, cryptography, and session management, making it a flexible choice for smaller systems or those requiring simple access control.

    These solutions offer sufficient security for ClearView’s current requirements while minimizing complexity and reducing development time.

  • Consequences:

    • Positive:

      • Simplicity: Lightweight authentication solutions like OAuth2 or Shiro are simpler to implement, reducing development and operational overhead. This ensures that authentication does not become a bottleneck in the system’s development.
      • Cost-Efficient: These solutions provide a cost-effective way to implement secure authentication without the need for complex identity management systems.
      • Scalable for Current Needs: OAuth2 and Shiro provide enough flexibility and scalability for the current scope of the ClearView system, supporting candidate and employer authentication, as well as administrative access.
      • Easy Integration: OAuth2, in particular, integrates well with third-party identity providers (e.g., Google, Facebook), allowing for future extensibility and support for single sign-on (SSO) if required.
      • Secure by Default: Both OAuth2 and Shiro have strong, built-in security features, ensuring that basic authentication and session management are secure out of the box.

    • Negative:

      • Limited for Large-Scale or Complex Systems: As the system grows or if there are future needs for more robust user management (e.g., advanced user roles, multi-factor authentication), these lightweight solutions may need to be upgraded or replaced with more complex, enterprise-grade systems, such as Keycloak or Okta.
      • Migration Overhead: If the system outgrows the capabilities of OAuth2 or Shiro, migrating to a more advanced authentication solution could introduce technical debt and migration challenges. This includes the complexity of migrating user accounts, tokens, and sessions to a new system.
      • OAuth2 Token Management Complexity: Although OAuth2 is lightweight, token management can introduce complexity, particularly with token expiration, refresh tokens, and managing multiple token flows (authorization code, client credentials, etc.).
      • Potential Security Limitations: While secure, these solutions may lack some of the advanced security features offered by larger identity management platforms, such as integrated audit logging, fine-grained access control, or built-in multi-factor authentication.