Pentest Testing Corp

Posted on Jul 29

OAuth Misconfiguration in Symfony Explained

#cybersecurity #vulnerabilities #symfony #webdev

OAuth is a critical component in modern authentication systems. While Symfony provides robust tools for integrating OAuth through bundles like HWIOAuthBundle or Symfony UX, developers often unintentionally introduce misconfigurations that open up security vulnerabilities.

In this post, we’ll explore real-world OAuth misconfiguration scenarios in Symfony, complete with code samples, fixes, and how to test your implementation using our Website Vulnerability Scanner online free.

🔗 Also, check out our main blog at Pentest Testing Blog for more developer-centric security tutorials.

🔍 What is OAuth Misconfiguration?

OAuth misconfiguration occurs when OAuth flows (Authorization Code, Implicit, Client Credentials, etc.) are improperly implemented, exposing apps to attacks like:

Authorization Code Interception
Open Redirects
Missing or incorrect scopes
Insecure redirect URIs
Unvalidated JWT tokens
Lack of state parameter validation

🧠 Real Example: Misconfigured Redirect URI in Symfony

One of the most common vulnerabilities is allowing wildcards or dynamic redirect URIs without validation.

Here’s an example of a vulnerable configuration:

# config/packages/hwi_oauth.yaml

hwi_oauth:
  firewall_name: main
  resource_owners:
    google:
      type:                google
      client_id:           '%env(resolve:GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID)%'
      client_secret:       '%env(resolve:GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET)%'
      redirect_uri:        '%env(resolve:GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URI)%'

Problem: If the GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URI is user-controlled or overly permissive (e.g., allowing wildcards like https://*.evil.com), an attacker can redirect tokens to malicious domains.

✅ How to Fix It

Always hard-code and validate redirect URIs.

hwi_oauth:
  resource_owners:
    google:
      redirect_uri: 'https://yourdomain.com/login/check-google'

Also, make sure your firewall routes match and validate the redirect logic in your controller.

🛡️ Add State Parameter Verification

The state parameter prevents CSRF attacks during OAuth flows. By default, HWIOAuthBundle does not enforce state checks. Add this manually:

public function connectAction(Request $request)
{
    $session = $request->getSession();
    $state = bin2hex(random_bytes(32));
    $session->set('oauth_state', $state);

    return $this->redirect('https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?' . http_build_query([
        'client_id' => $this->getParameter('google_client_id'),
        'redirect_uri' => 'https://yourdomain.com/login/check-google',
        'response_type' => 'code',
        'scope' => 'email profile',
        'state' => $state,
    ]));
}

And then validate on the callback route:

public function loginCheckAction(Request $request)
{
    $state = $request->query->get('state');
    $sessionState = $request->getSession()->get('oauth_state');

    if ($state !== $sessionState) {
        throw new AccessDeniedHttpException('Invalid state parameter');
    }

    // Continue login...
}

🧪 Detect OAuth Misconfigurations Automatically

To validate your Symfony app’s OAuth flow and other security misconfigurations, use our free Website Vulnerability Scanner.

🖼️ Screenshot of the Website Vulnerability Scanner Page:

Screenshot of the free tools webpage where you can access security assessment tools.

It detects common issues like:

Open Redirects
Missing state parameter
Exposed client secrets
Insecure callback URLs
Leaky access tokens

🖼️ Sample Report from the Tool to check Website Vulnerability:

An Example of a vulnerability assessment report generated with our free tool, providing insights into possible vulnerabilities.

Try it at 👉 https://free.pentesttesting.com/

📦 Bonus: Token Signature Validation in Symfony

JWT tokens returned by OAuth providers (like Google or GitHub) should be verified before trusting them.

Example of insecure usage:

// Don't just decode JWTs without verifying the signature!
$decoded = JWT::decode($token, null, false);

Safe implementation:

use Firebase\JWT\JWT;
use Firebase\JWT\JWK;

// Fetch keys from Google's JWKs URI
$jwks = json_decode(file_get_contents('https://www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v3/certs'), true);
$keys = JWK::parseKeySet($jwks);

// Validate signature
$decoded = JWT::decode($id_token, $keys, ['RS256']);

Ensure you check:

Issuer (iss)
Audience (aud)
Expiry (exp)

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🔚 Final Thoughts

OAuth is powerful but tricky. Symfony developers need to stay vigilant against subtle configuration oversights that could lead to major security breaches.

Scan your app with our free tool for a Security test, and follow best practices in redirect URI handling, token validation, and state parameter usage.

For more deep dives like this, visit our blog at https://www.pentesttesting.com/blog/

Want a free scan? DM us or check https://free.pentesttesting.com/

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