# Which Problems Are Solved
In the SAML responses from some IDPs (e.g. ADFS and Shibboleth), the
`<NameID>` part could be missing in `<Subject>`, and in some cases, the
`<Subject>` part might be missing as well. This causes Zitadel to fail
the SAML login with the following error message:
```
ID=SAML-EFG32 Message=Errors.Intent.ResponseInvalid
```
# How the Problems Are Solved
This is solved by adding a workaround to accept a transient mapping
attribute when the `NameID` or the `Subject` is missing in the SAML
response. This requires setting the custom transient mapping attribute
in the SAML IDP config in Zitadel, and it should be present in the SAML
response as well.
<img width="639" height="173" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cbb792f1-aa6c-4b16-ad31-bd126d164eae"
/>
# Additional Changes
N/A
# Additional Context
- Closes#10251
# Which Problems Are Solved
There are multiple issues with the metadata and error handling of SAML:
- When providing a SAML metadata for an IdP, which cannot be processed,
the error will only be noticed once a user tries to use the IdP.
- Parsing for metadata with any other encoding than UTF-8 fails.
- Metadata containing an enclosing EntitiesDescriptor around
EntityDescriptor cannot be parsed.
- Metadata's `validUntil` value is always set to 48 hours, which causes
issues on external providers, if processed from a manual down/upload.
- If a SAML response cannot be parsed, only a generic "Authentication
failed" error is returned, the cause is hidden to the user and also to
actions.
# How the Problems Are Solved
- Return parsing errors after create / update and retrieval of an IdP in
the API.
- Prevent the creation and update of an IdP in case of a parsing
failure.
- Added decoders for encodings other than UTF-8 (including ASCII,
windows and ISO, [currently
supported](efd25daf28/encoding/ianaindex/ianaindex.go (L156)))
- Updated parsing to handle both `EntitiesDescriptor` and
`EntityDescriptor` as root element
- `validUntil` will automatically set to the certificate's expiration
time
- Unwrapped the hidden error to be returned. The Login UI will still
only provide a mostly generic error, but action can now access the
underlying error.
# Additional Changes
None
# Additional Context
reported by a customer
# Which Problems Are Solved
If a SAML IdP did not send a `NameID` (even though required by the
specification), ZITADEL would crash.
# How the Problems Are Solved
- Check specifically if the `Subject` and its `NameID` is passed
# Additional Changes
None
# Additional Context
- closes https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/issues/8654
# Which Problems Are Solved
ZITADEL currently always uses
`urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:persistent` in SAML requests,
relying on the IdP to respect that flag and always return a peristent
nameid in order to be able to map the external user with an existing
user (idp link) in ZITADEL.
In case the IdP however returns a
`urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:transient` (transient)
nameid, the attribute will differ between each request and it will not
be possible to match existing users.
# How the Problems Are Solved
This PR adds the following two options on SAML IdP:
- **nameIDFormat**: allows to set the nameid-format used in the SAML
Request
- **transientMappingAttributeName**: allows to set an attribute name,
which will be used instead of the nameid itself in case the returned
nameid-format is transient
# Additional Changes
To reduce impact on current installations, the `idp_templates6_saml`
table is altered with the two added columns by a setup job. New
installations will automatically get the table with the two columns
directly.
All idp unit tests are updated to use `expectEventstore` instead of the
deprecated `eventstoreExpect`.
# Additional Context
Closes#7483Closes#7743
---------
Co-authored-by: peintnermax <max@caos.ch>
Co-authored-by: Stefan Benz <46600784+stebenz@users.noreply.github.com>
