ASP.NET Core Blazor authentication and authorization

  • 10 minutes to read

By Steve Sanderson and Luke Latham

ASP.NET Core supports the configuration and management of security in Blazor apps.

Security scenarios differ between Blazor Server and Blazor WebAssembly apps. Because Blazor Server apps run on the server, authorization checks are able to determine:

  • The UI options presented to a user (for example, which menu entries are available to a user).
  • Access rules for areas of the app and components.

Blazor WebAssembly apps run on the client. Authorization is only used to determine which UI options to show. Since client-side checks can be modified or bypassed by a user, a Blazor WebAssembly app can't enforce authorization access rules.

Razor Pages authorization conventions don't apply to routable Razor components. If a non-routable Razor component is embedded in a page, the page's authorization conventions indirectly affect the Razor component along with the rest of the page's content.

Note

SignInManager<TUser> and UserManager<TUser> aren't supported in Razor components.

Authentication

Blazor uses the existing ASP.NET Core authentication mechanisms to establish the user's identity. The exact mechanism depends on how the Blazor app is hosted, Blazor WebAssembly or Blazor Server.

Blazor WebAssembly authentication

In Blazor WebAssembly apps, authentication checks can be bypassed because all client-side code can be modified by users. The same is true for all client-side app technologies, including JavaScript SPA frameworks or native apps for any operating system.

Add the following:

To handle authentication, implementation of a built-in or custom AuthenticationStateProvider service is covered in the following sections.

For more information on creating apps and configuration, see Secure ASP.NET Core Blazor WebAssembly.

Blazor Server authentication

Blazor Server apps operate over a real-time connection that's created using SignalR. Authentication in SignalR-based apps is handled when the connection is established. Authentication can be based on a cookie or some other bearer token.

For more information on creating apps and configuration, see Secure ASP.NET Core Blazor Server apps.

AuthenticationStateProvider service

The built-in AuthenticationStateProvider service obtains authentication state data from ASP.NET Core's HttpContext.User. This is how authentication state integrates with existing ASP.NET Core authentication mechanisms.

AuthenticationStateProvider is the underlying service used by the AuthorizeView component and CascadingAuthenticationState component to get the authentication state.

You don't typically use AuthenticationStateProvider directly. Use the AuthorizeView component or Task<AuthenticationState> approaches described later in this article. The main drawback to using AuthenticationStateProvider directly is that the component isn't notified automatically if the underlying authentication state data changes.

The AuthenticationStateProvider service can provide the current user's ClaimsPrincipal data, as shown in the following example:

@page "/"
@using System.Security.Claims
@using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Authorization
@inject AuthenticationStateProvider AuthenticationStateProvider

<h3>ClaimsPrincipal Data</h3>

<button @onclick="GetClaimsPrincipalData">Get ClaimsPrincipal Data</button>

<p>@_authMessage</p>

@if (_claims.Count() > 0)
{
    <ul>
        @foreach (var claim in _claims)
        {
            <li>@claim.Type: @claim.Value</li>
        }
    </ul>
}

<p>@_surnameMessage</p>

@code {
    private string _authMessage;
    private string _surnameMessage;
    private IEnumerable<Claim> _claims = Enumerable.Empty<Claim>();

    private async Task GetClaimsPrincipalData()
    {
        var authState = await AuthenticationStateProvider.GetAuthenticationStateAsync();
        var user = authState.User;

        if (user.Identity.IsAuthenticated)
        {
            _authMessage = $"{user.Identity.Name} is authenticated.";
            _claims = user.Claims;
            _surnameMessage = 
                $"Surname: {user.FindFirst(c => c.Type == ClaimTypes.Surname)?.Value}";
        }
        else
        {
            _authMessage = "The user is NOT authenticated.";
        }
    }
}

If user.Identity.IsAuthenticated is true and because the user is a ClaimsPrincipal, claims can be enumerated and membership in roles evaluated.

For more information on dependency injection (DI) and services, see ASP.NET Core Blazor dependency injection and Dependency injection in ASP.NET Core.

Implement a custom AuthenticationStateProvider

If the app requires a custom provider, implement AuthenticationStateProvider and override GetAuthenticationStateAsync:

using System.Security.Claims;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Authorization;

public class CustomAuthStateProvider : AuthenticationStateProvider
{
    public override Task<AuthenticationState> GetAuthenticationStateAsync()
    {
        var identity = new ClaimsIdentity(new[]
        {
            new Claim(ClaimTypes.Name, "mrfibuli"),
        }, "Fake authentication type");

        var user = new ClaimsPrincipal(identity);

        return Task.FromResult(new AuthenticationState(user));
    }
}

In a Blazor WebAssembly app, the CustomAuthStateProvider service is registered in Main of Program.cs:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Authorization;

...

builder.Services.AddScoped<AuthenticationStateProvider, CustomAuthStateProvider>();

In a Blazor Server app, the CustomAuthStateProvider service is registered in Startup.ConfigureServices:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Authorization;

...

services.AddScoped<AuthenticationStateProvider, CustomAuthStateProvider>();

Using the CustomAuthStateProvider in the preceding example, all users are authenticated with the username mrfibuli.

Expose the authentication state as a cascading parameter

If authentication state data is required for procedural logic, such as when performing an action triggered by the user, obtain the authentication state data by defining a cascading parameter of type Task<AuthenticationState>:

@page "/"

<button @onclick="LogUsername">Log username</button>

<p>@_authMessage</p>

@code {
    [CascadingParameter]
    private Task<AuthenticationState> authenticationStateTask { get; set; }

    private string _authMessage;

    private async Task LogUsername()
    {
        var authState = await authenticationStateTask;
        var user = authState.User;

        if (user.Identity.IsAuthenticated)
        {
            _authMessage = $"{user.Identity.Name} is authenticated.";
        }
        else
        {
            _authMessage = "The user is NOT authenticated.";
        }
    }
}

If user.Identity.IsAuthenticated is true, claims can be enumerated and membership in roles evaluated.

Set up the Task<AuthenticationState> cascading parameter using the AuthorizeRouteView and CascadingAuthenticationState components in the App component (App.razor):

<CascadingAuthenticationState>
    <Router AppAssembly="@typeof(Program).Assembly">
        <Found Context="routeData">
            <AuthorizeRouteView RouteData="@routeData" 
                DefaultLayout="@typeof(MainLayout)" />
        </Found>
        <NotFound>
            <LayoutView Layout="@typeof(MainLayout)">
                <p>Sorry, there's nothing at this address.</p>
            </LayoutView>
        </NotFound>
    </Router>
</CascadingAuthenticationState>

In a Blazor WebAssembly App, add services for options and authorization to Program.Main:

builder.Services.AddOptions();
builder.Services.AddAuthorizationCore();

In a Blazor Server app, services for options and authorization are already present, so no further action is required.

Authorization

After a user is authenticated, authorization rules are applied to control what the user can do.

Access is typically granted or denied based on whether:

  • A user is authenticated (signed in).
  • A user is in a role.
  • A user has a claim.
  • A policy is satisfied.

Each of these concepts is the same as in an ASP.NET Core MVC or Razor Pages app. For more information on ASP.NET Core security, see the articles under ASP.NET Core Security and Identity.

AuthorizeView component

The AuthorizeView component selectively displays UI depending on whether the user is authorized to see it. This approach is useful when you only need to display data for the user and don't need to use the user's identity in procedural logic.

The component exposes a context variable of type AuthenticationState, which you can use to access information about the signed-in user:

<AuthorizeView>
    <h1>Hello, @context.User.Identity.Name!</h1>
    <p>You can only see this content if you're authenticated.</p>
</AuthorizeView>

You can also supply different content for display if the user isn't authenticated:

<AuthorizeView>
    <Authorized>
        <h1>Hello, @context.User.Identity.Name!</h1>
        <p>You can only see this content if you're authenticated.</p>
    </Authorized>
    <NotAuthorized>
        <h1>Authentication Failure!</h1>
        <p>You're not signed in.</p>
    </NotAuthorized>
</AuthorizeView>

The AuthorizeView component can be used in the NavMenu component (Shared/NavMenu.razor) to display a list item (<li>...</li>) for a NavLink component (NavLink), but note that this approach only removes the list item from the rendered output. It doesn't prevent the user from navigating to the component.

The content of <Authorized> and <NotAuthorized> tags can include arbitrary items, such as other interactive components.

Authorization conditions, such as roles or policies that control UI options or access, are covered in the Authorization section.

If authorization conditions aren't specified, AuthorizeView uses a default policy and treats:

  • Authenticated (signed-in) users as authorized.
  • Unauthenticated (signed-out) users as unauthorized.

Role-based and policy-based authorization

The AuthorizeView component supports role-based or policy-based authorization.

For role-based authorization, use the Roles parameter:

<AuthorizeView Roles="admin, superuser">
    <p>You can only see this if you're an admin or superuser.</p>
</AuthorizeView>

For more information, see Role-based authorization in ASP.NET Core.

For policy-based authorization, use the Policy parameter:

<AuthorizeView Policy="content-editor">
    <p>You can only see this if you satisfy the "content-editor" policy.</p>
</AuthorizeView>

Claims-based authorization is a special case of policy-based authorization. For example, you can define a policy that requires users to have a certain claim. For more information, see Policy-based authorization in ASP.NET Core.

These APIs can be used in either Blazor Server or Blazor WebAssembly apps.

If neither Roles nor Policy is specified, AuthorizeView uses the default policy.

Content displayed during asynchronous authentication

Blazor allows for authentication state to be determined asynchronously. The primary scenario for this approach is in Blazor WebAssembly apps that make a request to an external endpoint for authentication.

While authentication is in progress, AuthorizeView displays no content by default. To display content while authentication occurs, use the <Authorizing> element:

<AuthorizeView>
    <Authorized>
        <h1>Hello, @context.User.Identity.Name!</h1>
        <p>You can only see this content if you're authenticated.</p>
    </Authorized>
    <Authorizing>
        <h1>Authentication in progress</h1>
        <p>You can only see this content while authentication is in progress.</p>
    </Authorizing>
</AuthorizeView>

This approach isn't normally applicable to Blazor Server apps. Blazor Server apps know the authentication state as soon as the state is established. Authorizing content can be provided in a Blazor Server app's AuthorizeView component, but the content is never displayed.

[Authorize] attribute

The [Authorize] attribute can be used in Razor components:

@page "/"
@attribute [Authorize]

You can only see this if you're signed in.

Important

Only use [Authorize] on @page components reached via the Blazor Router. Authorization is only performed as an aspect of routing and not for child components rendered within a page. To authorize the display of specific parts within a page, use AuthorizeView instead.

The [Authorize] attribute also supports role-based or policy-based authorization. For role-based authorization, use the Roles parameter:

@page "/"
@attribute [Authorize(Roles = "admin, superuser")]

<p>You can only see this if you're in the 'admin' or 'superuser' role.</p>

For policy-based authorization, use the Policy parameter:

@page "/"
@attribute [Authorize(Policy = "content-editor")]

<p>You can only see this if you satisfy the 'content-editor' policy.</p>

If neither Roles nor Policy is specified, [Authorize] uses the default policy, which by default is to treat:

  • Authenticated (signed-in) users as authorized.
  • Unauthenticated (signed-out) users as unauthorized.

Customize unauthorized content with the Router component

The Router component, in conjunction with the AuthorizeRouteView component, allows the app to specify custom content if:

In the default Blazor Server project template, the App component (App.razor) demonstrates how to set custom content:

<CascadingAuthenticationState>
    <Router AppAssembly="@typeof(Program).Assembly">
        <Found Context="routeData">
            <AuthorizeRouteView RouteData="@routeData" 
                DefaultLayout="@typeof(MainLayout)">
                <NotAuthorized>
                    <h1>Sorry</h1>
                    <p>You're not authorized to reach this page.</p>
                    <p>You may need to log in as a different user.</p>
                </NotAuthorized>
                <Authorizing>
                    <h1>Authentication in progress</h1>
                    <p>Only visible while authentication is in progress.</p>
                </Authorizing>
            </AuthorizeRouteView>
        </Found>
        <NotFound>
            <LayoutView Layout="@typeof(MainLayout)">
                <h1>Sorry</h1>
                <p>Sorry, there's nothing at this address.</p>
            </LayoutView>
        </NotFound>
    </Router>
</CascadingAuthenticationState>

The content of <NotFound>, <NotAuthorized>, and <Authorizing> tags can include arbitrary items, such as other interactive components.

If the <NotAuthorized> element isn't specified, the AuthorizeRouteView uses the following fallback message:

Not authorized.

Notification about authentication state changes

If the app determines that the underlying authentication state data has changed (for example, because the user signed out or another user has changed their roles), a custom AuthenticationStateProvider can optionally invoke the method NotifyAuthenticationStateChanged on the AuthenticationStateProvider base class. This notifies consumers of the authentication state data (for example, AuthorizeView) to rerender using the new data.

Procedural logic

If the app is required to check authorization rules as part of procedural logic, use a cascaded parameter of type Task<AuthenticationState> to obtain the user's ClaimsPrincipal. Task<AuthenticationState> can be combined with other services, such as IAuthorizationService, to evaluate policies.

@using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization
@inject IAuthorizationService AuthorizationService

<button @onclick="@DoSomething">Do something important</button>

@code {
    [CascadingParameter]
    private Task<AuthenticationState> authenticationStateTask { get; set; }

    private async Task DoSomething()
    {
        var user = (await authenticationStateTask).User;

        if (user.Identity.IsAuthenticated)
        {
            // Perform an action only available to authenticated (signed-in) users.
        }

        if (user.IsInRole("admin"))
        {
            // Perform an action only available to users in the 'admin' role.
        }

        if ((await AuthorizationService.AuthorizeAsync(user, "content-editor"))
            .Succeeded)
        {
            // Perform an action only available to users satisfying the 
            // 'content-editor' policy.
        }
    }
}

Note

In a Blazor WebAssembly app component, add the Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization and Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Authorization namespaces:

@using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization
@using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Authorization

These namespaces can be provided globally by adding them to the app's _Imports.razor file.

Troubleshoot errors

Common errors:

  • Authorization requires a cascading parameter of type Task\<AuthenticationState>. Consider using CascadingAuthenticationState to supply this.

  • null value is received for authenticationStateTask

It's likely that the project wasn't created using a Blazor Server template with authentication enabled. Wrap a <CascadingAuthenticationState> around some part of the UI tree, for example in the App component (App.razor) as follows:

<CascadingAuthenticationState>
    <Router AppAssembly="typeof(Startup).Assembly">
        ...
    </Router>
</CascadingAuthenticationState>

The CascadingAuthenticationState supplies the Task<AuthenticationState> cascading parameter, which in turn it receives from the underlying AuthenticationStateProvider DI service.

Additional resources