Spring Security : limit login attempts example

In this tutorial, we will show you how to limit login attempts in Spring Security, which means, if a user try to login with an invalid password more than 3 times, the system will lock the user and make it unable to login anymore.

Technologies and tools used :

1. Spring 3.2.8.RELEASE
2. Spring Security 3.2.3.RELEASE
3. Spring JDBC 3.2.3.RELEASE
4. Eclipse 4.2
5. JDK 1.6
6. Maven 3
7. MySQL Server 5.6
8. Tomcat 7 (Servlet 3.x)

Some quick notes for this tutorial :

1. MySQL database will be used.
2. This is a Spring Security annotation-based example.
3. Create a “users” table with column “accountNonLocked”.
4. Create a “user_attempts” table to store the invalid login attempts.
5. Spring JDBC will be used.
6. Display custom error messages based on the returned exception.
7. Create a customized “authenticationProvider”

1. Solution

Review the existing Spring Security’s authentication class, the “locked” feature is already implemented. To enable the limit login attempts, you need to set the UserDetails.isAccountNonLocked to false.

package org.springframework.security.authentication.dao;

public class DaoAuthenticationProvider 
	extends AbstractUserDetailsAuthenticationProvider {
	//...
}

package org.springframework.security.authentication.dao;

public abstract class AbstractUserDetailsAuthenticationProvider 
    implements AuthenticationProvider, InitializingBean,
    MessageSourceAware {

    private class DefaultPreAuthenticationChecks implements UserDetailsChecker {
        public void check(UserDetails user) {
          if (!user.isAccountNonLocked()) {
              logger.debug("User account is locked");

          throw new LockedException(
              messages.getMessage("AbstractUserDetailsAuthenticationProvider.locked",
                 "User account is locked"), user);
          }
           //...
        }
    }

2. Project Demo

3. Project Directory

Review the final project structure (Annotation-based):

4. Database

Here are the MySQL scripts to create the users, user_roles and user_attempts tables.

4.1 Create a “users” table, with column “accountNonLocked”.

CREATE  TABLE users (
  username VARCHAR(45) NOT NULL ,
  password VARCHAR(45) NOT NULL ,
  enabled TINYINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 1 ,
  accountNonExpired TINYINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 1 ,
  accountNonLocked TINYINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 1 ,
  credentialsNonExpired TINYINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
  PRIMARY KEY (username));

4.2 Create a “user_roles” table.

CREATE TABLE user_roles (
  user_role_id int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  username varchar(45) NOT NULL,
  role varchar(45) NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (user_role_id),
  UNIQUE KEY uni_username_role (role,username),
  KEY fk_username_idx (username),
  CONSTRAINT fk_username FOREIGN KEY (username) REFERENCES users (username));

4.3 Create a “user_attempts” table.

CREATE TABLE user_attempts (
  id int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  username varchar(45) NOT NULL,
  attempts varchar(45) NOT NULL,
  lastModified datetime NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (id)
);

4.4 Inserts an user for testing.

INSERT INTO users(username,password,enabled)
VALUES ('mkyong','123456', true);

INSERT INTO user_roles (username, role)
VALUES ('mkyong', 'ROLE_USER');
INSERT INTO user_roles (username, role)
VALUES ('mkyong', 'ROLE_ADMIN');

5. UserAttempts Classes

This class represents the data of “user_attempts” table.

package com.mkyong.users.model;

import java.util.Date;

public class UserAttempts {

	private int id;
	private String username;
	private int attempts;
	private Date lastModified;

	//getter and setter

}

6. DAO Classes

A DAO class to update the invalid login attempts, read the comments for self-explanatory.

package com.mkyong.users.dao;

import com.mkyong.users.model.UserAttempts;

public interface UserDetailsDao {

	void updateFailAttempts(String username);
	void resetFailAttempts(String username);
	UserAttempts getUserAttempts(String username);

}

package com.mkyong.users.dao;

import java.sql.ResultSet;
import java.sql.SQLException;
import java.util.Date;

import javax.annotation.PostConstruct;
import javax.sql.DataSource;

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.dao.EmptyResultDataAccessException;
import org.springframework.jdbc.core.RowMapper;
import org.springframework.jdbc.core.support.JdbcDaoSupport;
import org.springframework.security.authentication.LockedException;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Repository;

import com.mkyong.users.model.UserAttempts;

@Repository
public class UserDetailsDaoImpl extends JdbcDaoSupport implements UserDetailsDao {

	private static final String SQL_USERS_UPDATE_LOCKED = "UPDATE USERS SET accountNonLocked = ? WHERE username = ?";
	private static final String SQL_USERS_COUNT = "SELECT count(*) FROM USERS WHERE username = ?";

	private static final String SQL_USER_ATTEMPTS_GET = "SELECT * FROM USER_ATTEMPTS WHERE username = ?";
	private static final String SQL_USER_ATTEMPTS_INSERT = "INSERT INTO USER_ATTEMPTS (USERNAME, ATTEMPTS, LASTMODIFIED) VALUES(?,?,?)";
	private static final String SQL_USER_ATTEMPTS_UPDATE_ATTEMPTS = "UPDATE USER_ATTEMPTS SET attempts = attempts + 1, lastmodified = ? WHERE username = ?";
	private static final String SQL_USER_ATTEMPTS_RESET_ATTEMPTS = "UPDATE USER_ATTEMPTS SET attempts = 0, lastmodified = null WHERE username = ?";

	
	private static final int MAX_ATTEMPTS = 3;

	@Autowired
	private DataSource dataSource;

	@PostConstruct
	private void initialize() {
		setDataSource(dataSource);
	}

	@Override
	public void updateFailAttempts(String username) {

	  UserAttempts user = getUserAttempts(username);
	  if (user == null) {
		if (isUserExists(username)) {
			// if no record, insert a new
			getJdbcTemplate().update(SQL_USER_ATTEMPTS_INSERT, new Object[] { username, 1, new Date() });
		}
	  } else {

		if (isUserExists(username)) {
			// update attempts count, +1
			getJdbcTemplate().update(SQL_USER_ATTEMPTS_UPDATE_ATTEMPTS, new Object[] { new Date(), username});
		}

		if (user.getAttempts() + 1 >= MAX_ATTEMPTS) {
			// locked user
			getJdbcTemplate().update(SQL_USERS_UPDATE_LOCKED, new Object[] { false, username });
			// throw exception
			throw new LockedException("User Account is locked!");
		}

	  }

	}

	@Override
	public UserAttempts getUserAttempts(String username) {

	  try {

		UserAttempts userAttempts = getJdbcTemplate().queryForObject(SQL_USER_ATTEMPTS_GET,
			new Object[] { username }, new RowMapper<UserAttempts>() {
			public UserAttempts mapRow(ResultSet rs, int rowNum) throws SQLException {

				UserAttempts user = new UserAttempts();
				user.setId(rs.getInt("id"));
				user.setUsername(rs.getString("username"));
				user.setAttempts(rs.getInt("attempts"));
				user.setLastModified(rs.getDate("lastModified"));

				return user;
			}

		});
		return userAttempts;

	  } catch (EmptyResultDataAccessException e) {
		return null;
	  }

	}

	@Override
	public void resetFailAttempts(String username) {
		
	  getJdbcTemplate().update(
             SQL_USER_ATTEMPTS_RESET_ATTEMPTS, new Object[] { username });
		
	}
	
	private boolean isUserExists(String username) {

	  boolean result = false;

	  int count = getJdbcTemplate().queryForObject(
                            SQL_USERS_COUNT, new Object[] { username }, Integer.class);
	  if (count > 0) {
		result = true;
	  }

	  return result;
	}

}

7. UserDetailsService

By default, JdbcDaoImpl will always set accountNonLocked to true, which is not what we want. Review the source code.

package org.springframework.security.core.userdetails.jdbc;

public class JdbcDaoImpl extends JdbcDaoSupport implements UserDetailsService {
  //...
  protected List<UserDetails> loadUsersByUsername(String username) {
	return getJdbcTemplate().query(usersByUsernameQuery, new String[] {username}, new RowMapper<UserDetails>() {
	  public UserDetails mapRow(ResultSet rs, int rowNum) throws SQLException {
		String username = rs.getString(1);
		String password = rs.getString(2);
		boolean enabled = rs.getBoolean(3);
		return new User(username, password, enabled, true, true, true, AuthorityUtils.NO_AUTHORITIES);
	  }

  });
}

To save development time, you can extend the JdbcDaoImpl and override both loadUsersByUsername and createUserDetails to get the customized UserDetails.

package com.mkyong.users.service;

import java.sql.ResultSet;
import java.sql.SQLException;
import java.util.List;

import javax.annotation.PostConstruct;
import javax.sql.DataSource;

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;
import org.springframework.jdbc.core.RowMapper;
import org.springframework.security.core.GrantedAuthority;
import org.springframework.security.core.authority.AuthorityUtils;
import org.springframework.security.core.userdetails.User;
import org.springframework.security.core.userdetails.UserDetails;
import org.springframework.security.core.userdetails.jdbc.JdbcDaoImpl;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;

/**
 * Reference org.springframework.security.core.userdetails.jdbc.JdbcDaoImpl
 * 
 * @author mkyong
 * 
 */
@Service("userDetailsService")
public class CustomUserDetailsService extends JdbcDaoImpl {

	@Autowired
	private DataSource dataSource;

	@PostConstruct
	private void initialize() {
		setDataSource(dataSource);
	}
	
	@Override
	@Value("select * from users where username = ?")
	public void setUsersByUsernameQuery(String usersByUsernameQueryString) {
		super.setUsersByUsernameQuery(usersByUsernameQueryString);
	}
	
	@Override
	@Value("select username, role from user_roles where username =?")
	public void setAuthoritiesByUsernameQuery(String queryString) {
		super.setAuthoritiesByUsernameQuery(queryString);
	}

	//override to get accountNonLocked  
	@Override
	public List<UserDetails> loadUsersByUsername(String username) {
	  return getJdbcTemplate().query(super.getUsersByUsernameQuery(), new String[] { username },
		new RowMapper<UserDetails>() {
		  public UserDetails mapRow(ResultSet rs, int rowNum) throws SQLException {
			String username = rs.getString("username");
			String password = rs.getString("password");
			boolean enabled = rs.getBoolean("enabled");
			boolean accountNonExpired = rs.getBoolean("accountNonExpired");
			boolean credentialsNonExpired = rs.getBoolean("credentialsNonExpired");
			boolean accountNonLocked = rs.getBoolean("accountNonLocked");

			return new User(username, password, enabled, accountNonExpired, credentialsNonExpired,
				accountNonLocked, AuthorityUtils.NO_AUTHORITIES);
		  }

	  });
	}

	//override to pass accountNonLocked
	@Override
	public UserDetails createUserDetails(String username, UserDetails userFromUserQuery,
			List<GrantedAuthority> combinedAuthorities) {
		String returnUsername = userFromUserQuery.getUsername();

		if (super.isUsernameBasedPrimaryKey()) {
		  returnUsername = username;
		}

		return new User(returnUsername, userFromUserQuery.getPassword(), 
                       userFromUserQuery.isEnabled(),
		       userFromUserQuery.isAccountNonExpired(), 
                       userFromUserQuery.isCredentialsNonExpired(),
			userFromUserQuery.isAccountNonLocked(), combinedAuthorities);
	}

}

8. DaoAuthenticationProvider

Create a custom authentication provider, for every invalid login attempts, update to user_attempts table and throws LockedException if the maximum attempts is hit.

package com.mkyong.web.handler;

import java.util.Date;

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Qualifier;
import org.springframework.security.authentication.BadCredentialsException;
import org.springframework.security.authentication.LockedException;
import org.springframework.security.authentication.dao.DaoAuthenticationProvider;
import org.springframework.security.core.Authentication;
import org.springframework.security.core.AuthenticationException;
import org.springframework.security.core.userdetails.UserDetailsService;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;

import com.mkyong.users.dao.UserDetailsDao;
import com.mkyong.users.model.UserAttempts;

@Component("authenticationProvider")
public class LimitLoginAuthenticationProvider extends DaoAuthenticationProvider {

	@Autowired
	UserDetailsDao userDetailsDao;
	
	@Autowired
	@Qualifier("userDetailsService")
	@Override
	public void setUserDetailsService(UserDetailsService userDetailsService) {
		super.setUserDetailsService(userDetailsService);
	}
	
	@Override
	public Authentication authenticate(Authentication authentication) 
          throws AuthenticationException {

	  try {

		Authentication auth = super.authenticate(authentication);
			
		//if reach here, means login success, else an exception will be thrown
		//reset the user_attempts
		userDetailsDao.resetFailAttempts(authentication.getName());
			
		return auth;
			
	  } catch (BadCredentialsException e) {	
			
		//invalid login, update to user_attempts
		userDetailsDao.updateFailAttempts(authentication.getName());
		throw e;
			
	  } catch (LockedException e){
			
		//this user is locked!
		String error = "";
		UserAttempts userAttempts = 
                    userDetailsDao.getUserAttempts(authentication.getName());
		
               if(userAttempts!=null){
			Date lastAttempts = userAttempts.getLastModified();
			error = "User account is locked! <br><br>Username : " 
                           + authentication.getName() + "<br>Last Attempts : " + lastAttempts;
		}else{
			error = e.getMessage();
		}
			
	  throw new LockedException(error);
	}

	}

}

9. Spring Controller

A standard controller class, refer to the login method, it shows you how to play around with the session value – “SPRING_SECURITY_LAST_EXCEPTION“, and customize the error message.

package com.mkyong.web.controller;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;

import org.springframework.security.authentication.AnonymousAuthenticationToken;
import org.springframework.security.authentication.BadCredentialsException;
import org.springframework.security.authentication.LockedException;
import org.springframework.security.core.Authentication;
import org.springframework.security.core.context.SecurityContextHolder;
import org.springframework.security.core.userdetails.UserDetails;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.ModelAndView;

@Controller
public class MainController {

	@RequestMapping(value = { "/", "/welcome**" }, method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public ModelAndView defaultPage() {

		ModelAndView model = new ModelAndView();
		model.addObject("title", "Spring Security Limit Login - Annotation");
		model.addObject("message", "This is default page!");
		model.setViewName("hello");
		return model;

	}

	@RequestMapping(value = "/admin**", method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public ModelAndView adminPage() {

		ModelAndView model = new ModelAndView();
		model.addObject("title", "Spring Security Limit Login - Annotation");
		model.addObject("message", "This page is for ROLE_ADMIN only!");
		model.setViewName("admin");

		return model;

	}

	@RequestMapping(value = "/login", method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public ModelAndView login(
                @RequestParam(value = "error", required = false) String error,
		@RequestParam(value = "logout", required = false) String logout, 
                HttpServletRequest request) {

		ModelAndView model = new ModelAndView();
		if (error != null) {
			model.addObject("error", 
                           getErrorMessage(request, "SPRING_SECURITY_LAST_EXCEPTION"));
		}

		if (logout != null) {
			model.addObject("msg", "You've been logged out successfully.");
		}
		model.setViewName("login");

		return model;

	}

	//customize the error message
	private String getErrorMessage(HttpServletRequest request, String key){
	
		Exception exception = 
                   (Exception) request.getSession().getAttribute(key);
		
		String error = "";
		if (exception instanceof BadCredentialsException) {
			error = "Invalid username and password!";
		}else if(exception instanceof LockedException) {
			error = exception.getMessage();
		}else{
			error = "Invalid username and password!";
		}
		
		return error;
	}
	
	// for 403 access denied page
	@RequestMapping(value = "/403", method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public ModelAndView accesssDenied() {

		ModelAndView model = new ModelAndView();

		// check if user is login
		Authentication auth = SecurityContextHolder.getContext().getAuthentication();
		if (!(auth instanceof AnonymousAuthenticationToken)) {
			UserDetails userDetail = (UserDetails) auth.getPrincipal();
			System.out.println(userDetail);

			model.addObject("username", userDetail.getUsername());

		}

		model.setViewName("403");
		return model;

	}

}

10. Spring Security Configuration

Attached your customized authenticationProvider.

package com.mkyong.config;

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Qualifier;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.security.authentication.AuthenticationProvider;
import org.springframework.security.config.annotation.authentication.builders.AuthenticationManagerBuilder;
import org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.builders.HttpSecurity;
import org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.configuration.EnableWebSecurity;
import org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.configuration.WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter;

@Configuration
@EnableWebSecurity
public class SecurityConfig extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter {

	@Autowired
	@Qualifier("authenticationProvider")
	AuthenticationProvider authenticationProvider;

	@Autowired
	public void configureGlobal(AuthenticationManagerBuilder auth) throws Exception {
		auth.authenticationProvider(authenticationProvider);
	}

	@Override
	protected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {

		http.authorizeRequests().antMatchers("/admin/**")
		  .access("hasRole('ROLE_USER')").and().formLogin()
		  .loginPage("/login").failureUrl("/login?error")
			.usernameParameter("username")
			.passwordParameter("password")
		  .and().logout().logoutSuccessUrl("/login?logout").and().csrf();
	}
}

Done.

11. Demo

Demo page – http://localhost:8080/spring-security-limit-login-annotation/admin

11.1, First invalid login attempts, a normal error message will be displayed.

11.2, If the maximum number of invalid login attempts are hit, error message “User account is locked” will be displayed.

11.3, If user in “locked” status, and still try to login again. Locked detail will be displayed.

11.4 Review the “users” table, if “accountNonLocked” = 0 or false, means this user is in locked status.

Download Source Code

References

1. StackOverflow : How can I limit login attempts in Spring Security?
2. Spring Official Reference : Core Services – authenticationProvider
3. Spring Security Custom Login Form Annotation Example
4. Spring DaoAuthenticationProvider JavaDoc
5. Spring JdbcDaoImpl JavaDoc