Okta Browser Plugin: Security Features

The Okta Browser Plugin provides several features to enhance the security of your end users' credentials.

SSL

The plugin uses SSL to obtain your credentials from Okta. When you start an Okta-managed app that requires the plugin, the Okta Browser Plugin pop-up banner offers to let Okta auto-fill your credentials. If you accept, the plugin obtains your credentials from Okta using SSL. If you have the automatic submission option selected, this process occurs automatically.

Authentication is a background process in which your credentials are stored temporarily in a place that is inaccessible to the app's sign-on page. The plugin attempts to simulate the process of completing the sign-on page by inserting your credentials into the page, submitting them, and then deleting them after the page redirects. This connection is HTTPS or HTTP depending on the target URL of the app.

Important Note

Use HTTPS when configuring an app.

SSL certificate pinning (Internet Explorer)

The Okta Browser Plugin for Internet Explorer supports SSL pinning to protect against MiTM attacks. A successful MiTM attack might be able to sniff user credentials, session identifiers, and other sensitive information. Using SSL pinning, the Okta Browser Plugin for Internet Explorer maintains – or pins – a list of previously-validated and trusted server certificates. When the user browses to a website, the plugin retrieves the site's certificate and compares it to its list of trusted server certificates. If the comparison fails, Okta denies connection to *.okta.com and *.oktapreview.com and prompts the user to contact Okta Support.

Configure your environment to work with the Plugin (Internet Explorer)

If your enterprise uses web proxies to perform SSL interception or employs other data loss prevention strategies, you need to configure your environment to work with the Okta Browser Plugin for Internet Explorer.

Configure the Okta Browser Plugin for Internet Explorer as follows:

  1. In the Windows registry editor, go to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AppDataLow\Software\Okta\IE Plugin].
  2. Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value called SkipCertPinning.
  3. Set the value to 1.
Important Note

Certificate pinning should only be disabled for scenarios where orgs are usng web proxies to intercept SSL traffic. Okta does not recommend turning it off for any other scenarios.

URL string matching

The Okta Browser Plugin checks the strings in your app's URL to ensure that they match the strings Okta has in the integration details for that app. This ensures that your credentials are submitted to the correct URL.

The table below displays the strings that the plugin looks for, whether or not the string is required, and what format the plugin expects to see.

String Example Requirement Notes
protocol https Required Must be identical.
host www.yoursite.com Required Must be identical.
port :1802 Optional Must be identical if available.
path /login Optional Must start with the same string.
anchor #yoursite Optional Must be identical.
query parameters ?yoursite=bar&baz=buzz Optional The order of your query parameters might vary.