Purpose
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SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language): SAML is primarily used for Single Sign-On (SSO) and federated identity scenarios. It allows a user to log in once to an identity provider (IdP) and access multiple service providers (SPs) without needing to reauthenticate.
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OAuth 2.0: OAuth 2.0 is focused on authorization and delegation of access. It allows a user to grant third-party applications limited access to their resources on a resource server (RS) without sharing their credentials.
Need both SAML and OAuth? No problem!
Cloudentity comes with multi-tenant authorization server as a service that can be configured to utilize what’s best in both SAML and OAuth.
Authentication vs. Authorization
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SAML: SAML is more focused on authentication. It verifies the user’s identity and provides information about the user to the SP, including attributes and authentication status.
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OAuth 2.0: OAuth 2.0 is primarily an authorization framework. It deals with access control and permissions, allowing a user to grant or delegate limited access to their resources to third-party applications without disclosing their credentials.
Use cases
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SAML: SAML is well-suited for enterprise SSO scenarios, where a user needs to access multiple web applications without having to enter credentials repeatedly. It’s also used in federated identity setups.
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OAuth 2.0: OAuth 2.0 is commonly used for enabling third-party applications to access a user’s resources (e.g., social media apps accessing a user’s profile). It’s prevalent in modern web and mobile app authorization scenarios.