Authentication

Plugin Framework > Overview > Authentication

Plugins built using the Plugin Framework use the Authentication Framework to provide secure authentication.

See the Consumer API - OAuth and OpenID Connect and Authentication Framework topics for details.

Cookies

The Plugin Framework is implemented in Banno’s UI via iframes that render individual plugins.

Web browsers have become increasingly restrictive on cross-site cookie tracking, which affects how cookies can be used within a plugin.

Development

When developing a plugin, you may want to set your browser settings as follows.

Warning

This is not a solution that will work for Production usage.

For Chromium-based browsers, you’ll have to configure the browser to allow 3rd party cookies.
For Firefox, you’ll have to enable 3rd party cookies.
For Safari, you’ll have to disable the “Prevent cross-site tracking” option.

Production

When you are ready to use your plugin in Production:

If you need to write a cookie in the plugin, you’ll need to host your public-facing web server at a subdomain of the Banno Online domain name for your financial institution.

For example, assume you have the following URLs for your financial institution:

Main (marketing) website: https://www.institutionname.com
Banno Online website: https://banno.institutionname.com

You could host the plugin at a subdomain named “plugin” which would give you:

Plugin domain: https://plugin.banno.institutionname.com

In our browser testing, this subdomain setup is recognized by all browsers, so the cookies are not treated as 3rd party cookies.

Browsers and same-origin policy

When using subdomains to host your public-facing web server, keep in mind that browsers will enforce security mechanisms such as the same-origin policy.

Quoted from the same-origin policy docs on MDN Web Docs

Quote source

Definition of an origin
Two URLs have the same origin if the protocol, port (if specified), and host are the same for both. You may see this referenced as the “scheme/host/port tuple”, or just “tuple”. (A “tuple” is a set of items that together comprise a whole — a generic form for double/triple/quadruple/quintuple/etc.)

The following table gives examples of origin comparisons with the URL http://store.company.com/dir/page.html:

URL	Outcome	Reason
`http://store.company.com/dir2/other.html`	Same origin	Only the path differs
`http://store.company.com/dir/inner/another.html`	Same origin	Only the path differs
`https://store.company.com/page.html`	Failure	Different protocol
`http://store.company.com:81/dir/page.html`	Failure	Different port (http:// is port 80 by default)
`http://news.company.com/dir/page.html`	Failure	Different host

HTTPS, certificates, and certificate authorities

You’ll have to take care to ensure that the Certificate Authority (CA) and intermediate certificates are configured correctly for your plugin server’s SSL certificate.

An incorrect configuration may result in your plugin’s content failing to display within Banno Online and Banno Mobile.

External resources

If you want to learn more about handling cookies in your web browser, these external resources may be useful:

Article: How Do I Enable Third Party Cookies in Supported Browsers?

If you want to learn more about browser same-origin policy:

MDN Web Docs: Same-origin policy

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Last updated Fri Jul 21 2023