fix: parse public key as fallback for certificate for bearer authentication (#3180)

* fix: parse public key as fallback for bearer auth

Signed-off-by: evanebb <git@evanus.nl>

* fix: use correct error message

Signed-off-by: evanebb <git@evanus.nl>

---------

Signed-off-by: evanebb <git@evanus.nl>

pkg/api/authn.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package api
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"crypto"
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"crypto/x509"
 	"encoding/base64"
@@ -402,15 +403,17 @@ func (amw *AuthnMiddleware) tryAuthnHandlers(ctlr *Controller) mux.MiddlewareFun
 }
 
 func bearerAuthHandler(ctlr *Controller) mux.MiddlewareFunc {
-	certificate, err := loadCertificateFromFile(ctlr.Config.HTTP.Auth.Bearer.Cert)
+	// although the configuration option is called 'cert', this function will also parse a public key directly
+	// see https://github.com/project-zot/zot/issues/3173 for info
+	publicKey, err := loadPublicKeyFromFile(ctlr.Config.HTTP.Auth.Bearer.Cert)
 	if err != nil {
-		ctlr.Log.Panic().Err(err).Msg("failed to load certificate for bearer authentication")
+		ctlr.Log.Panic().Err(err).Msg("failed to load public key for bearer authentication")
 	}
 
 	authorizer := NewBearerAuthorizer(
 		ctlr.Config.HTTP.Auth.Bearer.Realm,
 		ctlr.Config.HTTP.Auth.Bearer.Service,
-		certificate.PublicKey,
+		publicKey,
 	)
 
 	return func(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
@@ -902,21 +905,30 @@ func GenerateAPIKey(uuidGenerator guuid.Generator, log log.Logger,
 	return apiKey, apiKeyID.String(), err
 }
 
-func loadCertificateFromFile(path string) (*x509.Certificate, error) {
-	rawCert, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+func loadPublicKeyFromFile(path string) (crypto.PublicKey, error) {
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile(path)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %w, path %s", zerr.ErrCouldNotLoadCertificate, err, path)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %w, path %s", zerr.ErrCouldNotLoadPublicKey, err, path)
 	}
 
-	block, _ := pem.Decode(rawCert)
+	block, _ := pem.Decode(raw)
 	if block == nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: no valid PEM data found", zerr.ErrCouldNotLoadCertificate)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: no valid PEM data found", zerr.ErrCouldNotLoadPublicKey)
 	}
 
-	cert, err := x509.ParseCertificate(block.Bytes)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %w", zerr.ErrCouldNotLoadCertificate, err)
+	pemBytes := block.Bytes
+
+	if cert, err := x509.ParseCertificate(pemBytes); err == nil {
+		return cert.PublicKey, nil
 	}
 
-	return cert, nil
+	if key, err := x509.ParsePKIXPublicKey(pemBytes); err == nil {
+		return key, nil
+	}
+
+	if key, err := x509.ParsePKCS1PublicKey(pemBytes); err == nil {
+		return key, nil
+	}
+
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: no valid x509 certificate or public key found", zerr.ErrCouldNotLoadPublicKey)
 }

pkg/api/controller_test.go

@@ -77,11 +77,15 @@ import (
 const (
 	ServerCert             = "../../test/data/server.cert"
 	ServerKey              = "../../test/data/server.key"
+	ServerPublicKey        = "../../test/data/server-public.key"
+	ServerPublicKeyPKCS1   = "../../test/data/server-public-pkcs1.key"
 	CACert                 = "../../test/data/ca.crt"
 	ServerCertECDSA        = "../../test/data/server-ecdsa.cert"
 	ServerKeyECDSA         = "../../test/data/server-ecdsa.key"
+	ServerPublicKeyECDSA   = "../../test/data/server-public-ecdsa.key"
 	ServerCertED25519      = "../../test/data/server-ed25519.cert"
 	ServerKeyED25519       = "../../test/data/server-ed25519.key"
+	ServerPublicKeyED25519 = "../../test/data/server-public-ed25519.key"
 	UnauthorizedNamespace  = "fortknox/notallowed"
 	AuthorizationNamespace = "authz/image"
 	LDAPAddress            = "127.0.0.1"
@@ -3921,23 +3925,47 @@ func TestBearerAuthMultipleAlgorithms(t *testing.T) {
 		alg  string
 	}{
 		{
-			"RSA signing key",
+			"RSA signing key using certificate",
 			ServerKey,
 			ServerCert,
 			"RS256",
 		},
 		{
-			"ECDSA signing key",
+			"RSA signing key using public key",
+			ServerKey,
+			ServerPublicKey,
+			"RS256",
+		},
+		{
+			"RSA signing key using public key in PKCS1 format",
+			ServerKey,
+			ServerPublicKeyPKCS1,
+			"RS256",
+		},
+		{
+			"ECDSA signing key using certificate",
 			ServerKeyECDSA,
 			ServerCertECDSA,
 			"ES256",
 		},
 		{
-			"ED25519 signing key",
+			"ECDSA signing key using public key",
+			ServerKeyECDSA,
+			ServerPublicKeyECDSA,
+			"ES256",
+		},
+		{
+			"ED25519 signing key using certificate",
 			ServerKeyED25519,
 			ServerCertED25519,
 			"EdDSA",
 		},
+		{
+			"ED25519 signing key using public key",
+			ServerKeyED25519,
+			ServerPublicKeyED25519,
+			"EdDSA",
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, testCase := range testCases {