60. Authenticating Users with Spring Security - Part 1
Lesson : Authenticating Users in a Legacy Spring Web Application
What You'll Learn:
Understand how our current custom authentication flow works
Learn how login, logout, and session management are handled
Discover the role of filters and custom user identity objects
Appreciate the importance of login form validation
Get ready to modernize with Spring Security
Overview:
Our legacy application uses custom authentication logic to protect URLs and manage sessions. A servlet filter checks whether users are authenticated and redirects them to the login page if not. Authenticated users are wrapped with a custom Principal object stored in the session.
The login form (JSP-based) uses Spring form tags and handles field-level validation. Our controller processes login and logout, validates inputs, regenerates session IDs, and stores the authenticated principal in the session.
Login Flow Summary:
Authenticates users via a custom service
Stores user identity in the session
Prevents session fixation attacks
Filters ensure only authenticated access to secure pages
Logout clears the session and redirects to login
Next Steps:
Identify and address security gaps like CSRF protection
Introduce Spring Security gradually
Migrate current logic to Spring Security’s standard mechanisms