Enhanced request signing with domain verification (v1.1)

[jevansnyc]

Summary

• Implements cryptographic signing of OpenRTB requests that includes publisher domain verification and replay protection
• The signed payload format is: kid:request_host:request_scheme:id:ts
• Adds version ("1.1") and ts (Unix timestamp) fields to ext.trusted_server

This prevents request tampering and domain spoofing by ensuring the signature is cryptographically bound to the originating publisher domain.

Changes

• openrtb.rs: Add version and ts fields to TrustedServerExt
• signing.rs: Add SigningParams struct, SIGNING_VERSION constant, and sign_request() method
• prebid.rs: Update both PrebidAuctionProvider and enhance_openrtb_request to use enhanced signing

Output Format

{
  "ext": {
    "trusted_server": {
      "version": "1.1",
      "kid": "ts-2026-01-A",
      "request_host": "publisher.com",
      "request_scheme": "https",
      "ts": 1738527600,
      "signature": "base64-encoded-ed25519-signature"
    }
  }
}

Test plan

• Verify build passes (cargo build --release)
• Verify clippy passes (cargo clippy)
• Deploy to test environment and verify signature verification works on Mocktioneer
• Test with different hosts to confirm signatures differ

[ChristianPavilonis]

pretty good, a couple nit picks.

Opening an issue on mocktioneer to verify new signature payload: stackpop/mocktioneer#30

deployed test site with this (verification broken until mocktioneer updated) but the TS side is working.

[ChristianPavilonis]

Should use milliseconds to stay in line with the rest of the openrtb spec.

[ChristianPavilonis]

You don't have to clone here if you use params.request_host and params.request_scheme on lines 544-545

[jevansnyc]

Enhanced Request Signing (v1.1) - Architecture Diagram

Request Signing Flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant Client as Publisher<br/>Website
    participant TS as Trusted Server
    participant Signer as Request<br/>Signer
    participant SSP as Prebid SSP/<br/>Ad Exchange

    Client->>TS: Ad Request
    Note over TS: Extract request metadata

    TS->>TS: Parse request_host<br/>(e.g., "publisher.com")
    TS->>TS: Parse request_scheme<br/>(e.g., "https")
    TS->>TS: Generate request_id<br/>(e.g., "auction-123")

    TS->>Signer: Create SigningParams
    Note over Signer: SigningParams {<br/>  request_id: "auction-123"<br/>  request_host: "publisher.com"<br/>  request_scheme: "https"<br/>  timestamp: 1738527600<br/>}

    Signer->>Signer: Build canonical payload
    Note over Signer: Format:<br/>"kid:host:scheme:id:ts"<br/><br/>Example:<br/>"ts-2026-01-A:publisher.com:https:auction-123:1738527600"

    Signer->>Signer: Sign with Ed25519 private key
    Signer->>Signer: Base64url encode signature
    Signer-->>TS: Return signature

    TS->>TS: Build OpenRTB request with ext.trusted_server
    Note over TS: {<br/>  "version": "1.1",<br/>  "kid": "ts-2026-01-A",<br/>  "request_host": "publisher.com",<br/>  "request_scheme": "https",<br/>  "ts": 1738527600,<br/>  "signature": "base64..."<br/>}

    TS->>SSP: POST /openrtb2/auction
    SSP->>SSP: Verify signature
    Note over SSP: 1. Reconstruct payload<br/>2. Fetch public key by kid<br/>3. Verify Ed25519 signature<br/>4. Check timestamp freshness<br/>5. Validate domain binding

    alt Valid Signature
        SSP-->>TS: 200 OK with bids
        TS-->>Client: Return ad
    else Invalid Signature
        SSP-->>TS: 403 Forbidden
        Note over SSP: Reject if:<br/>• Signature invalid<br/>• Timestamp too old<br/>• Domain mismatch<br/>• Missing fields
        TS-->>Client: Error response
    end

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Security Properties

flowchart TB
    subgraph Input["Request Inputs"]
        A1[Request ID]
        A2[Publisher Host]
        A3[Request Scheme]
        A4[Timestamp]
        A5[Key ID]
    end

    subgraph Signing["Canonical Payload Construction"]
        B1["Build payload string:<br/>kid:host:scheme:id:ts"]
    end

    subgraph Crypto["Cryptographic Signing"]
        C1[Ed25519 Private Key]
        C2[Sign payload]
        C3[Base64url encode]
    end

    subgraph Output["Signed Request Extension"]
        D1[version: '1.1']
        D2[kid]
        D3[request_host]
        D4[request_scheme]
        D5[ts]
        D6[signature]
    end

    subgraph Protection["Security Guarantees"]
        E1[Domain Binding]
        E2[Replay Protection]
        E3[Tampering Detection]
        E4[Request Authenticity]
    end

    Input --> Signing
    Signing --> Crypto
    C1 --> C2
    C2 --> C3
    Crypto --> Output

    Output --> Protection

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Attack Prevention

flowchart LR
    subgraph Threats["Attack Vectors"]
        T1[Domain Spoofing]
        T2[Request Replay]
        T3[Payload Tampering]
        T4[MITM Attacks]
    end

    subgraph v10["v1.0 Signing<br/>(Only ID)"]
        V1[❌ Vulnerable to<br/>domain spoofing]
        V2[❌ No replay<br/>protection]
        V3[✅ Tampering<br/>detection]
    end

    subgraph v11["v1.1 Enhanced Signing<br/>(ID + Host + Scheme + Timestamp)"]
        N1[✅ Domain binding<br/>prevents spoofing]
        N2[✅ Timestamp prevents<br/>replay attacks]
        N3[✅ Enhanced tampering<br/>detection]
        N4[✅ Scheme validation<br/>prevents downgrade]
    end

    T1 --> V1
    T1 --> N1
    T2 --> V2
    T2 --> N2
    T3 --> V3
    T3 --> N3
    T4 --> N4

    

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Payload Format Evolution

Version 1.0 (Legacy)

Signed payload: request_id
Example:        "auction-123"

Attack scenario: Attacker can replay signature for different domains

Version 1.1 (Enhanced)

Signed payload: kid:request_host:request_scheme:request_id:ts
Example:        "ts-2026-01-A:publisher.com:https:auction-123:1738527600"

Security:       Cryptographically binds signature to specific publisher domain,
                scheme, and timestamp - preventing cross-domain replay and MITM

Verification Process (SSP/Exchange Side)

flowchart TD
    Start([Receive OpenRTB Request]) --> Extract[Extract ext.trusted_server]
    Extract --> CheckVersion{version == '1.1'?}

    CheckVersion -->|No| Legacy[Use legacy verification]
    CheckVersion -->|Yes| CheckFields{All fields present?}

    CheckFields -->|Missing| Reject1[❌ Reject: Missing fields]
    CheckFields -->|Present| BuildPayload[Reconstruct payload:<br/>kid:host:scheme:id:ts]

    BuildPayload --> FetchKey[Fetch Ed25519 public key<br/>using kid]
    FetchKey --> KeyFound{Key exists?}

    KeyFound -->|No| Reject2[❌ Reject: Unknown key]
    KeyFound -->|Yes| VerifySig[Verify Ed25519 signature]

    VerifySig --> SigValid{Signature valid?}
    SigValid -->|No| Reject3[❌ Reject: Invalid signature]
    SigValid -->|Yes| CheckTime[Check timestamp freshness]

    CheckTime --> TimeValid{ts within window?<br/>e.g., ±5 minutes}
    TimeValid -->|No| Reject4[❌ Reject: Timestamp too old/new]
    TimeValid -->|Yes| CheckDomain{request_host matches<br/>expected publisher?}

    CheckDomain -->|No| Reject5[❌ Reject: Domain mismatch]
    CheckDomain -->|Yes| CheckScheme{request_scheme == 'https'?}

    CheckScheme -->|No| Reject6[❌ Reject: Invalid scheme]
    CheckScheme -->|Yes| Accept[✅ Accept Request]

    Reject1 --> End([Return 403])
    Reject2 --> End
    Reject3 --> End
    Reject4 --> End
    Reject5 --> End
    Reject6 --> End
    Accept --> Process[Process auction]

   

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Key Benefits

1. Domain Binding: Signature is cryptographically bound to the originating publisher domain, preventing domain spoofing attacks
2. Replay Protection: Timestamp (ts) field prevents replay attacks by allowing SSPs to reject stale requests
3. Scheme Validation: Including the request scheme prevents downgrade attacks from HTTPS to HTTP
4. Backward Compatible: Version field allows SSPs to handle both v1.0 and v1.1 signatures
5. Tamper-Proof: Any modification to request_id, host, scheme, or timestamp invalidates the signature

Implementation Notes

• Timestamp is Unix epoch seconds (u64)
• Signature is base64url-encoded (no padding) Ed25519 signature
• Canonical payload format is strictly ordered: kid:request_host:request_scheme:request_id:ts
• SSPs should reject timestamps outside acceptable window (recommended: ±5 minutes)