Understanding the SAML Audience URI

Justin_hernandez

This discussion will focus on what an audience URI is in SAML, and how it is used to identify a service provider in a SAML authentication process. We will also discuss how it is used to protect against attacks such as replay attacks and man-in-the-middle attacks. Additionally, we will look at best practices for setting up an audience URI in SAML.

tinyduck189

Audience URI in SAML stands for Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML). It is an XML-based, open-standard data format for exchanging information between parties, particularly for authentication and authorization.

In this context, the Audience URI is used to identify the recipient of a SAML request. The Audience URI is a mandatory element in SAML 2.0 and is typically used to verify that the recipient of the request is the one to whom the request was intended. In other words, the Audience URI acts as an identifier to determine which service provider should receive a SAML request.

The Audience URI may specify a single service provider or list multiple service providers with whom the service provider can communicate using SAML. Typically, a SAML request must be addressed to one specific Audience URI for the SAML service provider to process it.

For more information about Audience URIs in terms of Security Assertion Markup Language, you may refer to the following link:
https://docs.oasis-open.org/security/saml/v2.0/saml-core-2.0-os.pdf