Sending username and password to web service
I am developing a web service and I need to send a username and password to the service in a GET method. Is it OK to send this information in the uri as long as it's going over a secure channel like ssl? In other words, can I have a uri that looks like /users/{username}/{cleartext_password}?
Edit: Sorry, I think I was unclear. The web service is essentially just a database of usernames and hashed passwords. Imagine a desktop application that keeps usernames and passwords in a remote database. The end user types their username and password into the application and the application accesses the web service to authenticate the user.
So, the application will need to send an end user's username and plaintext password to the service. The service will take the username and password and check that the username and the hash of the password match the username and hashed password in the database. The application itself will have to authenticate before it can access the service, but I am just wondering what is the best way to send the end user's username and password to the service for authenticating the end user. I don't to use a POST method because I am simply authenticating and therefore not changing the state of the server. Sorry for the confusion.
Answer
Do this.
Send a "key" and a "digest".
The "key" is equivalent to a username.
The "digest" is a SHA1 (or MD5) hash of the key, the URI and a "shared secret" or password.
When the server gets this, it computes it's own version of the digest, based on key, URI being requested and the "shared secret" or password. Failure to match digests is a 401 error response.