Winter.SSO Architecture

January 17, 2026 · View on GitHub

This document describes the internal architecture of the Winter.SSO plugin, including how it integrates with Laravel Socialite, the authentication flow, configuration system, and extension points.

Overview

Winter.SSO bridges Winter CMS's backend authentication system with Laravel Socialite's OAuth implementation. The plugin:

Registers Laravel Socialite as a service provider
Maps Winter.SSO configuration to Laravel's services config
Extends the backend auth controller to add SSO buttons
Handles OAuth redirect/callback flow
Matches/creates users based on email
Fires events for customization at every step

Integration with Laravel Socialite

Service Provider Registration

In Plugin.php::register():

protected function registerSocialite(): void
{
    $this->app->register(SocialiteServiceProvider::class);
    $this->app->alias('Socialite', Socialite::class);
}

This makes the Socialite facade available throughout the application.

Configuration Mapping

Socialite expects provider configuration in config/services.php under each provider's key. Winter.SSO handles this mapping automatically in Plugin.php::configureProviders():

protected function configureProviders(): void
{
    $providers = Config::get('winter.sso::providers', []);
    $enabledProviders = Config::get('winter.sso::enabled_providers', []);

    foreach ($providers as $provider => $config) {
        if (!in_array($provider, $enabledProviders) || empty($config['client_id'])) {
            continue;
        }

        // Add redirect URL automatically
        $config = array_merge([
            'redirect' => Backend::url('winter/sso/handle/callback/' . $provider),
        ], $config);

        // Map to Socialite's expected config location
        Config::set("services.{$provider}", $config);
    }
}

Configuration Flow:

User sets config/winter/sso/config.php::providers.github
Plugin reads winter.sso::providers at boot time
Plugin checks if provider is enabled and has client_id
Plugin merges redirect URL
Plugin copies to services.github
Socialite reads from services.github when Socialite::with('github') is called

OAuth Authentication Flow

User Journey

┌──────────────┐
│ User clicks  │
│ SSO button   │
└──────┬───────┘
       │
       v
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. Redirect Phase                               │
│    /backend/winter/sso/handle/redirect/{provider}│
│    - Validates provider is enabled              │
│    - Checks user not already logged in          │
│    - Redirects to provider's OAuth page         │
└────────┬────────────────────────────────────────┘
         │
         v
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 2. User authenticates with provider             │
│    (Happens on provider's website)              │
└────────┬────────────────────────────────────────┘
         │
         v
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 3. Callback Phase                               │
│    /backend/winter/sso/handle/callback/{provider}│
│    - Exchanges code for access token            │
│    - Fetches user data from provider            │
│    - Normalizes email                           │
│    - Finds or creates user                      │
│    - Stores SSO metadata                        │
│    - Creates session                            │
│    - Logs attempt                               │
└────────┬────────────────────────────────────────┘
         │
         v
┌──────────────┐
│ User logged  │
│ in to        │
│ backend      │
└──────────────┘

Redirect Phase

Controller: Handle::redirect($provider) Route: /backend/winter/sso/handle/redirect/{provider} Location: plugins/winter/sso/controllers/Handle.php:272

Steps:

Validate provider is in enabled_providers array
Check user is not already logged in
Validate client_id is configured
Call Socialite::with($provider)->scopes(...)->redirect()
Return redirect response to provider's OAuth page

Code:

public function redirect(string $provider): RedirectResponse
{
    // Validation
    if (!in_array($provider, $this->enabledProviders)) {
        return $this->redirectToSignInPage('Provider not enabled');
    }

    // Get scopes from config
    $config = Config::get('services.' . $provider, []);

    // Redirect to provider
    return Socialite::with($provider)
        ->scopes($config['scopes'] ?? [])
        ->redirect();
}

Callback Phase

Controller: Handle::callback($provider) Route: /backend/winter/sso/handle/callback/{provider} Location: plugins/winter/sso/controllers/Handle.php:63

Steps:

Validate Request
- Provider is enabled
- OAuth code is present
Fire winter.sso.{provider}.authenticating Event
- Can return false to abort
Exchange Code for User Data
```
$ssoUser = Socialite::with($provider)->user();
```
- $ssoUser is Laravel\Socialite\AbstractUser
- Contains: id, email, name, avatar, token, etc.
Fire winter.sso.{provider}.authenticated Event
- Receives $ssoUser parameter
Normalize Email
- Lowercase entire email
- Remove dots from Gmail usernames
- See Handle::normalizeEmail() at line 306
Find or Create User

Option A: User Exists
```
$user = $this->authManager->findUserByCredentials(['email' => $email]);
```
Then validate:
- If require_explicit_permission is true, check user allowed this provider
- If SSO ID already stored, verify it matches current ID (security feature)
Option B: User Doesn't Exist
- If allow_registration is false: throw error
- If allow_registration is true:
  - Fire winter.sso.{provider}.beforeRegister event
  - Create user with random password
  - Mark as SSO-created
  - Fire winter.sso.{provider}.registered event

Store/Update SSO Metadata

$user->setSsoValues($provider, [
    'id' => $ssoUser->getId(),
    'token' => $ssoUser->token,
]);

Fire winter.sso.{provider}.beforeLogin Event

Create Session

$this->authManager->login($user, $remember);

Fire winter.sso.{provider}.afterLogin Event
Log Authentication
- Creates Winter\SSO\Models\Log record
- Includes provider, email, IP, user ID, etc.

Redirect to Backend

return Backend::redirectIntended('backend');

User Matching and Creation

The plugin forces email-based login on callback routes:

// plugins/winter/sso/Plugin.php:92
if (str_starts_with(Request::url(), Backend::url('winter/sso/handle/callback/'))) {
    User::$loginAttribute = 'email';
}

This ensures findUserByCredentials(['email' => $email]) works correctly.

User Creation

When allow_registration is true and user doesn't exist:

// plugins/winter/sso/controllers/Handle.php:145
$password = Str::random(400); // Unguessable password
$user = $this->authManager->register(
    credentials: [
        'email' => $email,
        'password' => $password,
        'password_confirmation' => $password,
        'login' => $ssoUser->getNickname() ?: $email,
    ],
    autoLogin: true
);

// Mark as SSO-created (TODO: actually enforce this)
$user->setSsoValues($provider, ['allow_password_auth' => false]);

The user is created with a random 400-character password, making password authentication essentially impossible.

SSO ID Security

After first successful authentication, the provider's ID for the user is stored:

$user->setSsoValues('google', ['id' => '1234567890']);

On subsequent logins, the ID must match:

// plugins/winter/sso/controllers/Handle.php:111
$ssoId = $user->getSsoValue($provider, 'id');
if (!is_null($ssoId) && $ssoUser->getId() !== $ssoId) {
    throw new InvalidSsoIdException();
}

This prevents account takeover if:

User A registers with john@example.com via Google
User B later tries to authenticate with same email via Google (but different Google account)

Metadata Storage

SSO data is stored in Backend\Models\User::metadata field (JSON column):

Structure

{
  "winter.sso": {
    "google": {
      "id": "1234567890",
      "token": "ya29.a0AfH6...",
      "allow_password_auth": false,
      "allowConnection": true,
      "custom_field": "custom_value"
    },
    "github": {
      "id": "987654",
      "token": "gho_abc123..."
    }
  }
}

Helper Methods

Added to Backend\Models\User via dynamic methods:

// Get value
$googleId = $user->getSsoValue('google', 'id');
$token = $user->getSsoValue('google', 'token', 'default');

// Set values (saves automatically)
$user->setSsoValues('google', [
    'id' => '123',
    'token' => 'abc',
    'custom' => 'value',
]);

Implementation: plugins/winter/sso/Plugin.php:97-109

Event System

Events are fired at six points during authentication. Each event is provider-specific.

Event Naming

Pattern: winter.sso.{provider}.{stage}

Examples:

winter.sso.google.authenticating
winter.sso.github.registered
winter.sso.microsoft.afterLogin

Event Sequence

winter.sso.{provider}.authenticating
- When: Before redirecting to Socialite
- Parameters: None
- Return: false to abort
- Location: Handle.php:73
winter.sso.{provider}.authenticated
- When: After OAuth, before user lookup
- Parameters: $ssoUser (AbstractUser)
- Return: N/A (informational)
- Location: Handle.php:82
winter.sso.{provider}.beforeRegister
- When: Before creating new user
- Parameters: $ssoUser (AbstractUser)
- Throw: Exception to prevent registration
- Location: Handle.php:143
- Only fires if: User doesn't exist and allow_registration is true
winter.sso.{provider}.registered
- When: After user created, before login
- Parameters: $user (User), $ssoUser (AbstractUser)
- Return: N/A
- Location: Handle.php:173
- Use for: Setting first/last name, avatar, etc.
winter.sso.{provider}.beforeLogin
- When: Before session creation
- Parameters: $user (User), $ssoUser (AbstractUser)
- Throw: Exception to prevent login
- Location: Handle.php:229
winter.sso.{provider}.afterLogin
- When: After session created
- Parameters: $user (User), $ssoUser (AbstractUser)
- Return: N/A
- Location: Handle.php:248
- Use for: Tracking, notifications, etc.

Event Examples

// Restrict registration to company emails
Event::listen('winter.sso.google.beforeRegister', function ($ssoUser) {
    if (!str_ends_with($ssoUser->getEmail(), '@mycompany.com')) {
        throw new AuthenticationException('Only company emails allowed');
    }
});

// Populate user fields on registration
Event::listen('winter.sso.google.registered', function ($user, $ssoUser) {
    $user->fill([
        'first_name' => $ssoUser->user['given_name'] ?? null,
        'last_name' => $ssoUser->user['family_name'] ?? null,
    ]);
    $user->save();
});

// Log successful logins
Event::listen('winter.sso.google.afterLogin', function ($user, $ssoUser) {
    Log::info('SSO login', ['user' => $user->email, 'provider' => 'google']);
});

Backend Auth Controller Extension

Adding SSO Buttons

In Plugin.php::extendAuthController(), the plugin listens to backend.auth.extendSigninView:

Event::listen('backend.auth.extendSigninView', function ($controller) {
    // Add CSS
    $controller->addCss('/plugins/winter/sso/assets/dist/css/sso.css', 'Winter.SSO');

    // Get enabled providers
    $providers = $this->getProviders();
    $enabledProviders = Config::get('winter.sso::enabled_providers', []);

    // Build provider data
    $processedProviders = [];
    foreach ($enabledProviders as $provider) {
        $processedProviders[$provider] = $providers[$provider]['button'];
    }

    // Save signin URL for redirect after login
    Session::put('signin_url', Request::url());

    // Render buttons
    echo View::make("winter.sso::providers", ['providers' => $processedProviders]);
});

Button Configuration

Each provider has button configuration auto-generated in Plugin.php::getProviders():

$config['button'] = array_merge([
    'view'    => "winter.sso::buttons.provider",
    'logoUrl' => Url::asset('/plugins/winter/sso/assets/images/providers/' . $provider . '.svg'),
    'logoAlt' => Lang::get('winter.sso::lang.provider_btn.alt_text', ['provider' => ucfirst($provider)]),
    'url'     => Backend::url('winter/sso/handle/redirect/' . $provider),
    'label'   => Lang::get('winter.sso::lang.provider_btn.label', ['provider' => ucfirst($provider)]),
], $config['button'] ?? []);

Providers can override button config in their provider configuration:

'providers' => [
    'github' => [
        'client_id' => '...',
        'client_secret' => '...',
        'button' => [
            'label' => 'Custom Label',
            'view' => 'my.custom.view',
        ],
    ],
],

Preventing Native Authentication

When prevent_native_auth is true:

\Backend\Controllers\Auth::extend(function ($controller) {
    // Visual: Hide login form
    $controller->bindEvent('page.beforeDisplay', function () use ($controller) {
        $controller->addViewPath(plugins_path('winter/sso/controllers/auth/prevent_native'));
    });

    // Security: Disable AJAX handler
    $controller->bindEvent('ajax.beforeRunHandler', function ($handler) {
        if ($handler === 'onSubmit') {
            throw new ApplicationException("Native authentication is disabled.");
        }
    });
});

This both hides the form and blocks the server-side handler.

Extension Points for Provider Plugins

Provider plugins can integrate with Winter.SSO through several mechanisms:

1. Socialite Provider Registration

// In provider plugin's boot() method
Event::listen(function (\SocialiteProviders\Manager\SocialiteWasCalled $event) {
    $event->extendSocialite('microsoft', \SocialiteProviders\Microsoft\Provider::class);
});

2. Configuration Merging

// Merge provider config into Winter.SSO
$this->app['config']->set(
    'winter.sso::providers.microsoft',
    $this->app['config']->get('winter.ssoprovidermicrosoft::config')
);

This allows provider plugins to maintain their own config/config.php file that gets merged into the main SSO configuration.

3. Custom Button/Logo

Provider plugins can include their own assets and register them through config:

// In provider plugin config
return [
    'client_id' => env('MICROSOFT_CLIENT_ID'),
    'client_secret' => env('MICROSOFT_CLIENT_SECRET'),
    'button' => [
        'label' => 'Sign in with Microsoft',
        'logoUrl' => '/plugins/winter/ssoprovidermicrosoft/assets/images/microsoft.svg',
    ],
];

4. Provider-specific Events

Provider plugins can listen to their own events:

// In provider plugin's boot() method
Event::listen('winter.sso.microsoft.registered', function ($user, $ssoUser) {
    // Microsoft-specific logic
});

OAuth requires cookies to be sent during redirects. The plugin automatically adjusts session.same_site from strict to lax when secure sessions are enabled:

// plugins/winter/sso/Plugin.php:119
if (Config::get('session.secure') === true && Config::get('session.same_site') === 'strict') {
    Config::set('session.same_site', 'lax');
}

Why: With same_site=strict, session cookies aren't sent during OAuth callbacks, causing "Invalid state" errors.

Laravel Socialite stores OAuth state in the session. This state is verified on callback to prevent CSRF attacks. If the session is lost between redirect and callback, you'll see InvalidStateException.

Logging System

Log Model

Model: Winter\SSO\Models\Log Table: winter_sso_logs

Log Structure

[
    'provider' => 'google',
    'action' => 'authenticated',
    'user_type' => 'Backend\Models\User',
    'user_id' => 1,
    'provided_id' => '1234567890',
    'provided_email' => 'user@example.com',
    'ip' => '192.168.1.1',
    'metadata' => [
        'remember' => true,
    ],
    'created_at' => '2024-01-17 10:30:00',
]

Log Creation

Logs are created after successful login in Handle::callback():

// plugins/winter/sso/controllers/Handle.php:250
SsoLog::create([
    'provider' => $provider,
    'action' => 'authenticated',
    'user_type' => get_class($user),
    'user_id' => $user->getKey(),
    'provided_id' => $ssoUser->getId(),
    'provided_email' => $email,
    'ip' => Request::ip(),
    'metadata' => [
        'remember' => $remember,
    ],
]);

Viewing Logs

Backend URL: Settings → Logs → SSO Logs Permission: winter.sso.view_logs Controller: Winter\SSO\Controllers\Logs

Email Normalization

Purpose

Prevent duplicate accounts when email providers allow variations (e.g., Gmail allows dots in usernames but treats them as the same account).

Implementation

// plugins/winter/sso/controllers/Handle.php:306
protected function normalizeEmail($email)
{
    [$user, $domain] = explode('@', strtolower($email));

    // Google emails can have "." anywhere but the actual account has none
    if (in_array($domain, ['gmail.com', 'googlemail.com'])) {
        $user = str_replace('.', '', $user);
    }

    return $user . '@' . $domain;
}

Examples

John.Doe@Gmail.com → johndoe@gmail.com
j.o.h.n@gmail.com → john@gmail.com
john.doe@example.com → john.doe@example.com (unchanged)

User lookup: 1 query (by email)
SSO metadata: stored in JSON column, no join needed
Log creation: 1 insert

Asset Loading

CSS is only loaded on the signin page via backend.auth.extendSigninView event.

File Structure

plugins/winter/sso/
├── Plugin.php                      # Main plugin class
├── controllers/
│   ├── Handle.php                  # OAuth redirect/callback
│   ├── Logs.php                    # Log viewer
│   └── auth/prevent_native/        # Views for hiding native auth
├── models/
│   └── Log.php                     # SSO log model
├── config/
│   └── config.php                  # Default configuration
├── exceptions/
│   ├── InvalidSsoIdException.php
│   └── ProviderBlockedException.php
├── assets/
│   └── images/providers/           # Provider logos (SVG)
├── views/
│   ├── providers.php               # Button container
│   └── buttons/provider.php        # Individual button template
└── docs/
    ├── architecture.md             # This file
    ├── creating-provider-plugins.md
    └── providers/                  # Provider setup guides
        └── google.md

Configuration Loading Order

Plugin Registration (Plugin::register())
- Forces email login on callback routes
- Registers Socialite service provider
Plugin Boot (Plugin::boot())
- Adjusts session.same_site if needed
- Calls configureProviders() - maps config to services.*
- Calls extendAuthController() - adds SSO buttons
Request Handling
- Socialite reads from services.{provider}
- Handle controller uses winter.sso::* config

Future TODOs (from code comments)

Backend DB Configuration - UI for managing providers and settings
User Preferences - Allow users to manage their SSO connections
Default Role Implementation - Actually assign roles to new users
Password Auth Blocking - Enforce allow_password_auth flag
Remember Me - Support user-selected "remember me" checkbox
Account Attachment - Allow logged-in users to attach SSO providers
Protection Against Fake Auth - Verify trusted services
Session Configuration Warning - Dashboard widget for session config issues

Testing Checklist

When testing SSO integration: