HttpWebRequest using Basic authentication

Question

I'm trying to go through an authentication request that mimics the "basic auth request" we're used to seeing when setting up IIS for this behavior.

The URL is: https://telematicoprova.agenziadogane.it/TelematicoServiziDiUtilitaWeb/ServiziDiUtilitaAutServlet?UC=22&SC=1&ST=2
(warning: https!)

This server is running under UNIX and Java as application server.

This is the code I use to connect to this server:

CookieContainer myContainer = new CookieContainer();
HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("https://telematicoprova.agenziadogane.it/TelematicoServiziDiUtilitaWeb/ServiziDiUtilitaAutServlet?UC=22&SC=1&ST=2");
request.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(xxx,xxx);
request.CookieContainer = myContainer;
request.PreAuthenticate = true;
HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();

(I copied this from another post on this site). But I receive this answer from the server:

The underlying connection was closed: An unexpected error occurred on a send.

I think I tried every possible task my knowledge on C# has to offer me, but nothing...

I think this one would have worked if you had added: request.UseDefaultCredentials = false; — bpeikes, Sep 30 '14 at 16:03

score 306 · Answer 1 · edited May 06 '21 at 20:19

306

You can also just add the authorization header yourself.

Just make the name "Authorization" and the value "Basic BASE64({USERNAME:PASSWORD})"

var username   = "abc";
var password   = "123";
string encoded = System.Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.GetEncoding("ISO-8859-1")
                               .GetBytes(username + ":" + password));
httpWebRequest.Headers.Add("Authorization", "Basic " + encoded);

Edit

Switched the encoding from UTF-8 to ISO 8859-1 per What encoding should I use for HTTP Basic Authentication? and Jeroen's comment.

edited May 06 '21 at 20:19

ΩmegaMan

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answered Dec 19 '12 at 16:25

Zambonilli

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So how do you know for sure that UTF8 is the right encoding to use? – Jeroen Wiert Pluimers Sep 20 '14 at 07:15
2

Nice catch. It looks like the request Authentication header should be encoded in ISO-8859-1. Per http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7242316/what-encoding-should-i-use-for-http-basic-authentication – Zambonilli Sep 21 '14 at 16:14
1

Aaaargh! 1: Thanks, mate. 2. I'd really like to understand why the other methods, setting the authentication method in the CredentialCache, wouldn't work at all. They are supposed to, aren't they? – mshthn Jul 28 '17 at 16:11
1

All the msdn documentation points to yes, the other methods should work. However, I've never been able to get them to work. – Zambonilli Aug 04 '17 at 12:46
Not working for me (neither utf-8 nor ISO-8859-1). Any suggestions what to check ? It works when I do " webRequest.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(UserID, Password);" . – RollerCosta Jun 24 '19 at 05:29

score 60 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 17 '12 at 10:50

I finally got it!

string url = @"https://telematicoprova.agenziadogane.it/TelematicoServiziDiUtilitaWeb/ServiziDiUtilitaAutServlet?UC=22&SC=1&ST=2";
WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(url);
request.Credentials = GetCredential();
request.PreAuthenticate = true;

and this is GetCredential()

private CredentialCache GetCredential()
{
    string url = @"https://telematicoprova.agenziadogane.it/TelematicoServiziDiUtilitaWeb/ServiziDiUtilitaAutServlet?UC=22&SC=1&ST=2";
    ServicePointManager.SecurityProtocol = SecurityProtocolType.Ssl3;
    CredentialCache credentialCache = new CredentialCache();
    credentialCache.Add(new System.Uri(url), "Basic", new NetworkCredential(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["ead_username"], ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["ead_password"]));
    return credentialCache;
}

YAY!

score 30 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 05 '15 at 09:50

If you can use the WebClient class, using basic authentication becomes simple:

var client = new WebClient {Credentials = new NetworkCredential("user_name", "password")};
var response = client.DownloadString("https://telematicoprova.agenziadogane.it/TelematicoServiziDiUtilitaWeb/ServiziDiUtilitaAutServlet?UC=22&SC=1&ST=2");

score 10 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 02 '10 at 12:15

10

Try this:

System.Net.CredentialCache credentialCache = new System.Net.CredentialCache(); 
credentialCache.Add(
    new System.Uri("http://www.yoururl.com/"),
    "Basic", 
    new System.Net.NetworkCredential("username", "password")
);

...
...

httpWebRequest.Credentials = credentialCache;

answered Dec 02 '10 at 12:15

MrEyes

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Is it definately basic auth? Also, can you access the resource with your username/password via a browser? – MrEyes Dec 02 '10 at 14:14
It seems to be a basic auth over https. If you click on the link i provided, the browser pop ups the username/password" request as the same do when you do "basic auth" on IIS or using a .htaccss file on a folder via apache. I tried to use fiddler but i have no clue about. – Kenny Rullo Dec 02 '10 at 15:56
i just learned that the website is running under IBM http server. This can be a helpful news? – Kenny Rullo Dec 02 '10 at 19:00

Alexei - check Codidact · Answer 5 · 2018-08-02T11:02:28.973

For those using RestSharp, it might fail when using SimpleAuthenticator (possibly due to not using ISO-8859-1 behind the scene). I managed to get it done by explicitly sending Basic Authentication headers:

string username = "...";
string password = "...";

public IRestResponse GetResponse(string url, Method method = Method.GET)
{
    string encoded = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.GetEncoding("ISO-8859-1").GetBytes($"{username}:{password}"));
    var client = new RestClient(url);
    var request = new RestRequest(method );
    request.AddHeader("Authorization", $"Basic {encoded}");
    IRestResponse response = client.Execute(request);
    return response;
}

var response = GetResponse(url);
txtResult.Text = response.Content;

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered May 20 '20 at 18:14

First thing, for me ServicePointManager.SecurityProtocol = SecurityProtocolType.Tls12 worked instead of Ssl3.

Secondly, I had to send the Basic Auth request along with some data (form-urlencoded). Here is the complete sample which worked for me perfectly, after trying many solutions.

Disclaimer: The code below is a mixture of solutions found on this link and some other stackoverflow links, thanks for the useful information.

        ServicePointManager.SecurityProtocol = SecurityProtocolType.Tls12;
        String username = "user_name";
        String password = "password";
        String encoded = System.Convert.ToBase64String(System.Text.Encoding.GetEncoding("ISO-8859-1").GetBytes(username + ":" + password));

        //Form Data
        var formData = "var1=val1&var2=val2";
        var encodedFormData = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(formData);

        HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("THE_URL");
        request.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
        request.Method = "POST";
        request.ContentLength = encodedFormData.Length;
        request.Headers.Add("Authorization", "Basic " + encoded);
        request.PreAuthenticate = true;

        using (var stream = request.GetRequestStream())
        {
            stream.Write(encodedFormData, 0, encodedFormData.Length);
        }

        HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();
        var responseString = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream()).ReadToEnd();

So thankful for this answer. Worked perfectly for me! Thanks a bunch!!! — crazynx, Dec 22 '20 at 10:38

score 3 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 19 '18 at 07:55

Following code will solve json response if there Basic Authentication and Proxy implemented.Also IIS 7.5 Hosting Problm will resolve.

public string HttpGetByWebRequ(string uri, string username, string password)
{
//For Basic Authentication
    string authInfo = username + ":" + password;
    authInfo = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.Default.GetBytes(authInfo));

//For Proxy
    WebProxy proxy = new WebProxy("http://10.127.0.1:8080", true);

    HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(uri);
    request.Method = "GET";
    request.Accept = "application/json; charset=utf-8";
    request.Proxy = proxy;

    request.Headers["Authorization"] = "Basic " + authInfo;

    var response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();

    string strResponse = "";
    using (var sr = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream()))
    {
        strResponse= sr.ReadToEnd();

    }

    return strResponse;
}

Not working for me (neither utf-8 nor ISO-8859-1 nor default). Any suggestions what to check ?Please note - It works when I do " webRequest.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(UserID, Password);" — RollerCosta, Jun 24 '19 at 05:58

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 08 '16 at 09:17

The spec can be read as "ISO-8859-1" or "undefined". Your choice. It's known that many servers use ISO-8859-1 (like it or not) and will fail when you send something else.

For more information and a proposal to fix the situation, see http://greenbytes.de/tech/webdav/draft-reschke-basicauth-enc-latest.html

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Oct 22 '18 at 13:24

The following construction was not working correctly for me:

request.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("user", "pass");

I have used CredentialCache instead:

CredentialCache credentialCache = new CredentialCache
{
    {
        new Uri($"http://{request.Host}/"), "Basic",
        new NetworkCredential("user", "pass")
    }
};
request.Credentials = credentialCache;

However, if you would like to add multiple basic auth credentials (for example if there is redirection that you are aware of) you can use following function that I have made:

private void SetNetworkCredential(Uri uriPrefix, string authType, NetworkCredential credential)
{
    if (request.Credentials == null)
    {
        request.Credentials = new CredentialCache();
    }

    if (request.Credentials.GetCredential(uriPrefix, authType) == null)
    {
        (request.Credentials as CredentialCache).Add(uriPrefix, authType, credential);
    }
}

I hope it will help somebody in the future.

score 0 · Answer 10 · edited Dec 03 '20 at 23:45

0

One reason why the top answer and others wont work for you is because it is missing a critical line. (note many API manuals leave out this necessity)

request.PreAuthenticate = true;

edited Dec 03 '20 at 23:45

desertnaut

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answered Dec 03 '20 at 22:33

Rick Drayson

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HttpWebRequest using Basic authentication

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