use of communication based on HTTPS further improves the overall security of the system.
[11]
The main goal of
this work is to enhance data confidentiality, integrity and access control by integrating enhanced token
protection with the standard workflow of OAuth 2.0. The effectiveness of the proposed system is evaluated
through functional, security and penetration testing scenarios on authentication, authorization, token
expiration, token revocation and RBAC validation. The results show that the proposed framework provides an
additional layer of security against token interception, the disclosure of sensitive claims, replay attacks and
privilege escalation. The proposed solution offers a practical and secure way to handle modern Spring Boot
applications that require strong authentication and authorization mechanisms.
[9]
2. Literature survey
Several studies and technical papers have examined the development of secure authentication and
authorization mechanisms using OAuth 2.0 and JSON Web Tokens (JWT) within the context of modern web
applications. This review highlights the most relevant research focusing on web security, microservice
integration, and the role of spring booting and spring security in implementing robust access-control systems.
Nishat and Muzaffar et al. emphasize the need for stronger authentication and authorization in web applications
through the combined use of OAuth 2.0, JWT, and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
[12]
Their work describes
OAuth 2.0 as a scalable authorization framework that allows secure access delegation without exposing user
credentials, whereas JWT provides a stateless mechanism for identity verification and claim transfer. They
highlight that although OAuth 2.0 and JWT are powerful, integrating MFA provides an additional safeguard
against credential theft and replay attacks, forming a multilayered defense for modern web applications.
Rahim et al. explored the use of Keycloak and OAuth 2.0 for secure authentication and authorization in a
microservice-based angular and spring boot application.
[13]
This study illustrates how distributed architectures
increase the complexity of security management, particularly when multiple microservices must independently
verify and authorize users. The implementation of Keycloak as an OAuth 2.0 Authorization Server offered
centralized identity management, role-based access control, and single-sign-on (SSO) functionality,
demonstrating how microservices can securely communicate via tokens issued and verified through a unified
identity provider. Manne et al. presented a detailed analysis of the spring security framework for securing Java-
based web applications.
[14]
This paper discussed Spring Security’s support for authentication mechanisms such
as form-based login, LDAP, and OAuth 2.0/OIDC, along with token-based authentication via JWT. The research
highlights the framework’s modular architecture, comprising AuthenticationManager, AccessDecisionManager,
and SecurityContext, which allows granular access control at both the HTTP and method levels. Moreover,
Spring Security’s ability to mitigate OWASP’s top 10 vulnerabilities (e.g., CSRF and XSS) through built-in
protection mechanisms was identified as a major advantage. Chaudhari et al. focused on secure API gateways
for financial lending platforms using the Java Spring ecosystem.
[15]
Their paper reviewed the role of the Spring
Cloud Gateway in enforcing authentication, authorization, rate-limiting, and payload inspection within
microservice architectures. It underscores the importance of token-based security (OAuth 2.0 and JWT) in
financial systems that handle sensitive user data and are subject to compliance standards such as the GDPR and
PCI-DSS. The authors showed that centralized API gateways can mitigate risks by validating and decrypting
tokens before routing requests to backend microservices, ensuring end-to-end data confidentiality and integrity.
Katta explores the integration of Spring Security with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to address security and
compliance challenges in financial services.
[7]
This study emphasizes the importance of a multilayered security
architecture that combines OAuth 2.0, JWT-based authentication, RBAC, ABAC, and encryption strategies using
AWS Key Management Service (KMS). The research highlights how financial institutions can leverage these
technologies to meet regulatory requirements such as the GDPR, PCI DSS, and SOX while maintaining scalability
and operational efficiency. This work underscores the relevance of combining application-level security
frameworks with cloud-native services to achieve defense-in depth. Zahir and Esenalieva provide a comparative
analysis of authentication methods in spring security, including basic authentication, JWT, and OAuth 2.0.
[16]
They detail the implementation steps, advantages, and security implications of each method. The authors note
that while Basic Authentication is simple and stateless, it is insecure without HTTPS; JWT offers scalability and
statelessness but requires careful key management; and OAuth 2.0 is praised for its delegation capabilities and
integration with third-party identity providers. This study reinforces the importance of token encryption and
secure role embedding to prevent token theft and privilege escalation. Dimitrijević et al. investigated advanced
security mechanisms such as JWT, OAuth 2.0, LDAP, and Keycloak within the spring ecosystem.
[17]
The authors
discussed how JWT enables stateless authentication in microservices, whereas OAuth 2.0 facilitates secure
authorization across distributed systems. The integration of LDAP and Keycloak simplifies identity management
and supports SSO. The authors emphasize enforcing HTTPS, encrypting tokens, and securely managing keys to
mitigate interception and replay attacks. Joshi examines the use of Java and Spring Boot in the development of