Token Encoding Security: JWT, PASETO, and Session Tokens
Tokens rely on encoding for transport but signing for security. Learn how JWT uses Base64URL, why the signature matters, and how PASETO improves on JWT.
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Tags: security, encoding, tokens
Token Encoding Security: How JWT, PASETO, and Session Tokens Use Encoding Tokens are everywhere in modern authentication. Every time you log into a web application, receive an OAuth access token, or make an authenticated API call, a token is involved. Understanding how encoding and cryptography interact in token design reveals why some token schemes are robust and others have critical weaknesses. --- JSON Web Tokens (JWT): Encoding All the Way Down A JWT looks like this: There are three components, separated by periods: Header — Base64URL-encoded JSON: Payload — Base64URL-encoded JSON: Signature — HMAC-SHA256 or RSA signature of The first two parts are Base64URL encoding. Anyone can decode them with a standard decoder: You can use a Base64 encoder/decoder to manually decode the header and…
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