Published Release Notes

Security landing pages and features require privileges

Security-related landing pages and features are no longer visible and accessible to every user. To view and configure the following security features, you must have the appropriate privileges:

• Attribute-based access control (ABAC) policies require the pzCanManageSecurityPolicies privilege.
• The Authentication Services landing page requires the pzCanCreateAuthService privilege.

Authenticate users in processes with a JSON Web Token

You can generate and process a JSON Web Token (JWT) in Pega^® Platform to secure communications in Pega Platform applications. JWTs are intended to securely transmit small amounts of information between two parties. Because the JWT is signed, the integrity of the information is assured. The contents of the JWT can be used to authenticate a user or to exchange information.

For more information, see Token Profile data instance.

Property-level security for full-text search

Property-level security has been added to full-text search so that you can limit access to sensitive data. From the Search landing page, you can specify whether to include properties with access control policies in search results. In addition, for custom search, you can select which properties to include in full-text search by selecting options on the Search landing page and Custom Search properties instance.

For more information, see Specifying custom search properties and Excluding properties with access control policies from search results.

New service for generating OAuth 2.0 client credentials

Pega^® Platform now includes the oauthclients service package that provides a REST service for generating OAuth 2.0 client credentials. By using the client registration service, you can dynamically register OAuth 2.0 clients. The new service is secured by an existing OAuth service. Access tokens that are issued by the existing OAuth service are accepted as initial access tokens by the new service.

For more information, see OAuth 2.0 Client Registration data instances.

Enhanced security of Robotic Desktop Automation requests

Security enhancements have been introduced in the communication (data synchronization or pulling data) between your application that uses robotic desktop automation functionality and Pega^® Platform. These applications (web, desktop, and legacy) communicate with Pega Platform through connectors. No additional configuration is necessary.

For more information, see Robotic automation.

External keystore support in Pega Platform

Pega^® Platform now provides the ability to source certificates and encryption keys from external keystores. You use the Keystore rule to specify alternatives to the platform's database to source certificates and keys. You can choose to use a data page, a URL, or an external file in one of the following standard formats: JKS, JWK, PKCS12, KEYTAB, or KEY. Keystore information is stored in cache memory only. It is not stored on the clipboard nor is it directly accessible to the application logic.

For more information, see Creating a Keystore data instance.

Two-factor authentication with one-time passwords

Pega® Platform now supports two-factor authentication in custom authentication services and case flow processing, by sending a one-time password to an operator through email and requiring the operator to provide it back to your application for verification. Use REST API OTP Generation to generate and store one-time passwords, and REST API OTP Verification to verify passwords against user entries. You can also use the pxSendOTP and pxVerifyOTP activities called by these APIs to implement two-factor authentication of users in case flows prior to performing a critical operation (e.g. before completing a critical transaction such as a funds transfer in excess of a certain amount). Settings on the Security Policies landing page control the behavior of the two-factor authentication process.

For more information, see Enabling security policies.

Support for OAuth 2.0 authorization in Pega Platform REST services

Pega^® Platform REST services now support OAuth 2.0 authorization that uses federated authentication with SAML 2.0-compliant identity providers (IDPs). The OAuth 2.0-based authorization can be configured to use the SAML2-bearer grant type with a SAML token profile. This configuration is used when a resource requestor is authenticated by using a SAML2.0-compliant IDP.

For more information, see Security rules and data.

Privilege inheritance support through access roles

Privilege inheritance simplifies the process of defining privileges that are relevant in multiple classes. When determining whether a user should be granted a named privilege that allows a type of access to a class, Pega^® Platform searches for Access of Role to Object (Rule-Access-Role-Obj) rules that are relevant to the target class and to the access roles listed in the user's access group, and considers the privileges granted or denied in those rules. When privilege inheritance is enabled within an access role, the search for relevant Access of Role to Object rules begins with the target class and, if necessary, continues up the class hierarchy until a relevant rule is found.

For more information, see Privilege inheritance for access roles.

Cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) policies for APIs and REST services

You can now use cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) policies to control how external systems and websites (origins) are permitted to access resources such as APIs and services within your applications. For example, Pega^® Platform uses CORS policies to restrict which Pega Robotic client applications can connect to your Pega applications, and to limit which mobile apps can call Pega mobile services. Using CORS policies results in reduced cost and implementation times, while providing increased security when other systems or websites interact with your application.

For more information, see Creating a cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) policy and Mapping an endpoint to a cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) policy.