Identity Injection policies are processed when a user requests access to a resource. The results and the values of the data items are cached for the user session. This means that when the user requests a second time to access the resource, the policy is evaluated, but the data values from the first evaluation are used. When a data item is cached for the user session, the user must log out and log back in to trigger new data values.
For information about how long the data items are cached, see The Policy Is Using Old User Data.
The LDAP Attribute and the Shared Secret actions can be configured to refresh their values. This means the attribute or secret value is read not just on the first request that triggers the policy evaluation, but when the specified refresh interval expires. You can select to cache the value for the session, for the request, or for a time interval varying from 5 seconds to 60 minutes.
You can use this feature for situations when you do not want to force the user to log in again to gain rights to resources or to revoke rights to resources. For example, suppose that you have an Identity Injection policy that grants access based on an LDAP attribute in a custom header having a “yes” value. Users with a “no” value in custom header are denied access.
If you don’t enable the Refresh Data option on this attribute in the policy, the policy is evaluated when the user first tries to access the resource. The value for the attribute is cached for the user session, and until the user logs out, that is the value that is used.
However, if you enable the Refresh Data option on this attribute in the policy, the policy is evaluated when the user first tries to access the resource. When the user sends a second request to access the resource and the specified interval has expired, the Refresh Data option causes the value of the attribute to be read again from the LDAP server. This new value is injected into the custom header, and any other policy that is triggered by the request and uses the new value for its policy.
If the value from the first request to the second request changes from no to yes, the user gets access to the resource.
If the value from the first request to the second request changes from yes to no, the user is denied access to the resource.
For example:
If the attribute controls access to employee resources and an employee leaves, a quick change of this attribute value cuts the employee off from the resources that must be available to employees only.
If the attribute controls access to a software download site and a user has just purchased a product, a quick change to this attribute value can grant access to the download site.
IMPORTANT:This feature needs to be used with caution. Because querying the LDAP server slows down the processing of a policy, LDAP attribute and secret store values are normally cached for the user session. Enable this option only on those attributes and secrets that are critical to the security of your system or to the design of your work flow.