How do I use attribute for LDAP filter? String is getting erroneously escaped.

Question

Hi,

I recently upgraded Adaxes from 2021.1 to 2023.2, and after the upgrade, an LDAP filter for retrieving the groups a user is owner of, stopped working.
The reason it stopped working is because all the paranthesis and backslashes in the string gets escaped.

From this:
(|(ObjectGuid=\06\0A\45\13\26\02\D9\4E\8B\57\7C\4A\21\84\BC\2F)(ObjectGuid=\24\30\B9\9A\DF\F9\8A\4A\95\A0\2A\1E\7B\E9\D0\BE)(ObjectGuid=\FE\B1\58\A8\34\9C\6B\45\AD\59\0A\E4\3A\C9\92\BE)(ObjectGuid=\26\EA\1A\3C\C5\10\42\42\9C\68\D1\F8\25\6A\D0\AF)(ObjectGuid=\B1\E9\F3\93\1D\0E\CA\44\A9\40\7A\9B\68\CA\97\28)(ObjectGuid=\9A\B7\5D\9D\3F\87\D0\4A\AE\D4\D8\DA\F4\88\10\6E)(ObjectGuid=\E2\DC\B5\0E\B0\30\6E\45\9F\68\7C\88\11\06\E3\3A)(ObjectGuid=\91\8E\BD\1A\73\96\F7\45\9F\67\DE\29\A4\DA\75\81)(ObjectGuid=\AD\5C\82\1C\30\B9\21\4B\95\41\0E\2F\D8\D3\3E\7A)(ObjectGuid=\05\B8\E6\33\FB\A9\50\4F\82\08\4A\7C\77\B6\B3\14)(ObjectGuid=\06\29\D0\34\64\C6\46\49\96\45\16\B9\FA\63\91\BE)(ObjectGuid=\49\BE\FD\44\39\DB\E2\4F\A5\6F\59\A8\3C\FD\21\C8)(ObjectGuid=\88\8A\69\51\98\5D\CD\48\B9\DD\2A\E3\4D\92\82\05)(ObjectGuid=\EB\70\E9\68\5A\59\53\45\B6\2C\14\98\8E\CA\A4\0C)(ObjectGuid=\F5\88\75\69\35\18\9A\4D\A9\C8\DF\B2\B5\5E\AC\68)(ObjectGuid=\A5\5A\79\6D\3B\BB\4D\43\9B\CF\33\88\40\E9\26\BA)(ObjectGuid=\B4\CD\32\80\19\7B\6B\4F\BA\E9\AC\45\D9\9D\3B\C5)(ObjectGuid=\9C\DE\D4\8C\7C\14\37\4C\BF\55\01\27\F7\04\9D\59)(ObjectGuid=\45\3D\55\98\CC\1A\A8\4C\82\76\2D\E6\B4\F1\C2\F7)(ObjectGuid=\29\BB\57\9C\13\27\C1\47\A6\A2\37\DA\4B\EF\C0\21)(ObjectGuid=\B1\3B\E9\BC\8A\9F\E5\41\90\2D\16\A5\43\AE\62\95)(ObjectGuid=\A9\DC\BE\BF\CA\54\64\47\87\6A\41\11\3C\4A\D7\00)(ObjectGuid=\D5\19\B6\CC\B9\38\4F\4B\A6\37\02\B1\61\96\C9\E8)(ObjectGuid=\96\3C\9F\DE\B9\EB\12\47\9C\DB\64\E2\75\3B\6B\90)(ObjectGuid=\BA\EA\86\E1\7E\49\ED\44\B0\B4\27\F8\A4\19\27\5B)(ObjectGuid=\78\55\FB\E4\20\55\00\4B\B3\4B\F2\69\A1\4C\F0\D9)(ObjectGuid=\E4\07\97\F4\4F\CE\AA\42\97\4C\7E\92\44\7E\AD\21)(ObjectGuid=\3A\43\A2\FA\E6\2E\85\4B\89\5E\65\EE\01\9E\0D\E2))

To this:
\28|\28ObjectGuid=\5C06\5C0A\5C45\5C13\5C26\5C02\5CD9\5C4E\5C8B\5C57\5C7C\5C4A\5C21\5C84\5CBC\5C2F\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C24\5C30\5CB9\5C9A\5CDF\5CF9\5C8A\5C4A\5C95\5CA0\5C2A\5C1E\5C7B\5CE9\5CD0\5CBE\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CFE\5CB1\5C58\5CA8\5C34\5C9C\5C6B\5C45\5CAD\5C59\5C0A\5CE4\5C3A\5CC9\5C92\5CBE\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C26\5CEA\5C1A\5C3C\5CC5\5C10\5C42\5C42\5C9C\5C68\5CD1\5CF8\5C25\5C6A\5CD0\5CAF\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CB1\5CE9\5CF3\5C93\5C1D\5C0E\5CCA\5C44\5CA9\5C40\5C7A\5C9B\5C68\5CCA\5C97\5C28\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C9A\5CB7\5C5D\5C9D\5C3F\5C87\5CD0\5C4A\5CAE\5CD4\5CD8\5CDA\5CF4\5C88\5C10\5C6E\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CE2\5CDC\5CB5\5C0E\5CB0\5C30\5C6E\5C45\5C9F\5C68\5C7C\5C88\5C11\5C06\5CE3\5C3A\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C91\5C8E\5CBD\5C1A\5C73\5C96\5CF7\5C45\5C9F\5C67\5CDE\5C29\5CA4\5CDA\5C75\5C81\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CAD\5C5C\5C82\5C1C\5C30\5CB9\5C21\5C4B\5C95\5C41\5C0E\5C2F\5CD8\5CD3\5C3E\5C7A\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C05\5CB8\5CE6\5C33\5CFB\5CA9\5C50\5C4F\5C82\5C08\5C4A\5C7C\5C77\5CB6\5CB3\5C14\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C06\5C29\5CD0\5C34\5C64\5CC6\5C46\5C49\5C96\5C45\5C16\5CB9\5CFA\5C63\5C91\5CBE\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C49\5CBE\5CFD\5C44\5C39\5CDB\5CE2\5C4F\5CA5\5C6F\5C59\5CA8\5C3C\5CFD\5C21\5CC8\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C88\5C8A\5C69\5C51\5C98\5C5D\5CCD\5C48\5CB9\5CDD\5C2A\5CE3\5C4D\5C92\5C82\5C05\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CEB\5C70\5CE9\5C68\5C5A\5C59\5C53\5C45\5CB6\5C2C\5C14\5C98\5C8E\5CCA\5CA4\5C0C\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CF5\5C88\5C75\5C69\5C35\5C18\5C9A\5C4D\5CA9\5CC8\5CDF\5CB2\5CB5\5C5E\5CAC\5C68\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CA5\5C5A\5C79\5C6D\5C3B\5CBB\5C4D\5C43\5C9B\5CCF\5C33\5C88\5C40\5CE9\5C26\5CBA\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CB4\5CCD\5C32\5C80\5C19\5C7B\5C6B\5C4F\5CBA\5CE9\5CAC\5C45\5CD9\5C9D\5C3B\5CC5\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C9C\5CDE\5CD4\5C8C\5C7C\5C14\5C37\5C4C\5CBF\5C55\5C01\5C27\5CF7\5C04\5C9D\5C59\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C45\5C3D\5C55\5C98\5CCC\5C1A\5CA8\5C4C\5C82\5C76\5C2D\5CE6\5CB4\5CF1\5CC2\5CF7\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C29\5CBB\5C57\5C9C\5C13\5C27\5CC1\5C47\5CA6\5CA2\5C37\5CDA\5C4B\5CEF\5CC0\5C21\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CB1\5C3B\5CE9\5CBC\5C8A\5C9F\5CE5\5C41\5C90\5C2D\5C16\5CA5\5C43\5CAE\5C62\5C95\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CA9\5CDC\5CBE\5CBF\5CCA\5C54\5C64\5C47\5C87\5C6A\5C41\5C11\5C3C\5C4A\5CD7\5C00\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CD5\5C19\5CB6\5CCC\5CB9\5C38\5C4F\5C4B\5CA6\5C37\5C02\5CB1\5C61\5C96\5CC9\5CE8\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C96\5C3C\5C9F\5CDE\5CB9\5CEB\5C12\5C47\5C9C\5CDB\5C64\5CE2\5C75\5C3B\5C6B\5C90\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CBA\5CEA\5C86\5CE1\5C7E\5C49\5CED\5C44\5CB0\5CB4\5C27\5CF8\5CA4\5C19\5C27\5C5B\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C78\5C55\5CFB\5CE4\5C20\5C55\5C00\5C4B\5CB3\5C4B\5CF2\5C69\5CA1\5C4C\5CF0\5CD9\29\28ObjectGuid=\5CE4\5C07\5C97\5CF4\5C4F\5CCE\5CAA\5C42\5C97\5C4C\5C7E\5C92\5C44\5C7E\5CAD\5C21\29\28ObjectGuid=\5C3A\5C43\5CA2\5CFA\5CE6\5C2E\5C85\5C4B\5C89\5C5E\5C65\5CEE\5C01\5C9E\5C0D\5CE2\29\29

This is how it appears in the interface:

This is how it is configured:

Any tips on how to prevent this from happening?

I also tried using a normal filter based on the "owners (Managed by)" attribute instead, like this:

It works, but sadly it is quite slow.

Best regards Martin

asked Aug 21, 2023 by Martin (100 points)

Hi,

How exactly is the LDAP filter placed into CustomAttributeText8?

The following script populates the value:

$propertyForLDAPFilter = "adm-CustomAttributeText8" # TODO: modify me

try
{
    # Get GUIDs of all objects managed by the user
    $managedObjectGuids = $Context.TargetObject.GetEx("adm-ManagedObjectsGuid")
}
catch
{
    # Set an empty GUID as the filter so no objects are returned
    $Context.TargetObject.Put($propertyForLDAPFilter, "(objectGuid=\00)")
    $Context.TargetObject.SetInfo()
    return
}

# Build filter
$ldapFilter = New-Object "System.Text.StringBuilder"
[Void]$ldapFilter.Append("(|")
foreach ($guid in $managedObjectGuids)
{
    $filterPart = [Softerra.Adaxes.Ldap.FilterBuilder]::Create("ObjectGuid", $guid)
    [Void]$ldapFilter.Append($filterPart)
}
[Void]$ldapFilter.Append(")")

# Save filter to the property specified
$Context.TargetObject.Put($propertyForLDAPFilter, $ldapFilter.ToString())
$Context.TargetObject.SetInfo()

This is how it appears in Adaxes Management Console:

Most probably, it is about the number of objects you have in all the managed domains. If you only need on-premises AD objects, try using Managed By (Primary owners) instead.

It is still better to use criteria as it will definitely be up to date while the filter in the attribute can be outdated.

I have limited the scope to a single on-prem domain, but still, using the Owners (Managed By) attribute is too slow. I would like to make use of the new multi-owner functionality, so I'll try to avoid using Managed By (Primary owners) if I can.

BTW, is the adm-ManagedObjectsGuid attribute equivalent to all owners or only primary owners? I am not familiar with the attribute as I didn't write the script, it is my predecessor's work.

commented Aug 22, 2023 by Martin (100 points)

1 Answer

Thank you for the provided script. The behavior is be design and cannot be changed. Using a dedicated criteria directly in the action settings is the only way.

I guess the intent is to auto-escape attributes that are used in a semi hard-coded LDAP filter, but this greatly limits its usability. It is also not made clear that this conversion is applied to the inserted value reference, which is unlike how it behaves anywhere else in Adaxes, where the value is inserted unchanged. For the next version of Adaxes, may I suggest that instead of auto-escaping the string, you add an additional formatting paramenter for LDAP escaping? Similar to what is documented here: https://adaxes.com/help/ValueReferences/

Have a look at the following help article: https://www.adaxes.com/help/ObjectOwners. It describes the full functionality of Adaxes related to object ownership.

Thank you

commented Aug 22, 2023 by Martin (100 points)

How do I use attribute for LDAP filter? String is getting erroneously escaped.

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