Method and system for extending authentication methods

1. A computer-implemented method for managing authentication credentials for a user within a data processing system, the method comprising:

receiving at a session management server from a client a request to access a protected resource on behalf of a user, wherein the session management server performs session management with respect to the user for a domain that includes the protected resource, and wherein access to the protected resource requires authentication credentials that have been generated for a first type of authentication context;

in response to determining by the session management server that authentication credentials for the user indicate that the authentication credentials have been generated for a second type of authentication context, sending a first message from the session management server to an authentication proxy server, wherein the first message contains the authentication credentials for the user and an indicator for the first type of authentication context; and

receiving a second message at the session management server from the authentication proxy server, wherein the second message contains updated authentication credentials for the user, and wherein the updated authentication credentials indicate that the updated authentication credentials have been generated for the first type of authentication context.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating the updated authentication credentials with a pre-existing session for the user without requiring establishment of a new session for the user.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending from the session management server the request to access the protected resource on behalf of the user after receiving the updated authentication credentials.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

extracting by the session management server a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for the protected resource from the request to access the protected resource; and

performing a lookup operation based on the extracted URI to obtain the first type of authentication context.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

retrieving by the session management server a URI for the authentication proxy server from configurable information; and

employing the retrieved URI for the authentication proxy server for each request from the session management server to obtain updated credentials.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

retrieving by the authentication proxy server a URI for the session management server from configurable information; and

employing the retrieved URI for the session management server for each response from the authentication proxy server to return updated credentials.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

extracting by the authentication proxy server from the first message the indicator for the first type of authentication context; and

performing a lookup operation based on the extracted indicator for the first type of authentication context to determine an authentication method to be employed to update the authentication credentials for the user.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 further comprising:

sending by the authentication proxy server the authentication credentials to the determined authentication method.

9. A computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium for use within a data processing system for managing authentication credentials for a user, the computer program product holding computer program instructions which when executed by the data processing system perform a method comprising:

receiving at a session management server from a client a request to access a protected resource on behalf of a user, wherein the session management server performs session management with respect to the user for a domain that includes the protected resource, and wherein access to the protected resource requires authentication credentials that have been generated for a first type of authentication context;

sending, in response to determining by the session management server that authentication credentials for the user indicate that the authentication credentials have been generated for a second type of authentication context, a first message from the session management server to an authentication proxy server, wherein the first message contains the authentication credentials for the user and an indicator for the first type of authentication context; and

receiving a second message at the session management server from the authentication proxy server, wherein the second message contains updated authentication credentials for the user, and wherein the updated authentication credentials indicate that the updated authentication credentials have been generated for the first type of authentication context.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises:

associating the updated authentication credentials with a pre-existing session for the user without requiring establishment of a new session for the user.

11. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises:

sending from the session management server the request to access the protected resource on behalf of the user after receiving the updated authentication credentials.

12. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises:

extracting by the session management server a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for the protected resource from the request to access the protected resource; and

performing a lookup operation based on the extracted URI to obtain the first type of authentication context.

13. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises:

retrieving by the session management server a URI for the authentication proxy server from configurable information; and

employing the retrieved URI for the authentication proxy server for each request from the session management server to obtain updated credentials.

14. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises:

retrieving by the authentication proxy server a URI for the session management server from configurable information; and

employing the retrieved URI for the session management server for each response from the authentication proxy server to return updated credentials.

15. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises:

extracting by the authentication proxy server from the first message the indicator for the first type of authentication context; and

performing a lookup operation based on the extracted indicator for the first type of authentication context to determine an authentication method to be employed to update the authentication credentials for the user.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the method further comprises:

sending by the authentication proxy server the authentication credentials to the determined authentication method.

17. An apparatus for managing authentication credentials for a user within a data processing system, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a computer memory holding computer program instructions which when executed by the processor perform a method comprising:

receiving at a session management server from a client a request to access a protected resource on behalf of a user, wherein the session management server performs session management with respect to the user for a domain that includes the protected resource, and wherein access to the protected resource requires authentication credentials that have been generated for a first type of authentication context;

sending, in response to determining by the session management server that authentication credentials for the user indicate that the authentication credentials have been generated for a second type of authentication context, a first message from the session management server to an authentication proxy server, wherein the first message contains the authentication credentials for the user and an indicator for the first type of authentication context; and

receiving a second message at the session management server from the authentication proxy server, wherein the second message contains updated authentication credentials for the user, and wherein the updated authentication credentials indicate that the updated authentication credentials have been generated for the first type of authentication context.

18. The apparatus of claim 17

wherein the method further comprises:

associating the updated authentication credentials with a pre-existing session for the user without requiring establishment of a new session for the user.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the method further comprises:

sending from the session management server the request to access the protected resource on behalf of the user after receiving the updated authentication credentials.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the method further comprises:

extracting by the session management server a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for the protected resource from the request to access the protected resource; and

performing a lookup operation based on the extracted URI to obtain the first type of authentication context.