--- title: Validate JWTs description: Validate JWTs in Access. image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/zt-preview.png --- > Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. [Skip to content](#%5Ftop) # Validate JWTs When Cloudflare sends a request to your origin, the request will include an [application token](https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/access-controls/applications/http-apps/authorization-cookie/application-token/) as a `Cf-Access-Jwt-Assertion` request header. Requests made through a browser will also pass the token as a `CF_Authorization` cookie. Cloudflare signs the token with a key pair unique to your account. You should validate the token with your public key to ensure that the request came from Access and not a malicious third party. We recommend validating the `Cf-Access-Jwt-Assertion` header instead of the `CF_Authorization` cookie, since the cookie is not guaranteed to be passed. ## Access signing keys The public key for the signing key pair is located at `https://.cloudflareaccess.com/cdn-cgi/access/certs`, where `` is your Cloudflare One team name. By default, Access rotates the signing key every 6 weeks. This means you will need to programmatically or manually update your keys as they rotate. Previous keys remain valid for 7 days after rotation to allow time for you to make the update. You can also manually rotate the key using the [API](https://developers.cloudflare.com/api/resources/zero%5Ftrust/subresources/access/subresources/keys/methods/rotate/). This can be done for testing or security purposes. As shown in the example below, `https://.cloudflareaccess.com/cdn-cgi/access/certs` contains two public keys: the current key used to sign all new tokens, and the previous key that has been rotated out. * `keys`: both keys in JWK format * `public_cert`: current key in PEM format * `public_certs`: both keys in PEM format ``` { "keys": [ { "kid": "1a1c3986a44ce6390be42ec772b031df8f433fdc71716db821dc0c39af3bce49", "kty": "RSA", "alg": "RS256", "use": "sig", "e": "AQAB", "n": "5PKw-...-AG7MyQ" }, { "kid": "6c3bffef71bb0a90c9cbef3b7c0d4a1c7b4b8b76b80292a623afd9dac45d1c65", "kty": "RSA", "alg": "RS256", "use": "sig", "e": "AQAB", "n": "pwVn...AA6Hw" } ], "public_cert": { "kid": "6c3bffef71bb0a90c9cbef3b7c0d4a1c7b4b8b76b80292a623afd9dac45d1c65", "cert": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- ... -----END CERTIFICATE----- " }, "public_certs": [ { "kid": "1a1c3986a44ce6390be42ec772b031df8f433fdc71716db821dc0c39af3bce49", "cert": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- ... -----END CERTIFICATE----- " }, { "kid": "6c3bffef71bb0a90c9cbef3b7c0d4a1c7b4b8b76b80292a623afd9dac45d1c65", "cert": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- ... -----END CERTIFICATE----- " } ]} ``` Avoid key rotation issues * Validate tokens using the external endpoint rather than saving the public key as a hard-coded value. * Do not fetch the current key from `public_cert`, since your origin may inadvertently read an expired value from an outdated cache. Instead, match the `kid` value in the JWT to the corresponding certificate in `public_certs`. ## Verify the JWT manually To verify the token manually: 1. Copy the JWT from the `Cf-Access-Jwt-Assertion` request header. 2. Go to [jwt.io โ†—](https://jwt.io/). 3. Select the RS256 algorithm. 4. Paste the JWT into the **Encoded** box. 5. In the **Payload** box, ensure that the `iss` field points to your team domain (`https://.cloudflareaccess.com`). `jwt.io` uses the `iss` value to fetch the public key for token validation. 6. Ensure that the page says **Signature Verified**. You can now trust that this request was sent by Access. ## Programmatic verification You can run an automated script on your origin server to validate incoming requests. The provided sample code gets the application token from a request and checks its signature against your public key. You will need to insert your own team domain and Application Audience (AUD) tag into the sample code. ### Get your AUD tag Cloudflare Access assigns a unique AUD tag to each application. The `aud` claim in the token payload specifies which application the JWT is valid for. To get the AUD tag: 1. In the [Cloudflare dashboard โ†—](https://dash.cloudflare.com/), go to **Zero Trust** \> **Access controls** \> **Applications**. 2. Select **Configure** for your application. 3. From **Additional settings**, copy the **Application Audience (AUD) Tag**. You can now paste the AUD tag into your token validation script. The AUD tag will never change unless you delete or recreate the Access application. ### Cloudflare Workers example When Cloudflare Access is in front of your [Worker](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers), your Worker still needs to validate the JWT that Cloudflare Access adds to the `Cf-Access-Jwt-Assertion` header on the incoming request. The following code will validate the JWT using the [jose NPM package โ†—](https://www.npmjs.com/package/jose): * [ JavaScript ](#tab-panel-7409) * [ TypeScript ](#tab-panel-7410) JavaScript ``` import { jwtVerify, createRemoteJWKSet } from "jose"; export default { async fetch(request, env, ctx) { // Verify the POLICY_AUD environment variable is set if (!env.POLICY_AUD) { return new Response("Missing required audience", { status: 403, headers: { "Content-Type": "text/plain" }, }); } // Get the JWT from the request headers const token = request.headers.get("cf-access-jwt-assertion"); // Check if token exists if (!token) { return new Response("Missing required CF Access JWT", { status: 403, headers: { "Content-Type": "text/plain" }, }); } try { // Create JWKS from your team domain const JWKS = createRemoteJWKSet( new URL(`${env.TEAM_DOMAIN}/cdn-cgi/access/certs`), ); // Verify the JWT const { payload } = await jwtVerify(token, JWKS, { issuer: env.TEAM_DOMAIN, audience: env.POLICY_AUD, }); // Token is valid, proceed with your application logic return new Response(`Hello ${payload.email || "authenticated user"}!`, { headers: { "Content-Type": "text/plain" }, }); } catch (error) { // Token verification failed const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unknown error"; return new Response(`Invalid token: ${message}`, { status: 403, headers: { "Content-Type": "text/plain" }, }); } },}; ``` TypeScript ``` import { jwtVerify, createRemoteJWKSet } from "jose"; interface Env { POLICY_AUD: string; TEAM_DOMAIN: string;} export default { async fetch(request: Request, env: Env, ctx: ExecutionContext): Promise { // Verify the POLICY_AUD environment variable is set if (!env.POLICY_AUD) { return new Response("Missing required audience", { status: 403, headers: { "Content-Type": "text/plain" }, }); } // Get the JWT from the request headers const token = request.headers.get("cf-access-jwt-assertion"); // Check if token exists if (!token) { return new Response("Missing required CF Access JWT", { status: 403, headers: { "Content-Type": "text/plain" }, }); } try { // Create JWKS from your team domain const JWKS = createRemoteJWKSet( new URL(`${env.TEAM_DOMAIN}/cdn-cgi/access/certs`) ); // Verify the JWT const { payload } = await jwtVerify(token, JWKS, { issuer: env.TEAM_DOMAIN, audience: env.POLICY_AUD, }); // Token is valid, proceed with your application logic return new Response( `Hello ${payload.email || "authenticated user"}!`, { headers: { "Content-Type": "text/plain" }, } ); } catch (error) { // Token verification failed const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unknown error"; return new Response(`Invalid token: ${message}`, { status: 403, headers: { "Content-Type": "text/plain" }, }); } },}; ``` #### Required environment variables Add these [environment variables](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/configuration/environment-variables/) to your Worker: * `POLICY_AUD`: Your application's [AUD tag](#get-your-aud-tag) * `TEAM_DOMAIN`: `https://.cloudflareaccess.com`, where `` is replaced with your actual team name. You can set these variables by adding them to your Worker's [Wrangler configuration file](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/wrangler/configuration/), or via the Cloudflare dashboard under **Workers & Pages** \> **your-worker** \> **Settings** \> **Environment Variables**. ### Golang example ``` package main import ( "context" "fmt" "net/http" "github.com/coreos/go-oidc/v3/oidc") var ( ctx = context.TODO() teamDomain = "https://test.cloudflareaccess.com" certsURL = fmt.Sprintf("%s/cdn-cgi/access/certs", teamDomain) // The Application Audience (AUD) tag for your application policyAUD = "4714c1358e65fe4b408ad6d432a5f878f08194bdb4752441fd56faefa9b2b6f2" config = &oidc.Config{ ClientID: policyAUD, } keySet = oidc.NewRemoteKeySet(ctx, certsURL) verifier = oidc.NewVerifier(teamDomain, keySet, config)) // VerifyToken is a middleware to verify a CF Access tokenfunc VerifyToken(next http.Handler) http.Handler { fn := func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { headers := r.Header // Make sure that the incoming request has our token header // Could also look in the cookies for CF_AUTHORIZATION accessJWT := headers.Get("Cf-Access-Jwt-Assertion") if accessJWT == "" { w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized) w.Write([]byte("No token on the request")) return } // Verify the access token ctx := r.Context() _, err := verifier.Verify(ctx, accessJWT) if err != nil { w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized) w.Write([]byte(fmt.Sprintf("Invalid token: %s", err.Error()))) return } next.ServeHTTP(w, r) } return http.HandlerFunc(fn)} func MainHandler() http.Handler { return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { w.Write([]byte("welcome")) })} func main() { http.Handle("/", VerifyToken(MainHandler())) http.ListenAndServe(":3000", nil)} ``` ### Python example `pip` install the following: * flask * requests * PyJWT * cryptography Python ``` from flask import Flask, requestimport requestsimport jwtimport jsonimport osapp = Flask(__name__) # The Application Audience (AUD) tag for your applicationPOLICY_AUD = os.getenv("POLICY_AUD") # Your CF Access team domainTEAM_DOMAIN = os.getenv("TEAM_DOMAIN")CERTS_URL = "{}/cdn-cgi/access/certs".format(TEAM_DOMAIN) def _get_public_keys(): """ Returns: List of RSA public keys usable by PyJWT. """ r = requests.get(CERTS_URL) public_keys = [] jwk_set = r.json() for key_dict in jwk_set['keys']: public_key = jwt.algorithms.RSAAlgorithm.from_jwk(json.dumps(key_dict)) public_keys.append(public_key) return public_keys def verify_token(f): """ Decorator that wraps a Flask API call to verify the CF Access JWT """ def wrapper(): # Check for the POLICY_AUD environment variable if not POLICY_AUD: return "missing required audience", 403 token = '' if 'CF_Authorization' in request.cookies: token = request.cookies['CF_Authorization'] else: return "missing required cf authorization token", 403 keys = _get_public_keys() # Loop through the keys since we can't pass the key set to the decoder valid_token = False for key in keys: try: # decode returns the claims that has the email when needed jwt.decode(token, key=key, audience=POLICY_AUD, algorithms=['RS256']) valid_token = True break except: pass if not valid_token: return "invalid token", 403 return f() return wrapper @app.route('/')@verify_tokendef hello_world(): return 'Hello, World!' if __name__ == '__main__': app.run() ``` ### JavaScript (Node.js) example JavaScript ``` const express = require("express");const jose = require("jose"); // The Application Audience (AUD) tag for your applicationconst AUD = process.env.POLICY_AUD; // Your CF Access team domainconst TEAM_DOMAIN = process.env.TEAM_DOMAIN;const CERTS_URL = `${TEAM_DOMAIN}/cdn-cgi/access/certs`; const JWKS = jose.createRemoteJWKSet(new URL(CERTS_URL)); // verifyToken is a middleware to verify a CF authorization tokenconst verifyToken = async (req, res, next) => { // Check for the AUD environment variable if (!AUD) { return res.status(403).send({ status: false, message: "missing required audience", }); } const token = req.headers["cf-access-jwt-assertion"]; // Make sure that the incoming request has our token header if (!token) { return res.status(403).send({ status: false, message: "missing required cf authorization token", }); } try { const result = await jose.jwtVerify(token, JWKS, { issuer: TEAM_DOMAIN, audience: AUD, }); req.user = result.payload; next(); } catch (err) { return res.status(403).send({ status: false, message: "invalid token", }); }}; const app = express(); app.use(verifyToken); app.get("/", (req, res) => { res.send("Hello World!");}); app.listen(3333); ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","@id":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/access-controls/applications/http-apps/authorization-cookie/validating-json/#page","headline":"Validate JWTs ยท Cloudflare One docs","description":"Validate JWTs in Access.","url":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/access-controls/applications/http-apps/authorization-cookie/validating-json/","inLanguage":"en","image":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/zt-preview.png","dateModified":"2026-05-06","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Cloudflare","url":"https://www.cloudflare.com/"},"isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/#website","name":"Cloudflare Docs","url":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/"},"keywords":["JSON web token (JWT)"]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/directory/","name":"Directory"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/cloudflare-one/","name":"Cloudflare One"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"/cloudflare-one/access-controls/","name":"Access controls"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@id":"/cloudflare-one/access-controls/applications/","name":"Applications"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@id":"/cloudflare-one/access-controls/applications/http-apps/","name":"Add web applications"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"item":{"@id":"/cloudflare-one/access-controls/applications/http-apps/authorization-cookie/","name":"Authorization cookie"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":7,"item":{"@id":"/cloudflare-one/access-controls/applications/http-apps/authorization-cookie/validating-json/","name":"Validate JWTs"}}]} ```