SAML certificates explained

SAML certificates are digital certificates used within the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) protocol to establish trust and secure connections between identity providers (IdPs) and service providers (SPs). Typically based on the X.509 standard, these certificates contain a public key, a digital signature, and metadata about the certificate holder, and they are used for signing, encrypting, or decrypting SAML messages in single sign-on (SSO) flows. The article delves into the differences between signing and encryption certificates, their roles in maintaining the integrity and authenticity of SAML messages, and the common errors associated with SAML certificates, such as certificate mismatch, revocation, and incorrect key usage. It also highlights best practices for managing SAML certificates, including using separate certificates for signing and encryption, updating metadata, and choosing trusted certificate authorities for production environments. The article concludes by introducing Stytch as a solution for implementing SAML SSO in B2B SaaS applications, offering comprehensive support to mitigate potential certificate errors.