Nimbus JOSE + JWT

Facts and the checks behind them

Nothing below is copied from documentation. The check content/libraries/verify/nimbus-jose-jwt/run.sh ran Nimbus JOSE + JWT 10.10 in the container image maven:3.9.16-eclipse-temurin-25 on October 20, 2026; the page must match what it printed, and each fact lists those lines.

• JWS algorithms

  HS256HS384HS512RS256RS384RS512PS256PS384PS512ES256ES384ES512EdDSAEd25519

  HS, RS, PS and ES at 256/384/512, EdDSA and Ed25519 signed and verified on the JDK; ES256K and Ed448 did not round-trip with the JDK's providers.

  Recorded by the check

  fact jws-algorithms = HS256, HS384, HS512, RS256, RS384, RS512, PS256, PS384, PS512, ES256, ES384, ES512, EdDSA, Ed25519
  evidence jws-algorithms: ES256K: not round-tripped with the JDK providers
  evidence jws-algorithms: Ed448: not round-tripped with the JDK providers

• ES256 signature encoding

  raw

  ES256 signatures are 64 bytes of raw r‖s.

  Recorded by the check

  fact jws-ecdsa-encoding = raw

• DER signature inside a JWS

  rejected

  A token with a DER-encoded ES256 signature failed verification.

  Recorded by the check

  fact jws-der-signature = rejected
  evidence jws-der-signature: not verified

• Algorithm allow-list

  required

  DefaultJWTProcessor needs a key selector: without one it fails with No JWS key selector is configured, and a selector for ES256 rejected an RS256 token.

  Recorded by the check

  fact jwt-algorithm-allowlist = required
  evidence jwt-algorithm-allowlist: DefaultJWTProcessor with a JWSVerificationKeySelector for ES256, RS256 token: BadJOSEException: Signed JWT rejected: Another algorithm expected, or no matching key(s) found
  evidence jwt-algorithm-allowlist: DefaultJWTProcessor without a key selector: BadJOSEException: Signed JWT rejected: No JWS key selector is configured

• Unsigned tokens (alg none)

  rejected

  The processor rejects unsigned tokens with Unsecured (plain) JWTs are rejected, extend class to handle.

  Recorded by the check

  fact jwt-alg-none = rejected
  evidence jwt-alg-none: DefaultJWTProcessor: BadJOSEException: Unsecured (plain) JWTs are rejected, extend class to handle
  evidence jwt-alg-none: SignedJWT.parse: ParseException: Invalid JWS header: Not a JWS header

• Public key used as an HMAC secret

  rejected

  An HS256 token keyed with the PEM text was rejected by the processor configured for ES256, but a MACVerifier built from that PEM text by hand verified it.

  Recorded by the check

  fact jwt-hmac-public-key = rejected
  evidence jwt-hmac-public-key: DefaultJWTProcessor with the ES256 key selector: BadJOSEException: Signed JWT rejected: Another algorithm expected, or no matching key(s) found
  evidence jwt-hmac-public-key: a MACVerifier built from the PEM text by hand: verified

• Curve checked against alg

  enforced

  Signing ES256 with a P-384 key fails with The ES256 algorithm is not allowed or supported by the JWS signer: Supported algorithms: [ES384].

  Recorded by the check

  fact jwt-ecdsa-curve-check = enforced
  evidence jwt-ecdsa-curve-check: JOSEException: The ES256 algorithm is not allowed or supported by the JWS signer: Supported algorithms: [ES384]

• Default clock skew

  60s

  DefaultJWTClaimsVerifier allows 60 seconds (DEFAULT_MAX_CLOCK_SKEW_SECONDS).

  Recorded by the check

  fact jwt-clock-skew = 60s
  evidence jwt-clock-skew: DefaultJWTClaimsVerifier.DEFAULT_MAX_CLOCK_SKEW_SECONDS = 60

• Expiry claim required

  no

  A token without exp passed the default claims verifier; listing exp as required made it fail with JWT missing required claims: [exp].

  Recorded by the check

  fact jwt-exp-required = no
  evidence jwt-exp-required: with DefaultJWTClaimsVerifier requiring exp: BadJWTException: JWT missing required claims: [exp]

• Ed25519 without Google Tink

  fails

  Without Google Tink on the classpath, signing with Ed25519Signer failed with NoClassDefFoundError: com/google/crypto/tink/subtle/Ed25519Sign$KeyPair.

  Recorded by the check

  fact ed25519-without-tink = fails
  evidence ed25519-without-tink: NoClassDefFoundError: com/google/crypto/tink/subtle/Ed25519Sign$KeyPair

Usage

import com.nimbusds.jose.*;
import com.nimbusds.jose.crypto.ECDSASigner;
import com.nimbusds.jose.jwk.*;
import com.nimbusds.jose.jwk.gen.ECKeyGenerator;
import com.nimbusds.jose.jwk.source.ImmutableJWKSet;
import com.nimbusds.jose.proc.*;
import com.nimbusds.jwt.*;
import com.nimbusds.jwt.proc.*;
import java.util.*;

public class Usage {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        ECKey key = new ECKeyGenerator(Curve.P_256).keyID("2026-10").generate();
        JWTClaimsSet claims = new JWTClaimsSet.Builder().subject("user-42").issuer("https://auth.example.com")
            .expirationTime(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + 600_000)).build();
        SignedJWT jwt = new SignedJWT(new JWSHeader.Builder(JWSAlgorithm.ES256).keyID(key.getKeyID()).build(), claims);
        jwt.sign(new ECDSASigner(key));

        // The key selector is the algorithm allow-list; the claims verifier requires iss and exp.
        DefaultJWTProcessor<SecurityContext> processor = new DefaultJWTProcessor<>();
        processor.setJWSKeySelector(new JWSVerificationKeySelector<>(JWSAlgorithm.ES256, new ImmutableJWKSet<>(new JWKSet(key.toPublicJWK()))));
        processor.setJWTClaimsSetVerifier(new DefaultJWTClaimsVerifier<>(
            new JWTClaimsSet.Builder().issuer("https://auth.example.com").build(), new HashSet<>(List.of("sub", "exp"))));
        System.out.println("sub: " + processor.process(jwt.serialize(), null).getSubject());
    }
}