JWT (JSON Web Token) is generally signed and not encrypted by default.

The primary
purpose of JWT is to verify the authenticity of the information it carries (by
validating the signature) and not to hide the content. However, there are cases
where the payload can be encrypted using an encryption algorithm (like JWE - JSON
Web Encryption).
If you're looking to decrypt a JWT token, it's important to know whether it's
signed (typical JWT use case) or encrypted (less common use case).
1. Decryption of Signed JWT (Verification)
The standard JWT, which is signed using algorithms like HS256 (HMAC) or RS256
(RSA), cannot be "decrypted" in the traditional sense because the payload is not
encrypted, it's just encoded. The payload and header are Base64 URL encoded and are
readable once decoded, but they are signed, and the purpose is to verify their
integrity rather than to encrypt/decrypt.
To decode and verify a signed JWT, you do not need to decrypt the payload, but you
need to verify the signature.
Steps to decode and verify a JWT token:
1. Split the JWT: A JWT token consists of three parts:
○ Header: Encoded in Base64 URL.
○ Payload: Encoded in Base64 URL.
○ Signature: Used to verify the integrity of the token.
Example JWT token:

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<header>.<payload>.<signature>
2. Base64 URL decode the header and payload to get the original JSON data:
○ The header typically contains information about the signing algorithm
used (e.g., HS256 or RS256).
○ The payload contains the claims, like user data, expiration, etc.
3. Verify the signature: To ensure the JWT's integrity, you must verify the
signature using the signing key (either a shared secret in case of HS256 or a
public key in case of RS256).
○ For HS256: You need the shared secret.
○ For RS256: You need the public key to verify the JWT's signature.
If the signature is valid, the data is intact; otherwise, it means the JWT was
tampered with.
Here's an example using Java to decode and verify a JWT using HS256 (HMAC)
algorithm.
Example: Decoding and Verifying JWT in Java (HS256)
To verify the JWT, you can use a library like jjwt (JSON Web Token for Java).
Maven Dependency for jjwt:

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<dependency>
<groupId>io.jsonwebtoken</groupId>
<artifactId>jjwt</artifactId>
<version>0.11.5</version>
</dependency>
Code Example for Decoding and Verifying a JWT:

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import io.jsonwebtoken.Jwts;
import io.jsonwebtoken.SignatureAlgorithm;
import io.jsonwebtoken.Claims;
public class JWTExample {
private static final String SECRET_KEY = "your-256-bit-secret"; // Shared
secret key
 public static void main(String[] args) {
// Example JWT (replace with your JWT)
String token = "your.jwt.token";
try {
// Parse the JWT and verify its signature using the shared secret
Claims claims = Jwts.parser()
.setSigningKey(SECRET_KEY)
.parseClaimsJws(token)
.getBody();

// Accessing the claims (payload)

} catch (Exception e) {
System.out.println("Invalid or expired token.");
}
}
}
In the above code:
• setSigningKey(SECRET_KEY) is used to specify the shared secret that was
used to sign the JWT.
• The method parseClaimsJws(token) decodes the JWT and verifies the
signature.
• The payload (claims) can be extracted using getBody().
2. Decrypting Encrypted JWT (JWE)
If the JWT is encrypted (not just signed), it follows the JWE (JSON Web Encryption)
standard. In this case, the payload is encrypted, and you would need to decrypt it
using the appropriate private key or decryption key, depending on the algorithm
used.
The typical structure of a JWE is:

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<header>.<encrypted-key>.<iv>.<ciphertext>.<tag>
Steps for Decrypting a JWE (Encrypted JWT):
1. Decode the JWT into its parts: header, encrypted key, IV (Initialization
Vector), ciphertext, and tag.
2. Decrypt the encrypted key using the appropriate private key (if using
asymmetric encryption like RSA).
3. Decrypt the ciphertext using the decrypted key and the IV (Initialization
Vector).
4. Parse the decrypted payload to extract the claims.
Here's an example of how you might decrypt a JWE using Java with an appropriate
library like Nimbus JOSE + JWT.
Example using Nimbus JOSE + JWT for JWE Decryption:
You would need to include the following dependency in your Maven project:

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<dependency>
<groupId>com.nimbusds</groupId>
<artifactId>nimbus-jose-jwt</artifactId>
<version>9.1.1</version>
</dependency>
Example code for decrypting a JWE:
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import com.nimbusds.jose.*;
import com.nimbusds.jose.crypto.RSADecrypter;
import com.nimbusds.jwt.JWTClaimsSet;
import java.security.interfaces.RSAPrivateKey;
import java.text.ParseException;
public class JWEExample {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
String jweString = "your.encrypted.jwt";
// Load your private key (RSA, for example)
RSAPrivateKey privateKey = loadPrivateKey();
// Decrypt the JWE token using the RSA private key
JWEObject jweObject = JWEObject.parse(jweString);
RSADecrypter decrypter = new RSADecrypter(privateKey);
jweObject.decrypt(decrypter);
// Get the JWT claims after decryption
JWTClaimsSet claims =
JWTClaimsSet.parse(jweObject.getPayload().toString());
System.out.println("Subject: " + claims.getSubject());
System.out.println("Issuer: " + claims.getIssuer());
}
private static RSAPrivateKey loadPrivateKey() {
// Load and return your RSA private key (example: from a file or keystore)
return null;
}
}
Key Differences Between Signed and Encrypted JWT:
• Signed JWT (JWS): The JWT's payload is not encrypted, but it is signed to
verify its integrity. Anyone with the token can read its content, but the signature
ensures that the data hasn't been tampered with.
• Encrypted JWT (JWE): The JWT's payload is encrypted, so only authorized
parties with the decryption key can read the payload.
Summary:
• Decrypting a signed JWT is not necessary; instead, you verify the signature
using the secret or public key.
• Decryption of encrypted JWT (JWE) requires using the appropriate decryption
key or private key.
• In most typical use cases, JWTs are signed, not encrypted, and you verify
the signature rather than decrypting the payload.
Let me know if you need more information about a specific part!