6 SAML Specifications
•The Core specification - this spec presents and defines the
entire SAML XML vocabulary
•The Profiles specification - this spec describes 13 interaction
profiles (e.g., Web Browser
SSO profile)
•The Bindings specification - this spec shows how to exchange SAML
documents using different
protocols (e.g., HTTP)
•The Authentication
Context specification - this spec has
25 predefined authentication contexts
(e.g., password over protected session)
•The Metadata specification - this spec gives metadata for the
identifiers that are used in SAML
exchanges.
•The Conformance specification - this spec describes the features that
are mandatory and optional
for implementations claiming conformance to SAML 2.0. For example, to be SAML 2.0 compliant an Identity Provider (IdP) and a
Service Provider (SP) must implement
the Web Browser Single Sign-on (SSO) profile. The SP must issue an AuthnRequest over the HTTP redirect binding, and perform
all processing steps associated
with the <Response>. An IdP must
be able to consume the AuthnRequest and
perform all the processing steps and issue a proper <Response> (or an
error) according to the
processing rules.