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Again, you say javascript cryptography is flawed, and then say it's a browser environment problem. Let's break this down. If the flaw is in how javascript doe

by zedshaw 16y ago

Again, you say javascript cryptography is flawed, and then say it's a browser environment problem. Let's break this down. If the flaw is in how javascript does math, then that's something Autho.me has to deal with and I'd like to know about it. If however, this is a flaw in browser environment, then all methods that use a browser are equally flawed. That includes OpenID, Oauth, SRP, and your own proposed solution of bcrypt. That's because, once I can exploit the browser environment, then I have access to anything the user submits. That's the crux of my question: If you say there's an exploit against cryptography because of javascript math then demonstrate it. If you have exploits against the browser environment, then I can't fix those and they apply to your proposed solutions. Let's take an example: An attacker can inject XSS code onto the login page and get the SRP password. Well, an attacker that can XSS the login page and get the password from your SSL/bcrypt solution. They've got access to the whole page. So, if you find demos of failed math in javascript I'd like to see those.

tptacek 16y ago
Look, I'm just not wading into this. You and I should, as much as possible, avoid arguing; because of our personality types, we're just going to end up at the nerd equivalent of pistols at dawn. You're telling people to use SSL with this. That is good. With SSL in the mix, my only real issue with AUTHO.ME is that it's a lot of moving parts for (what I think is) minimal value. You think "not having to implement bcrypt or PBKDF2" is major value. Guess what: this point is not worth a huge argument. And it's absolutely not worth a line-by-line evaluation of your crypto code, so I'm just not going to do it. If you're planning on a doing an indie two-factor auth project, that value may be less minimal. I have no coherent opinion that stuff. Good luck with it. If you do something crazy, I'll call you on it, which is I think what you want. Ignore Kaminsky, by the way. I can't imagine how using RSA instead of SRP could possibly make this safer, but I can imagine lots of ways in which it could make you much less safe.

by zedshaw 16y ago

tptacek 16y ago

Look, I'm just not wading into this. You and I should, as much as possible, avoid arguing; because of our personality types, we're just going to end up at the nerd equivalent of pistols at dawn. You're telling people to use SSL with this. That is good. With SSL in the mix, my only real issue with AUTHO.ME is that it's a lot of moving parts for (what I think is) minimal value. You think "not having to implement bcrypt or PBKDF2" is major value. Guess what: this point is not worth a huge argument. And it's absolutely not worth a line-by-line evaluation of your crypto code, so I'm just not going to do it. If you're planning on a doing an indie two-factor auth project, that value may be less minimal. I have no coherent opinion that stuff. Good luck with it. If you do something crazy, I'll call you on it, which is I think what you want. Ignore Kaminsky, by the way. I can't imagine how using RSA instead of SRP could possibly make this safer, but I can imagine lots of ways in which it could make you much less safe.