3 ms·

Confession time: i still have some apps with salted md5 hashed passwords

• thirsteh 13y ago
  You shouldn't be using any of the functions on that page directly, anyway: http://throwingfire.com/storing-passwords-securely/#notpasswordhashes http://throwingfire.com/storing-passwords-securely/#notpassw...
  • zanny 13y ago
    But it does matter, because if you can exploit a weakness in the hash function you can figure out the salt, strip it, and then use your precomputed dictionary.
    • deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
    • thirsteh 13y ago
      That's not really how it works. Either way, you shouldn't be using just a regular "hash function" anyway. Even basic constructions like PBKDF2 use HMAC constructions where SHA1 and even MD5 are still pretty safe to use (although not very computationally expensive.)
• Cyranix 13y ago
  The first step is accepting that you have a problem. Fortunately, it's fairly straightforward to fix the problem! Previous discussion of how to handle this scenario: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2689149 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2689149
• nly 13y ago
  So migrate? Hash the hashes with Bcrypt or PBKDF2. Bcrypt(MD5(password)) is just as effective as Bcrypt(password) at knocking brute force attempts on the head.
  • finnw 13y ago
    Unless the Bad Guys already have the MD5 hashes
    • Xylakant 13y ago
      Then the problem is not "I support an app that uses md5 hashes" any more. Your problem in that case is "all my users accounts were broken."
    • nly 13y ago
      Right, but you can still perform the migration I suggested and flag accounts for a password reset on next login.
• tacticus 13y ago
  I was supporting an installation with md5 unsalted passwords let us hang our heads in shame.