hi mr.freeze,

I believe this is not secure....
The entire purpose of storing hashes of password is to protect against
database exploitation.
If some part of your db is publicly revealed, it doesn't mean that
passwords are revealed (because hash functions are "one way
functions").

In your proposition here, it seems to me you will allow anyone with
access to the hashed password to authenticate correctly: the password
hash becomes the password which you are now storing in cleartext in
the database.

If it actually solves your "secure authentication" problem, it goes
back to "secure password storage" problem.

As mentioned by Massimo here under, it is similar to assuming that
server does not store password already hashed.


I believe you are aware of this but I though I mention it for the
record! ;-)



On Sep 30, 3:10 am, "mr.freeze" <nat...@freezable.com> wrote:
> Perhaps I misunderstand.  Here is my plan:  When the login page is
> requested, the server will generate a random token, store it somewhere
> (session most likely) and send it to the client.  The user then enters
> their password which is hashed using the jQuery plugin.  The hashed
> password is concatenated with the token then hashed again.  The result
> is transmitted to the server.   To authenticate, the server pulls the
> password hash from the database, the hashed token from wherever it was
> stored (probably the session), concatenates them and generates a hash
> which is compared to the hash from the client.  Neither the password
> nor the password hash are ever transmitted.
>
> Does that seem secure?  The only weak spots are registration and
> password changes I think.
>
> On Sep 29, 7:43 pm, mdipierro <mdipie...@cs.depaul.edu> wrote:
>
> > Basic concepts in digital identity are message integrity, non-
> > repudiation, and confidentiality.
>
> > The point using SSH/HTTPS is that it performs a key exchange using
> > public key encryption and that critical to confidentiality (the
> > password and information cannot be stolen in transit). Public key
> > allows the two parties to agree on one encryption key without ever
> > transferring that key. After this initial exchange all communications
> > are encrypted, including the transmission of the password.
>
> > Hashing (MD5, SHA, HMAC, etc) is a critical ingredient of integrity
> > (together with encryption, it allow you to detect, if data has been
> > tampered with). Hashing does nothing to protect your password in
> > transit. You may as well send it in the clear.
>
> > That jQuery plugin does not help at all the problem of transmitting
> > the password.
>
> > There are places where you get a free ssl certificate.
>
> > Massimo
>
> > > I'm going to try this:http://plugins.jquery.com/project/sha256
>
> > > On Sep 29, 6:18 pm, mdipierro <mdipie...@cs.depaul.edu> wrote:
>
> > > > If not running over http session.secure() will prevent sessions from
> > > > working and login will not work.
>
> > > > hashing with a salt can easily be attacked.
>
> > > > Massimo
>
> > > > On Sep 29, 6:11 pm, "mr.freeze" <nat...@freezable.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > Reddit seems to send a clear text password but Digg and a few others
> > > > > seem to be hashing on the client using a token salt before sending.
> > > > > I'm too cheap to pay for a unique IP and SSL so I will try that
> > > > > first.
>
> > > > > Question: Does session.secure do anything useful when *not* running
> > > > > over https?
>
> > > > > On Sep 29, 4:50 pm, mdipierro <mdipie...@cs.depaul.edu> wrote:
>
> > > > > > I did not notice and that is bad.
>
> > > > > > If your app uses authentication you should have
>
> > > > > >      session.secure()
>
> > > > > > and use HTTPS. The latter line will not accept sessions cookies
> > > > > > without HTTPS.
>
> > > > > > Massimo
>
> > > > > > On Sep 29, 4:28 pm, "mr.freeze" <nat...@freezable.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > > > What are sites like reddit.com doing to secure their logins?
> > > > > > > Anything?  The login request goes over http according to firebug. 
> > > > > > >  I'm
> > > > > > > just wondering if my wiki site needs https for login or http is
> > > > > > > acceptable or if there is another trick I can use.
>
> > > > > > > Thanks!
> > > > > > > Nathan
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