Is my Hash + Salt password encryption process sufficient/secure? [closed] - php

Question

Closed. This question is opinion-based. It is not currently accepting answers.
Want to improve this question? Update the question so it can be answered with facts and citations by editing this post.
Closed 7 years ago.
Improve this question
I'm using the below functions to help me create a hashed and salted password encryption. I can't using password_hash because I'm running PHP 5.3.
My process:
Generate salt
Generate hash from user created password ie ('password') and salt
Store returned value of create_hash in database in password field. I could separate the salt and hash into two separate fields in the db, but I'm not sure there's a need security wise because if access to my database was gained, access to both the fields would be available and no more secure than storing the 4 component string returned by create_hash, correct?
When user tries to log in, compare the password they enter into the form to the value stored in the database using the validate_password function and if that passes generate a session
Prevent any kind of brute force attack by limiting login attempts to 10 per session? Is this necessary/good practice?
Code:
<?php
/*
* Password Hashing With PBKDF2 (http://crackstation.net/hashing-security.htm).
* Copyright (c) 2013, Taylor Hornby
* All rights reserved.
*
* Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
* modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
*
* 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
* this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
*
* 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
* this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
* and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
*
* THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
* AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
* IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
* ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
* LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
* CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
* SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
* INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
* CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
* ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
* POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
*/
// These constants may be changed without breaking existing hashes.
define("PBKDF2_HASH_ALGORITHM", "sha256");
define("PBKDF2_ITERATIONS", 1000);
define("PBKDF2_SALT_BYTE_SIZE", 24);
define("PBKDF2_HASH_BYTE_SIZE", 24);
define("HASH_SECTIONS", 4);
define("HASH_ALGORITHM_INDEX", 0);
define("HASH_ITERATION_INDEX", 1);
define("HASH_SALT_INDEX", 2);
define("HASH_PBKDF2_INDEX", 3);
function create_salt() {
return base64_encode(mcrypt_create_iv(PBKDF2_SALT_BYTE_SIZE, MCRYPT_DEV_URANDOM));
}
function create_hash($password, $salt)
{
// format: algorithm:iterations:salt:hash
return PBKDF2_HASH_ALGORITHM . ":" . PBKDF2_ITERATIONS . ":" . $salt . ":" .
base64_encode(pbkdf2(
PBKDF2_HASH_ALGORITHM,
$password,
$salt,
PBKDF2_ITERATIONS,
PBKDF2_HASH_BYTE_SIZE,
true
));
}
function validate_password($password, $correct_hash)
{
$params = explode(":", $correct_hash);
if(count($params) < HASH_SECTIONS)
return false;
$pbkdf2 = base64_decode($params[HASH_PBKDF2_INDEX]);
return slow_equals(
$pbkdf2,
pbkdf2(
$params[HASH_ALGORITHM_INDEX],
$password,
$params[HASH_SALT_INDEX],
(int)$params[HASH_ITERATION_INDEX],
strlen($pbkdf2),
true
)
);
}
// Compares two strings $a and $b in length-constant time.
function slow_equals($a, $b)
{
$diff = strlen($a) ^ strlen($b);
for($i = 0; $i < strlen($a) && $i < strlen($b); $i++)
{
$diff |= ord($a[$i]) ^ ord($b[$i]);
}
return $diff === 0;
}
/*
* PBKDF2 key derivation function as defined by RSA's PKCS #5: https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2898.txt
* $algorithm - The hash algorithm to use. Recommended: SHA256
* $password - The password.
* $salt - A salt that is unique to the password.
* $count - Iteration count. Higher is better, but slower. Recommended: At least 1000.
* $key_length - The length of the derived key in bytes.
* $raw_output - If true, the key is returned in raw binary format. Hex encoded otherwise.
* Returns: A $key_length-byte key derived from the password and salt.
*
* Test vectors can be found here: https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc6070.txt
*
* This implementation of PBKDF2 was originally created by https://defuse.ca
* With improvements by http://www.variations-of-shadow.com
*/
function pbkdf2($algorithm, $password, $salt, $count, $key_length, $raw_output = false)
{
$algorithm = strtolower($algorithm);
if(!in_array($algorithm, hash_algos(), true))
trigger_error('PBKDF2 ERROR: Invalid hash algorithm.', E_USER_ERROR);
if($count <= 0 || $key_length <= 0)
trigger_error('PBKDF2 ERROR: Invalid parameters.', E_USER_ERROR);
if (function_exists("hash_pbkdf2")) {
// The output length is in NIBBLES (4-bits) if $raw_output is false!
if (!$raw_output) {
$key_length = $key_length * 2;
}
return hash_pbkdf2($algorithm, $password, $salt, $count, $key_length, $raw_output);
}
$hash_length = strlen(hash($algorithm, "", true));
$block_count = ceil($key_length / $hash_length);
$output = "";
for($i = 1; $i <= $block_count; $i++) {
// $i encoded as 4 bytes, big endian.
$last = $salt . pack("N", $i);
// first iteration
$last = $xorsum = hash_hmac($algorithm, $last, $password, true);
// perform the other $count - 1 iterations
for ($j = 1; $j < $count; $j++) {
$xorsum ^= ($last = hash_hmac($algorithm, $last, $password, true));
}
$output .= $xorsum;
}
if($raw_output)
return substr($output, 0, $key_length);
else
return bin2hex(substr($output, 0, $key_length));
}
?>

Answer 1

I can't using password_hash because I'm running PHP 5.3
Yes, you can. https://github.com/ircmaxell/password_compat
Barring that, you can use the same algorithm - bcrypt. How do you use bcrypt for hashing passwords in PHP?
It should also be noted that PHP 5.3 was end-of-lifed 7 months ago, making it dangerous to run in production. Chances are it contains a number of security holes, and that'll only continue to get worse. EOL means time to upgrade.