How can * be a safe hashed password? - php

Question

phpass is a widely used hashing 'framework'. While evaluating phpass' HashPassword I came across this odd method fragment.
function HashPassword($password)
{
// <snip> trying to generate a hash…
# Returning '*' on error is safe here, but would _not_ be safe
# in a crypt(3)-like function used _both_ for generating new
# hashes and for validating passwords against existing hashes.
return '*';
}
Answer: we agree this class assumes that we test our hash for equality on * as a means of validating. This is why I will wrap this class, because it's interface is not great. I expect false in case of failure.
This is the complete phpsalt class:
# Portable PHP password hashing framework.
#
# Version 0.2 / genuine.
#
# Written by Solar Designer <solar at openwall.com> in 2004-2006 and placed in
# the public domain.
#
#
#
class PasswordHash {
var $itoa64;
var $iteration_count_log2;
var $portable_hashes;
var $random_state;
function PasswordHash($iteration_count_log2, $portable_hashes)
{
$this->itoa64 = './0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz';
if ($iteration_count_log2 < 4 || $iteration_count_log2 > 31)
$iteration_count_log2 = 8;
$this->iteration_count_log2 = $iteration_count_log2;
$this->portable_hashes = $portable_hashes;
$this->random_state = microtime() . getmypid();
}
function get_random_bytes($count)
{
$output = '';
if (is_readable('/dev/urandom') &&
($fh = #fopen('/dev/urandom', 'rb'))) {
$output = fread($fh, $count);
fclose($fh);
}
if (strlen($output) < $count) {
$output = '';
for ($i = 0; $i < $count; $i += 16) {
$this->random_state =
md5(microtime() . $this->random_state);
$output .=
pack('H*', md5($this->random_state));
}
$output = substr($output, 0, $count);
}
return $output;
}
function encode64($input, $count)
{
$output = '';
$i = 0;
do {
$value = ord($input[$i++]);
$output .= $this->itoa64[$value & 0x3f];
if ($i < $count)
$value |= ord($input[$i]) << 8;
$output .= $this->itoa64[($value >> 6) & 0x3f];
if ($i++ >= $count)
break;
if ($i < $count)
$value |= ord($input[$i]) << 16;
$output .= $this->itoa64[($value >> 12) & 0x3f];
if ($i++ >= $count)
break;
$output .= $this->itoa64[($value >> 18) & 0x3f];
} while ($i < $count);
return $output;
}
function gensalt_private($input)
{
$output = '$P$';
$output .= $this->itoa64[min($this->iteration_count_log2 +
((PHP_VERSION >= '5') ? 5 : 3), 30)];
$output .= $this->encode64($input, 6);
return $output;
}
function crypt_private($password, $setting)
{
$output = '*0';
if (substr($setting, 0, 2) == $output)
$output = '*1';
if (substr($setting, 0, 3) != '$P$')
return $output;
$count_log2 = strpos($this->itoa64, $setting[3]);
if ($count_log2 < 7 || $count_log2 > 30)
return $output;
$count = 1 << $count_log2;
$salt = substr($setting, 4, 8);
if (strlen($salt) != 8)
return $output;
# We're kind of forced to use MD5 here since it's the only
# cryptographic primitive available in all versions of PHP
# currently in use. To implement our own low-level crypto
# in PHP would result in much worse performance and
# consequently in lower iteration counts and hashes that are
# quicker to crack (by non-PHP code).
if (PHP_VERSION >= '5') {
$hash = md5($salt . $password, TRUE);
do {
$hash = md5($hash . $password, TRUE);
} while (--$count);
} else {
$hash = pack('H*', md5($salt . $password));
do {
$hash = pack('H*', md5($hash . $password));
} while (--$count);
}
$output = substr($setting, 0, 12);
$output .= $this->encode64($hash, 16);
return $output;
}
function gensalt_extended($input)
{
$count_log2 = min($this->iteration_count_log2 + 8, 24);
# This should be odd to not reveal weak DES keys, and the
# maximum valid value is (2**24 - 1) which is odd anyway.
$count = (1 << $count_log2) - 1;
$output = '_';
$output .= $this->itoa64[$count & 0x3f];
$output .= $this->itoa64[($count >> 6) & 0x3f];
$output .= $this->itoa64[($count >> 12) & 0x3f];
$output .= $this->itoa64[($count >> 18) & 0x3f];
$output .= $this->encode64($input, 3);
return $output;
}
function gensalt_blowfish($input)
{
# This one needs to use a different order of characters and a
# different encoding scheme from the one in encode64() above.
# We care because the last character in our encoded string will
# only represent 2 bits. While two known implementations of
# bcrypt will happily accept and correct a salt string which
# has the 4 unused bits set to non-zero, we do not want to take
# chances and we also do not want to waste an additional byte
# of entropy.
$itoa64 = './ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789';
$output = '$2a$';
$output .= chr(ord('0') + $this->iteration_count_log2 / 10);
$output .= chr(ord('0') + $this->iteration_count_log2 % 10);
$output .= '$';
$i = 0;
do {
$c1 = ord($input[$i++]);
$output .= $itoa64[$c1 >> 2];
$c1 = ($c1 & 0x03) << 4;
if ($i >= 16) {
$output .= $itoa64[$c1];
break;
}
$c2 = ord($input[$i++]);
$c1 |= $c2 >> 4;
$output .= $itoa64[$c1];
$c1 = ($c2 & 0x0f) << 2;
$c2 = ord($input[$i++]);
$c1 |= $c2 >> 6;
$output .= $itoa64[$c1];
$output .= $itoa64[$c2 & 0x3f];
} while (1);
return $output;
}
function HashPassword($password)
{
$random = '';
if (CRYPT_BLOWFISH == 1 && !$this->portable_hashes) {
$random = $this->get_random_bytes(16);
$hash =
crypt($password, $this->gensalt_blowfish($random));
if (strlen($hash) == 60)
return $hash;
}
if (CRYPT_EXT_DES == 1 && !$this->portable_hashes) {
if (strlen($random) < 3)
$random = $this->get_random_bytes(3);
$hash =
crypt($password, $this->gensalt_extended($random));
if (strlen($hash) == 20)
return $hash;
}
if (strlen($random) < 6)
$random = $this->get_random_bytes(6);
$hash =
$this->crypt_private($password,
$this->gensalt_private($random));
if (strlen($hash) == 34)
return $hash;
# Returning '*' on error is safe here, but would _not_ be safe
# in a crypt(3)-like function used _both_ for generating new
# hashes and for validating passwords against existing hashes.
return '*';
}
function CheckPassword($password, $stored_hash)
{
$hash = $this->crypt_private($password, $stored_hash);
if ($hash[0] == '*')
$hash = crypt($password, $stored_hash);
return $hash == $stored_hash;
}
}

Answer 1

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking. The comment directly says that it returns * on an error, so it's not "a safe hashed password", it indicates that an error occurred while trying to generate the hash. Strange choice for a return value, but it is what it is.

Answer 2

The reason that * can be returned on error is that * is not a possible hash value of any password. Therefore, returning that value will make a value that is obviously not a real hash value, and can't possibly match against another hash.