Storing passwords in module config

[teppo]

I'm having problems with password inputs within module config:

First of all, it seems that simply inserting a Password inputfield and storing it's data isn't enough; everything seems to work fine, but password gets stored as plain text, which is obviously not a good idea. I could of course apply some custom logic here, but IMHO that shouldn't really be necessary (and it would most likely just create new security problems in the long run); am I missing something or is this a real problem?

Another thing is that within module config password input get saved each time module settings are saved, which doesn't seem like correct behavior; shouldn't these only get saved when value has changed? Current behavior forces user to re-insert her password each time module config is saved (this actually applies to other inputs also, though this is probably the only situation where it causes problems.)

I thought this latter problem could be avoided by setting password input value, but that doesn't seem to work either.. value is cleared at some later point, before input is rendered.

So, what am I doing wrong here and any ideas how to fix it?

[Soma]

Password field is not made for uae like this. Module config stores json array. But password needs to be a field on a page as it stores pass and salt. Also when using like you do you only use the inputfield and not the fieldtype which encrypts the data. You may consider using a page to store.

[teppo]

Password field is not made for uae like this. Module config stores json array. But password needs to be a field on a page as it stores pass and salt. Also when using like you do you only use the inputfield and not the fieldtype which encrypts the data. You may consider using a page to store.

Thanks, @Soma. You're probably right here (as always.)

Still having to create a special configuration page just because one module setting happens to be a password seems more than a bit awkward. I don't really see the connection between JSON and plain text; there's nothing wrong with storing a hash within JSON and I'm sure it could be done without clashing with "real" values -- especially considering that certain names are already "reserved" (anything starting with "_" won't get saved.)

[Soma]

You could also add a password field to the admin template.

[teppo]

Altering admin template would probably be fine if I planned this module only for my own use, but since that's not the case here it simply doesn't feel right

I'll probably take the custom page route here. Doesn't feel right and requires reinventing some things that default module config has already solved, but I don't really see any other options.

[teppo]

Actually, there's one huge problem with my approach, which I only just realized (writing things up somewhere tends to help thinking process, should do that more often.)

In this case I need to know what that password is in order to use it for authentication with external service. Problem is that this pretty much forces me to write it somewhere in plain text or ask it every time connections to said service are made. Unless I'm missing something important here, that is.

So essentially module config storing password in plain text isn't really the problem here -- storing it securely but still using it this way is. Ideas, anyone? How do you usually solve this kind of problem.. or do you just avoid it?

Edit: taking a quick look at some related questions at Stack Overflow, I'm starting to think that encrypting the passwords stored in database and storing key either within module code or (probably as an alternative option) in a file within module directory might provide slightly improved security.

Still the real problem is that password is even required here.. and sadly that's something I have absolutely no way to bypass.

Edited April 27, 2013 by teppo

[ryan]

Since the password has to be retained to send to the service at runtime, there's not much point in trying to hash it. And if you encrypt it, who are you ultimately trying to prevent from seeing it? I suppose it depends on what the password is ultimately used for. But I don't think you should try to over think it too much because we're talking about one password for [presumably] a non-critical service… not a database of passwords for multiple users that are likely spread out over multiple services. The problems from storing passwords in plain text or loosely hashed become real when you are dealing with user accounts at some scale beyond yourself. But in your case, in order for someone to get to that single password, they will have had to already compromised the system and broken into the database. So long as you aren't building a banking application or something high security, I think it's reasonable to just store the single password in the module config? After all, the database password itself is ultimately in plain text on all web servers too. But it is secure enough for all of us to trust our sites to. 

If you find that the password you need to store really is something that needs more security than the database itself, let me know and I may be able to suggest a couple things.

As for the inputfield, try using InputfieldText with ->attr('type', 'password'); rather than InputfieldPassword. InputfieldPassword assumes that the password is not reversible, so it doesn't attempt to re-populate the field with it.