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password policy

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  • V Offline
    V Offline
    V 0
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    So we have a new password policy here at work and one of the rules is you cannot change it into something that is too similar to the previous one. Question: How is that determined since the hashing value should change significantly if you change just one letter ?

    V.

    (MQOTD rules and previous solutions)

    F L S M R 12 Replies Last reply
    0
    • V V 0

      So we have a new password policy here at work and one of the rules is you cannot change it into something that is too similar to the previous one. Question: How is that determined since the hashing value should change significantly if you change just one letter ?

      V.

      (MQOTD rules and previous solutions)

      F Offline
      F Offline
      F ES Sitecore
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      When resetting your password you usually need to enter your existing password so the code has both and can compare. If you're not asking for the existing password then the system either stores passwords in plain text or in encrypted form.

      V R 2 Replies Last reply
      0
      • F F ES Sitecore

        When resetting your password you usually need to enter your existing password so the code has both and can compare. If you're not asking for the existing password then the system either stores passwords in plain text or in encrypted form.

        V Offline
        V Offline
        V 0
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        Well, we don't need to re-enter the old password and assuming it does not save it in clear text, how is it comparing the old (encrypted) password to the new (encrypted) one? example: OLD password text: god_123 encryped: &#HDSW NEW password text: god_124 encrypted: )#@^Y@ it should not save the text version and it should not be able to compare the encrypted version, right? [EDIT]We are "logged in" though, (LDAP), but I'm assuming, equally, the password is not saved in memory either...[/EDIT]

        V.

        (MQOTD rules and previous solutions)

        J F Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK J D 8 Replies Last reply
        0
        • V V 0

          Well, we don't need to re-enter the old password and assuming it does not save it in clear text, how is it comparing the old (encrypted) password to the new (encrypted) one? example: OLD password text: god_123 encryped: &#HDSW NEW password text: god_124 encrypted: )#@^Y@ it should not save the text version and it should not be able to compare the encrypted version, right? [EDIT]We are "logged in" though, (LDAP), but I'm assuming, equally, the password is not saved in memory either...[/EDIT]

          V.

          (MQOTD rules and previous solutions)

          J Offline
          J Offline
          Johnny J
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          Your questions sound a bit fishy... Are you sure you're not trying get us to help you crack the system??? ;)

          Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
          Anonymous
          -----
          The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
          Winston Churchill, 1944
          -----
          I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
          Me, all the time

          V 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • J Johnny J

            Your questions sound a bit fishy... Are you sure you're not trying get us to help you crack the system??? ;)

            Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
            Anonymous
            -----
            The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
            Winston Churchill, 1944
            -----
            I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
            Me, all the time

            V Offline
            V Offline
            V 0
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            :laugh: Ha ha, no. They had an attack here at work last year and since then we're forced to use increased security policies, but we're doubting the effect of some of the measures...

            V.

            (MQOTD rules and previous solutions)

            P 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • V V 0

              Well, we don't need to re-enter the old password and assuming it does not save it in clear text, how is it comparing the old (encrypted) password to the new (encrypted) one? example: OLD password text: god_123 encryped: &#HDSW NEW password text: god_124 encrypted: )#@^Y@ it should not save the text version and it should not be able to compare the encrypted version, right? [EDIT]We are "logged in" though, (LDAP), but I'm assuming, equally, the password is not saved in memory either...[/EDIT]

              V.

              (MQOTD rules and previous solutions)

              F Offline
              F Offline
              F ES Sitecore
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              V. wrote:

              how is it comparing the old (encrypted) password to the new (encrypted) one?

              It decrypts it first, encryption is two-way. So it takes "&#HDSW" from the database as your old password and decrypts it to "god_123". It then compares that to the new password you've entered.

              Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK K 2 Replies Last reply
              0
              • V V 0

                Well, we don't need to re-enter the old password and assuming it does not save it in clear text, how is it comparing the old (encrypted) password to the new (encrypted) one? example: OLD password text: god_123 encryped: &#HDSW NEW password text: god_124 encrypted: )#@^Y@ it should not save the text version and it should not be able to compare the encrypted version, right? [EDIT]We are "logged in" though, (LDAP), but I'm assuming, equally, the password is not saved in memory either...[/EDIT]

                V.

                (MQOTD rules and previous solutions)

                Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                LDAP has no password policy option for similarity, so it is probably an overlay and it may DO store the password in some comparable form...

                Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

                D 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • V V 0

                  So we have a new password policy here at work and one of the rules is you cannot change it into something that is too similar to the previous one. Question: How is that determined since the hashing value should change significantly if you change just one letter ?

                  V.

                  (MQOTD rules and previous solutions)

                  L Offline
                  L Offline
                  Lost User
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  Had the same system at my last employer, and I doubted then that it was as secure as they thought. But hey ho, IT department were the experts, and did not like being challenged.

                  D Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK V 3 Replies Last reply
                  0
                  • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                    LDAP has no password policy option for similarity, so it is probably an overlay and it may DO store the password in some comparable form...

                    Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                    D Offline
                    D Offline
                    den2k88
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    To compare similarity between passwords means that the comparable form must be 1:1 with the plain text form, so basically a weak character-by-character encription. Scary.

                    GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver When I was six, there were no ones and zeroes - only zeroes. And not all of them worked. -- Ravi Bhavnani

                    J 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • F F ES Sitecore

                      V. wrote:

                      how is it comparing the old (encrypted) password to the new (encrypted) one?

                      It decrypts it first, encryption is two-way. So it takes "&#HDSW" from the database as your old password and decrypts it to "god_123". It then compares that to the new password you've entered.

                      Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                      Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                      Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      LDAP stores password in history using HASH, no two way encryption there... The only password may be stored as cleartext is the current one...

                      Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                      "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

                      M F 2 Replies Last reply
                      0
                      • L Lost User

                        Had the same system at my last employer, and I doubted then that it was as secure as they thought. But hey ho, IT department were the experts, and did not like being challenged.

                        D Offline
                        D Offline
                        den2k88
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        Richard MacCutchan wrote:

                        and did not like being challenged

                        Apparently they enjoyed it so much :-\

                        GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver When I was six, there were no ones and zeroes - only zeroes. And not all of them worked. -- Ravi Bhavnani

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • D den2k88

                          To compare similarity between passwords means that the comparable form must be 1:1 with the plain text form, so basically a weak character-by-character encription. Scary.

                          GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver When I was six, there were no ones and zeroes - only zeroes. And not all of them worked. -- Ravi Bhavnani

                          J Offline
                          J Offline
                          Johnny J
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          Couldn't it depend on the encryption? I haven't tested it, but if you encrypt two very similar passwords using the same algoritm, could it be possible that the two encrypted passwords also were quite similar (and perhaps even comparable)? :confused:

                          Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
                          Anonymous
                          -----
                          The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
                          Winston Churchill, 1944
                          -----
                          I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
                          Me, all the time

                          Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK D 2 Replies Last reply
                          0
                          • L Lost User

                            Had the same system at my last employer, and I doubted then that it was as secure as they thought. But hey ho, IT department were the experts, and did not like being challenged.

                            Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                            Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                            Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            Richard MacCutchan wrote:

                            and did not like being challenged

                            Most of the 'challenged' people get angry when challenged...

                            Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                            "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

                            R 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • J Johnny J

                              Couldn't it depend on the encryption? I haven't tested it, but if you encrypt two very similar passwords using the same algoritm, could it be possible that the two encrypted passwords also were quite similar (and perhaps even comparable)? :confused:

                              Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
                              Anonymous
                              -----
                              The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
                              Winston Churchill, 1944
                              -----
                              I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
                              Me, all the time

                              Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                              Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                              Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              If an encryption would produce the same output for the same input it would be useless...(breakable in seconds)

                              Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                              "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

                              J 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • V V 0

                                Well, we don't need to re-enter the old password and assuming it does not save it in clear text, how is it comparing the old (encrypted) password to the new (encrypted) one? example: OLD password text: god_123 encryped: &#HDSW NEW password text: god_124 encrypted: )#@^Y@ it should not save the text version and it should not be able to compare the encrypted version, right? [EDIT]We are "logged in" though, (LDAP), but I'm assuming, equally, the password is not saved in memory either...[/EDIT]

                                V.

                                (MQOTD rules and previous solutions)

                                J Offline
                                J Offline
                                Jochen Arndt
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #15

                                From OpenLDAP Software 2.4 Administrator's Guide: Security Considerations[^]:

                                Quote:

                                LDAP passwords are normally stored in the userPassword attribute. RFC4519 specifies that passwords are not stored in encrypted (or hashed) form. This allows a wide range of password-based authentication mechanisms, such as DIGEST-MD5 to be used. This is also the most interoperable storage scheme. However, it may be desirable to store a hash of password instead.

                                V 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                                  If an encryption would produce the same output for the same input it would be useless...(breakable in seconds)

                                  Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                                  J Offline
                                  J Offline
                                  Johnny J
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #16

                                  Perhaps - just an idea... :sigh:

                                  Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
                                  Anonymous
                                  -----
                                  The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
                                  Winston Churchill, 1944
                                  -----
                                  I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
                                  Me, all the time

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • J Johnny J

                                    Couldn't it depend on the encryption? I haven't tested it, but if you encrypt two very similar passwords using the same algoritm, could it be possible that the two encrypted passwords also were quite similar (and perhaps even comparable)? :confused:

                                    Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
                                    Anonymous
                                    -----
                                    The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
                                    Winston Churchill, 1944
                                    -----
                                    I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
                                    Me, all the time

                                    D Offline
                                    D Offline
                                    den2k88
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #17

                                    To compare similarity between passwords you need to know: 1) The characters which are present in the password; 2) The sequence of such characters. Whcih amounts to knowing the password itself, even if a mangled version.

                                    GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver When I was six, there were no ones and zeroes - only zeroes. And not all of them worked. -- Ravi Bhavnani

                                    J 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • D den2k88

                                      To compare similarity between passwords you need to know: 1) The characters which are present in the password; 2) The sequence of such characters. Whcih amounts to knowing the password itself, even if a mangled version.

                                      GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver When I was six, there were no ones and zeroes - only zeroes. And not all of them worked. -- Ravi Bhavnani

                                      J Offline
                                      J Offline
                                      Johnny J
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #18

                                      Well, not necessarily. If the encryption worked like this (just an example of course): Pass1word => #¤%"AsdfY2g&Po*qQs Pass2word => #¤%"Asdf7Xg&Po*qQs it would still be comparable even encrypted... You only need to know how much that is changed - not WHAT EXACTLY is changed... :doh:

                                      Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
                                      Anonymous
                                      -----
                                      The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
                                      Winston Churchill, 1944
                                      -----
                                      I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
                                      Me, all the time

                                      R 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                                        LDAP stores password in history using HASH, no two way encryption there... The only password may be stored as cleartext is the current one...

                                        Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                                        M Offline
                                        M Offline
                                        Mark_Wallace
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #19

                                        All of my passwords at work are stored as plain text. ... In a text file named "passwords.txt" on my desktop.

                                        I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                                        Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK G 2 Replies Last reply
                                        0
                                        • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                                          LDAP stores password in history using HASH, no two way encryption there... The only password may be stored as cleartext is the current one...

                                          Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                                          F Offline
                                          F Offline
                                          F ES Sitecore
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #20

                                          He hasn't said what password system this is though.

                                          L 1 Reply Last reply
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