In real-life applications with User authentication functionality, storing the user passwords as the original string in the database is not practical. Still, it is good practice to hash the password and then store them in the database. Crypto module for Node JS helps developers to hash user passwords.
Examples:
Original Password : portalforgeeks Hashed Password : bbf13ae4db87d475ca0ee5f97e397248a23509fc10c82f 1e3cf110b352c3ca6cc057955ace9d541573929cd7a74a 280a02e8cb549136b43df7704caaa555b38a
Password Hashing with Crypto module:
To demonstrate the use of the Crypto module, we can create a simple login and signup API and test it using Postman. We will use two functions:
- crypto.randomBytes(“length”): generates cryptographically strong data of given “length”.
- crypto.pbkdf2Sync(“password”, “salt”, “iterations”, “length”, “digest”): hashes “password” with “salt” with a number of iterations equal to given “iterations” (More iterations means more secure key) and uses algorithm given in “digest” and generates key of length equal to given “length”.
Project Dependencies:
- node JS: For Backend Server.
- express module for creating the server.
- mongoose module for MongoDB connection and queries.
- Crypto module for hashing.
- body-parser for parsing JSON data.
Let’s develop a simple nodejs server:
Step 1: Create a project folder
Step 2: Create package.json
Package.json will be created by typing the following command in the terminal or command prompt:
npm init -y
Project Directory:
hashApp --model ----user.js --route ----user.js --server.js
Create model/user.js file which defines user schema
// Importing modulesconst mongoose = require('mongoose');
const crypto = require('crypto');
// Creating user schemaconst UserSchema = mongoose.Schema({ name: {
type: String,
required: true
},
email: {
type: String,
required: true
},
hash: String,
salt: String
});// Method to set salt and hash the password for a user// setPassword method first creates a salt unique for every user// then it hashes the salt with user password and creates a hash// this hash is stored in the database as user passwordUserSchema.methods.setPassword = function (password) {
// Creating a unique salt for a particular user
this.salt = crypto.randomBytes(16).toString('hex');
// Hashing user's salt and password with 1000 iterations,
64 length and sha512 digest
this.hash = crypto.pbkdf2Sync(password, this.salt,
1000, 64, `sha512`).toString(`hex`);
};// Method to check the entered password is correct or not// valid password method checks whether the user// password is correct or not// It takes the user password from the request // and salt from user database entry// It then hashes user password and salt// then checks if this generated hash is equal// to user's hash in the database or not// If the user's hash is equal to generated hash // then the password is correct otherwise notUserSchema.methods.validPassword = function (password) {
var .hash = crypto.pbkdf2Sync(password,
this.salt, 1000, 64, `sha512`).toString(`hex`);
return this.hash === hash;
};// Exporting module to allow it to be imported in other filesconst User = module.exports = mongoose.model('User', UserSchema); |
Create route/user.js file :
// Importing modulesconst express = require('express');
const router = express.Router();// Importing User Schemaconst User = require('../model/user');
// User login apirouter.post('/login', (req, res) => {
// Find user with requested email
User.findOne({ email: req.body.email }, function (err, user) {
if (user === null) {
return res.status(400).send({
message: "User not found.";
});
}
else {
if (user.validPassword(req.body.password)) {
return res.status(201).send({
message: "User Logged In";,
})
}
else {
return res.status(400).send({
message: "Wrong Password";
});
}
}
});
});// User signup apirouter.post('/signup', (req, res, next) => {
// Creating empty user object
let newUser = new User();
// Initialize newUser object with request data
newUser.name = req.body.name,
newUser.email = req.body.email
// Call setPassword function to hash password
newUser.setPassword(req.body.password);
// Save newUser object to database
newUser.save((err, User) => {
if (err) {
return res.status(400).send({
message: "Failed to add user."
});
}
else {
return res.status(201).send({
message: "User added successfully."
});
}
});
});// Export module to allow it to be imported in other filesmodule.exports = router; |
Create server.js file :
// Importing modulesconst express = require('express');
const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const bodyparser = require('body-parser');
// Initialize express appconst app = express();// Mongodb connection url// Connect to MongoDBmongoose.connect(MONGODB_URI);mongoose.connection.on('connected', () => {
console.log('Connected to MongoDB @ 27017');
});// Using bodyparser to parse json dataapp.use(bodyparser.json());// Importing routesconst user = require('./route/user');
// Use user route when url matches /api/user/app.use('/api/user', user);
// Creating serverconst port = 3000;app.listen(port, () => { console.log("Server running at port:" + port);
}); |
Run the server.js file using the command node server.js from the hashApp directory
node server.js
If you have nodemon installed in your system then it can also be done by using the following link:
nodemon server.js
Open Postman and create a post request to localhost:3000/api/user/signup as below:
User data is stored in the database as below:
{
"_id": {
"$oid": "5ab71ef2afb6db0148052f6f"
},
"name": "geeksforgeeks",
"email": "geek@geeksforgeeks.org",
"salt": "ddee18ef6a6804fbb919b25f790005e3",
"hash": "bbf13ae4db87d475ca0ee5f97e397248a23509fc10c82f1e3cf110
b352c3ca6cc057955ace9d541573929cd7a74a280a02e8cb549136b43df7704caaa555b38a",
"__v": 0
}From Postman create a post request to localhost:3000/api/user/login as below:
You will get the response below:
Applications:
- Hashing password is necessary for practical application.
- Crypto module makes hashing easy to implement.
- Hashing passwords ensures user privacy.
References:
- https://nodejs.org/api/crypto.html
- https://nodejs.org/api/crypto.html#crypto_crypto_pbkdf2_password_salt_iterations_keylen_digest_callback