SHA1 vs md5 vs SHA256: which to use for a PHP login?

user_148389 0
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I'm making a php login, and I'm trying to decide whether to use SHA1 or Md5, or SHA256 which I read about in another stackoverflow article. Are any of them more secure than others? For SHA1/256, do I still use a salt?

Also, is this a secure way to store the password as a hash in mysql?

function createSalt()
{
    $string = md5(uniqid(rand(), true));
    return substr($string, 0, 3);
}

$salt = createSalt();

$hash = sha1($salt . $hash);
sha256 md5 sha1 authentication php
11 Answers

Neither. You should use bcrypt. The hashes you mention are all optimized to be quick and easy on hardware, and so cracking them share the same qualities. If you have no other choice, at least be sure to use a long salt and re-hash multiple times.

Using bcrypt in PHP 5.5+

PHP 5.5 offers new functions for password hashing. This is the recommend approach for password storage in modern web applications.

// Creating a hash
$hash = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT, ['cost' => 12]);
// If you omit the ['cost' => 12] part, it will default to 10

// Verifying the password against the stored hash  
if (password_verify($password, $hash)) {
    // Success! Log the user in here.
}

If you're using an older version of PHP you really should upgrade, but until you do you can use password_compat to expose this API.

Also, please let password_hash() generate the salt for you. It uses a CSPRNG.

Two caveats of bcrypt

  1. Bcrypt will silently truncate any password longer than 72 characters.
  2. Bcrypt will truncate after any NUL characters.

(Proof of Concept for both caveats here.)

You might be tempted to resolve the first caveat by pre-hashing your passwords before running them through bcrypt, but doing so can cause your application to run headfirst into the second.

Instead of writing your own scheme, use an existing library written and/or evaluated by security experts.

TL;DR - Use bcrypt.

user_2066840

Use SHA256. It is not perfect, as SHA512 would be ideal for a fast hash, but out of the options, its the definite choice. As per any hashing technology, be sure to salt the hash for added security.

As an added note, FRKT, please show me where someone can easily crack a salted SHA256 hash? I am truly very interested to see this.

Important Edit:

Moving forward please use bcrypt as a hardened hash. More information can be found here.

Edit on Salting:

Use a random number, or random byte stream etc. You can use the unique field of the record in your database as the salt too, this way the salt is different per user.

user_1033850

An md5 encryption is one of the worst, because you have to turn the code and it is already decrypted. I would recommend you the SHA256. I'm programming a bit longer and have had a good experience. Below would also be an encryption.

password_hash() example using Argon2i

<?php
echo 'Argon2i hash: ' . password_hash('rasmuslerdorf', PASSWORD_ARGON2I);
?>
The above example will output something similar to:

Argon2i hash: $argon2i$v=19$m=1024,t=2,p=2$YzJBSzV4TUhkMzc3d3laeg$zqU/1IN0/AogfP4cmSJI1vc8lpXRW9/S0sYY2i2jHT0
user_119269630
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