Password Reset Token Weakness Scanner
Analyzes password reset tokens for predictability and timing attacks.
What is Password Reset Token Weakness?
Password Reset Token Weakness vulnerabilities occur when reset tokens are predictable, too short, or improperly validated. Attackers can guess tokens through brute force, predict them based on patterns (timestamps, sequential IDs), or exploit timing differences to determine valid tokens.
Why is This Important?
Password reset is the ultimate fallback for account access. Weak tokens mean attackers can reset any account's password. Combined with email enumeration, this provides a complete account takeover path. Unlike password attacks, there's no limit to how many accounts can be targeted.
How It Works
1. Auth Flow Analysis
Maps authentication mechanisms including login, registration, password reset, and session management flows.
2. Security Testing
Tests for authentication bypasses, weak credentials, session flaws, and token vulnerabilities.
3. Access Verification
Validates findings by demonstrating unauthorized access or privilege escalation paths.
Key Capabilities
Comprehensive authentication security testing to protect user accounts and prevent unauthorized access.
- Complete authentication flow analysis
- Token and session security validation
- Password policy and brute-force testing
- Multi-factor authentication bypass detection
- OAuth, SAML, and JWT security assessment
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes reset tokens weak?
Issues include: short tokens (< 32 characters), predictable patterns (timestamps, MD5(email), sequential), reusable tokens, long expiration times, tokens not bound to specific requests, tokens exposed in URLs/logs, and tokens that don't properly validate the intended user.
How do attackers exploit timing attacks on tokens?
If token validation uses non-constant-time comparison, valid token prefixes take slightly longer to reject than invalid ones. By measuring response times, attackers can brute-force tokens character by character, dramatically reducing the search space.
What token entropy is recommended?
Use at least 128 bits of cryptographic randomness (32 hex characters or 22 base64 characters). This should come from a CSPRNG (e.g., /dev/urandom, crypto.randomBytes). Never use Math.random(), time-based values, or predictable inputs.
How do I implement secure reset tokens?
Generate 128+ bit random tokens using CSPRNG, store only hashed tokens in database, set short expiration (1 hour or less), invalidate after single use, bind tokens to specific email addresses, use constant-time comparison, don't expose tokens in URLs visible to third parties.
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