Question about Salt_Bytes

steviecoaster

I've got code using the Native API which creates a user account and works wonders. But as I'm doing this programmatically I need to also generate a random password for the account, and set it. Seems pretty straightforward to do....but I'm unsure about what to do with the Salt_Bytes parameter available on the API. Any pointers would be outstanding.

steviecoaster

Here's what I'm using currently, but it's complaining about Salt_Bytes. I'm fairly certain this is a PowerShell problem, but more eyes on it never hurt.

function Set-ProGetUserPassword {
    [Cmdletbinding()]
    Param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [String]
        $Username,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [SecureString]
        $OldPassword,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [SecureString]
        $NewPassword
    )

    begin {
        $confirm = Read-Host "Please re-enter your new password" -AsSecureString

        $identical = Compare-SecureString -SecureString1 $NewPassword -SecureString2 $confirm

        if(-not $identical){
            Write-Error 'Passwords do not match!'
            break
        }
    }

    end {

        $unmanagedString = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($NewPassword)
        $plainTextPassword = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringBSTR($unmanagedString)
        [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::ZeroFreeBSTR($unmanagedString) # Clean up
        $iterations = 10000
        $saltLength = 10
        $hashLength = 20

        $rfc2898 = [System.Security.Cryptography.Rfc2898DeriveBytes]::new($plainTextPassword, $saltLength, $iterations)
        $passwordBytes = $rfc2898.GetBytes($hashLength)
        $saltBytes = $rfc2898.Salt

        $base64Password = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($passwordBytes)

        $body = @{
            User_Name = $UserName
            Password_Bytes = $base64Password
            Salt_Bytes = $saltBytes
        }

        Write-Verbose ($body | ConvertTo-Json)

        $Params = @{
            Slug = '/api/json/Users_SetPassword'
            Method = 'POST'
            Body = $body
        }

        Invoke-ProGet @Params
    }
}

atripp

Hi @steviecoaster ,

I'm not really a PowerShell guru, but I think you'll want to do ...

    $base64Salt= [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($saltBytes)

... and then pass that in.

Hope that does it!

Alana

steviecoaster

In my playing around yesterday, I did try to convert that to base64 and it still produced the same error. I'm very perplexed! For my use case I really need this functionality so I'm hopeful I can find a solution.

steviecoaster

Sweet mother Mary, I got it! It was the content type. I was using application/json and it wanted application/x-ww-form-urlencoded

This code works properly to set the password for a user:

function Set-ProGetUserPassword {
    [Cmdletbinding()]
    Param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [String]
        $Username,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [SecureString]
        $OldPassword,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [SecureString]
        $NewPassword
    )

    begin {
        $confirm = Read-Host "Please re-enter your new password" -AsSecureString

        $identical = Compare-SecureString -SecureString1 $NewPassword -SecureString2 $confirm

        if (-not $identical) {
            Write-Error 'Passwords do not match!'
            break
        }
    }

    end {

        $unmanagedString = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($NewPassword)
        $plainTextPassword = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringBSTR($unmanagedString)
        [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::ZeroFreeBSTR($unmanagedString) # Clean up
        $iterations = 10000
        $saltLength = 10
        $hashLength = 20

        $rfc2898 = [System.Security.Cryptography.Rfc2898DeriveBytes]::new($plainTextPassword, $saltLength, $iterations)
        $passwordBytes = $rfc2898.GetBytes($hashLength)
        $saltBytes = $rfc2898.Salt

        $base64Password = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($passwordBytes)
        $base64Salt = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($saltBytes)

        $body = @{
            User_Name = $Username
            Password_Bytes = $base64Password
            Salt_Bytes = $base64Salt
        }

        Write-Verbose $body

        $Params = @{
            Slug     = '/api/json/Users_SetPassword'
            Method   = 'POST'
            Body = $body
            ContentType = 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
        }

        Invoke-ProGet @Params
    }
}

steviecoaster

@steviecoaster said in Question about Salt_Bytes:

Sweet mother Mary, I got it! It was the content type. I was using application/json and it wanted application/x-ww-form-urlencoded

This code works properly to set the password for a user:

function Set-ProGetUserPassword {
    [Cmdletbinding()]
    Param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [String]
        $Username,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [SecureString]
        $OldPassword,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [SecureString]
        $NewPassword
    )

    begin {
        $confirm = Read-Host "Please re-enter your new password" -AsSecureString

        $identical = Compare-SecureString -SecureString1 $NewPassword -SecureString2 $confirm

        if (-not $identical) {
            Write-Error 'Passwords do not match!'
            break
        }
    }

    end {

        $unmanagedString = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($NewPassword)
        $plainTextPassword = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringBSTR($unmanagedString)
        [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::ZeroFreeBSTR($unmanagedString) # Clean up
        $iterations = 10000
        $saltLength = 10
        $hashLength = 20

        $rfc2898 = [System.Security.Cryptography.Rfc2898DeriveBytes]::new($plainTextPassword, $saltLength, $iterations)
        $passwordBytes = $rfc2898.GetBytes($hashLength)
        $saltBytes = $rfc2898.Salt

        $base64Password = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($passwordBytes)
        $base64Salt = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($saltBytes)

        $body = @{
            User_Name = $Username
            Password_Bytes = $base64Password
            Salt_Bytes = $base64Salt
        }

        Write-Verbose $body

        $Params = @{
            Slug     = '/api/json/Users_SetPassword'
            Method   = 'POST'
            Body = $body
            ContentType = 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
        }

        Invoke-ProGet @Params
    }
}

Spoke to soon. This code functions and doesn't produce an error. However, the user cannot login with the credential set. More playing to do!

dean-houston

Hi @steviecoaster ,

The Native API can be a little finicky, especially since you can invoke with JSON, forum-encoded values, querystring, and I think even XML. But it sounds like you're on the right track.

Let me share the C# code that ProGet uses to set the password:

    using (var rfc2898 = new Rfc2898DeriveBytes(password ?? string.Empty, 10, 10000, HashAlgorithmName.SHA1))
    {
        var bytes = rfc2898.GetBytes(20);
        DB.Users_SetPassword(userName, bytes, rfc2898.Salt);
    }

... it looks a little different than the code you're using, so hopefully that will help!

-- Dean