What are the Secure Alternatives to the Deprecated mcrypt Extension for Password Encryption and Decryption?

Alternative to the Deprecated mcrypt Extension for Password Encryption

The mcrypt extension, previously used for password encryption, has been deprecated and will be removed entirely in PHP 7.2. This raises concerns about finding an appropriate alternative for secure password encryption.

Recommended Approach: Password Hashing

As a best practice, it is strongly recommended to hash passwords rather than encrypt them. Hashing converts passwords into non-reversible values, making it infeasible for attackers to recover the original password even if they gain access to your database or files.

Alternative Encryption Methods

However, if you require encryption for your passwords and need the ability to decrypt them, the following options are recommended:

• Libsodium: A PHP extension that provides secure encryption and decryption.
• defuse/php-encryption: Straight PHP code library that offers secure encryption and decryption capabilities.
• OpenSSL: A widely available encryption library that can be compiled with PHP if not already installed on your server.

Code Example

To use one of these alternatives, you can follow a similar structure to your original mcrypt code:

// Generate a secure random initialization vector
$iv = random_bytes(16);

// Encrypt the password using AES-256 in CBC mode
// Note: Replace key with a securely generated encryption key
$encrypted = openssl_encrypt($string, 'aes-256-cbc', $key, OPENSSL_RAW_DATA, $iv);

// Store the encrypted password and initialization vector for later decryption

Decryption

Decryption can be performed using the same library and key:

// Decrypt the encrypted password using AES-256 in CBC mode
$decrypted = openssl_decrypt($encrypted, 'aes-256-cbc', $key, OPENSSL_RAW_DATA, $iv);

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