Password Hashing Functions
PHP Manual

password_hash

(PHP 5 >= 5.5.0)

password_hashCreates a password hash

Description

string password_hash ( string $password , integer $algo [, array $options ] )

password_hash() creates a new password hash using a strong one-way hashing algorithm. password_hash() is compatible with crypt(). Therefore, password hashes created by crypt() can be used with password_hash().

The following algorithms are currently supported:

Parameters

password

The user's password.

Caution

Using the PASSWORD_BCRYPT for the algo parameter, will result in the password parameter being truncated to a maximum length of 72 characters.

algo

A password algorithm constant denoting the algorithm to use when hashing the password.

options

An associative array containing options. See the password algorithm constants for documentation on the supported options for each algorithm.

If omitted, a random salt will be created and the default cost will be used.

Return Values

Returns the hashed password, or FALSE on failure.

The used algorithm, cost and salt are returned as part of the hash. Therefore, all information that's needed to verify the hash is included in it. This allows the password_verify() function to verify the hash without needing separate storage for the salt or algorithm information.

Examples

Example #1 password_hash() example

<?php
/**
 * We just want to hash our password using the current DEFAULT algorithm.
 * This is presently BCRYPT, and will produce a 60 character result.
 *
 * Beware that DEFAULT may change over time, so you would want to prepare
 * By allowing your storage to expand past 60 characters (255 would be good)
 */
echo password_hash("rasmuslerdorf"PASSWORD_DEFAULT)."\n";
?>

The above example will output something similar to:

$2y$10$.vGA1O9wmRjrwAVXD98HNOgsNpDczlqm3Jq7KnEd1rVAGv3Fykk1a

Example #2 password_hash() example setting cost manually

<?php
/**
 * In this case, we want to increase the default cost for BCRYPT to 12.
 * Note that we also switched to BCRYPT, which will always be 60 characters.
 */
$options = [
    
'cost' => 12,
];
echo 
password_hash("rasmuslerdorf"PASSWORD_BCRYPT$options)."\n";
?>

The above example will output something similar to:

$2y$12$QjSH496pcT5CEbzjD/vtVeH03tfHKFy36d4J0Ltp3lRtee9HDxY3K

Example #3 password_hash() example setting salt manually

<?php
/**
 * Note that the salt here is randomly generated.
 * Never use a static salt or one that is not randomly generated.
 *
 * For the VAST majority of use-cases, let password_hash generate the salt randomly for you
 */
$options = [
    
'cost' => 11,
    
'salt' => mcrypt_create_iv(22MCRYPT_DEV_URANDOM),
];
echo 
password_hash("rasmuslerdorf"PASSWORD_BCRYPT$options)."\n";
?>

The above example will output something similar to:

$2y$11$q5MkhSBtlsJcNEVsYh64a.aCluzHnGog7TQAKVmQwO9C8xb.t89F.

Example #4 password_hash() example finding a good cost

<?php
/**
 * This code will benchmark your server to determine how high of a cost you can
 * afford. You want to set the highest cost that you can without slowing down
 * you server too much. 10 is a good baseline, and more is good if your servers
 * are fast enough.
 */
$timeTarget 0.2

$cost 9;
do {
    
$cost++;
    
$start microtime(true);
    
password_hash("test"PASSWORD_BCRYPT, ["cost" => $cost]);
    
$end microtime(true);
} while ((
$end $start) < $timeTarget);

echo 
"Appropriate Cost Found: " $cost "\n";
?>

The above example will output something similar to:

Appropriate Cost Found: 11

Notes

Caution

It is strongly recommended that you do not generate your own salt for this function. It will create a secure salt automatically for you if you do not specify one.

Note:

It is recommended that you should test this function on your servers, and adjust the cost parameter so that execution of the function takes approximately 0.1 to 0.5 seconds. The script in the above example will help you choose a good cost value for your hardware.

Note: Updates to supported algorithms by this function (or changes to the default one) must follow the follwoing rules:

  • Any new algorithm must be in core for at least 1 full release of PHP prior to becoming default. So if, for example, a new algorithm is added in 5.5.5, it would not be eligible for default until 5.7 (since 5.6 would be the first full release). But if a different algorithm was added in 5.6.0, it would also be eligible for default at 5.7.0.
  • The default should only change on a full release (5.6.0, 6.0.0, etc) and not on a revision release. The only exception to this is in an emergency when a critical security flaw is found in the current default.

See Also


Password Hashing Functions
PHP Manual