Member Avatar for missMira

hi....can i ask something? i need to set a default password for a sign up form... so when new user sign up, they will get a default password and for the first time they log in, they will received a prompt or a msessage asking them to change their password. how can i fix that?

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Dani AI

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Good direction so far. A few practical, secure ways to implement an "change password on first login" flow for an admin-created account, plus pitfalls to avoid.

An approach that avoids predictable defaults

  • Prefer sending a one-time reset link or a cryptographically strong temporary password instead of a simple shared default. A reset link avoids guessing and forces the user to prove control of the email address. If you must create a temporary password, generate it with random_bytes() and never keep it in plain text.

Database bits to add (expanded from )

  • Keep only a hashed password (password_hash) and add small fields such as must_change_password (boolean), reset_token, and reset_expires. Use created_at and last_login for auditing. This gives you both the “force change” flag idea and a safer token-based alternative.

Login / workflow (summary)

  • On successful credential check (use password_verify()), if must_change_password is true, do not create the normal session. Redirect to a dedicated change-password page that requires the current temporary password or a valid reset token. After a successful change, update the hash, clear must_change_password, regenerate the session id, and log the event.

Minimal PHP snippets (illustrative)

$hash = password_hash($tempPass, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);
// store $hash and set must_change_password = 1

// login check
if (password_verify($input, $row['password_hash'])) {
    if ($row['must_change_password']) {
        header('Location: /change_password.php');
        exit;
    }
    // normal login steps...
}

Security checklist

  • Use password_hash/password_verify (PHP docs), generate tokens with random_bytes (PHP docs), send links only over HTTPS, expire tokens, rate-limit attempts, and log admin-created accounts. Review OWASP guidance for password reset flows (Forgot Password Cheat Sheet).

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Lsmjudoka

Two questions: 1) Why do you need a default password?
2) How is the default password generated?

Member Avatar for CJesusSaves

You need to create another column or entity that will hold a value to show whether or not the default password was changed.

If you are working with a database (and not a text file or so) then you can create a new column for this, let's call the column pchanged.

Upon user registration, pchanged will get a value representing that the password is still at default, let's say this value is set to 0.

Now when the user logs in, the value of pchanged will be checked. If it is 0, a prompt or some sort of notice on the page will inform the user to change default password.

Once the password is changed, pchanged should be set to some other value besides 0, so that the notice/prompt won't call user attention again.

You will need to understand if..else/switch statements to accomplish this task.

As well as good understanding on how to retrieve and manipulate data from whatever storage protocol you are utilizing.

Hope that helps.

Member Avatar for missMira

Two questions: 1) Why do you need a default password?
2) How is the default password generated?

i need a default password that is set when new user sign up... because the sign up process will be doen by the admin..and admin need a default password instead of asking the password from user.. n the password is generated by setting in the coding

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