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generate_session_hash()

Description

Generates a unique session hash for user authentication.

This function creates a session hash based on either a completely randomized method or a method
that combines a password hash with the current date. It ensures that the generated hash is unique
by checking against existing sessions in the database.

Parameters

ColumnTypeDefaultDescription
$password_hash string The hashed password of the user, used for generating the session hash.

Return

string Returns a unique session hash.

Location

include/login_functions.php lines 233 to 259

Definition

 
function generate_session_hash($password_hash)
    {
    # Generates a unique session hash
    global $randomised_session_hash,$scramble_key;
    
    if ($randomised_session_hash)
        {
        # Completely randomised session hashes. May be more secure, but allows only one user at a time.
        while (true)
            {
            $session=md5(generateSecureKey(128));
            if (ps_value("select count(*) value from user where session=?",array("s",$session),0)==0) {return $session;} # Return a unique hash only.
            }
        }
    else
        {
        # Session hash is based on the password hash and the date, so there is one new session hash each day. Allows two users to use the same login.
        $suffix="";
        while (true)
            {
            $session=md5($scramble_key . $password_hash . date("Ymd") . $suffix);
            if (ps_value("select count(*) value from user where session=? and password<>?",array("s",$session,"s",$password_hash),0)==0) {return $session;} # Return a unique hash only.
            $suffix.="."; # Extremely unlikely case that this was not a unique session (hash collision) - alter the string slightly and try again.
            }
        }   
        
    }

This article was last updated 17th November 2024 15:05 Europe/London time based on the source file dated 7th November 2024 17:40 Europe/London time.