node-cracklib - C++ binding to cracklib for checking password strength.

System Compatibility

node-cracklib is only compatible with linux and BSD-like systems. It has been tested on

• Debian
• CentOS
• netbsd

Node Compatibility

node-cracklib is tested with the following node versions:

• 16.x
• 17.x
• 18.x
• 19.x
• 20.x
• 21.x
• 22.x
• 23.x
• 24.x

Support for voersions 12.x, 13.x, 14,x, and 15.x is still available in version 2.x of this library.

Installing

Note that this package requires that the cracklib development libraries are installed. Installation may vary on your system but, for example on Debian:

$ apt-get install libcrack2-dev

To install via npm:

$ npm install cracklib

Or clone the repository and build from source:

$ git clone [email protected]:landlines/node-cracklib.git
$ node-gyp configure -- -DMODULE_NAME=cracklib -DBUILD_TARGET=/path/to/app
$ node-gyp build

Usage

node-cracklib exposes both fascistCheck and fascistCheckUser from the cracklib library using the following methods:

• fascistCheck(password[, dictionaryPath])
• fascistCheckAsync(password[, dictionaryPath], callback)
• fascistCheckUser(password, user, gecos[, dictionaryPath])
• fascistCheckUserAsync(password, user, gecos[, dictionaryPath], callback)

fascistCheck() uses the currently logged in user when checking passwords. fascistCheckUser() allows submission of an arbitray user and user gecos field. The submitted user need not be a valid user on your system. A phony username and gecos can be used as can null or an empty string value. Both user and gecos are required parameters when using fascistCheckUser() or the async variant.

Both methods and their async variants support custom dictionaries using the optional dictionaryPath parameter. The default dictionary is used otherwise.

Response

The response to all methods is a simple dictionary response with a single member, message. message is a String if the password is considered weak and null if the password is considered good. The messages are passed directly from the cracklib C library and are not changed in any way by this module.

{
  "message": String | null - Return value from the password check
}

Examples

let cracklib = require('cracklib');

// fascistCheck()
let reponse = cracklib.fascistCheck('somePassword');

// fascistCheck() with a custom dictionary
let response = cracklib.fascistCheck('somePassword', '/path/to/dictionary');

// fascistCheckAsync()
cracklib.fascistCheckAsync('somePassword', (r) => {
    console.log(r.message);
});

// fascistCheckAsync() with a custom dictionary
cracklib.fascistCheckAsync('somePassword', '/path/to/dictionary', (r) => {
    console.log(r.message);
});

// fascistCheckUser()
let response = cracklib.fascistCheckUser('somePassword', 'alice', null);

// fascistCheckUser() with a custom dictionary
let response = cracklib.fascistCheckUser('somePassword', 'alice', null,
    '/path/to/dictionary');

// fascistCheckUserAsync()
cracklib.fascistCheckUserAsync('somePassword', 'alice', null, (r) => {
    console.log(r.message);
});

// fascistCheckUserAsync() with a custom dictionary
cracklib.fascistCheckUserAsync('somePassword', 'alice', null, 
    '/path/to/dictionary', (r) => {
        console.log(r.message);
    });

Support

Please file bugs, issues, etc. at https://github.com/landlines/node-cracklib/issues. PRs for bug fixes are welcome.

Development

If you want to hack on this code you'll need to make sure that the following are installed on your system:

• NodeJs development libraries
• Cracklib development libraries
• node-gyp

Clone and Build

$ git clone [email protected]:landlines/node-cracklib.git
$ node-gyp configure -- -DMODULE_NAME=cracklib -DBUILD_TARGET=/path/to/app
$ node-gyp build

References

• cracklib library source