How to Choose the Password Encoder Algorithm Dynamically

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How to Choose the Password Encoder Algorithm Dynamically¶

Usually, the same password encoder is used for all users by configuring it to apply to all instances of a specific class:

YAML

# app/config/security.yml
security:
    # ...
    encoders:
        Symfony\Component\Security\Core\User\User: sha512

XML

<!-- app/config/security.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<srv:container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/security"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:srv="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd"
>
    <config>
        <!-- ... -->
        <encoder class="Symfony\Component\Security\Core\User\User"
            algorithm="sha512"
        />
    </config>
</srv:container>

PHP

// app/config/security.php
use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\User\User;

$container->loadFromExtension('security', array(
    // ...
    'encoders' => array(
        User::class => array(
            'algorithm' => 'sha512',
        ),
    ),
));

Another option is to use a “named” encoder and then select which encoder you want to use dynamically.

In the previous example, you’ve set the sha512 algorithm for Acme\UserBundle\Entity\User. This may be secure enough for a regular user, but what if you want your admins to have a stronger algorithm, for example bcrypt. This can be done with named encoders:

YAML

# app/config/security.yml
security:
    # ...
    encoders:
        harsh:
            algorithm: bcrypt
            cost: 15

XML

<!-- app/config/security.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<srv:container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/security"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:srv="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd"
>

    <config>
        <!-- ... -->
        <encoder class="harsh"
            algorithm="bcrypt"
            cost="15" />
    </config>
</srv:container>

PHP

// app/config/security.php
$container->loadFromExtension('security', array(
    // ...
    'encoders' => array(
        'harsh' => array(
            'algorithm' => 'bcrypt',
            'cost'      => '15',
        ),
    ),
));

This creates an encoder named harsh. In order for a User instance to use it, the class must implement Symfony\Component\Security\Core\Encoder\EncoderAwareInterface. The interface requires one method - getEncoderName() - which should return the name of the encoder to use:

// src/Acme/UserBundle/Entity/User.php
namespace Acme\UserBundle\Entity;

use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\User\UserInterface;
use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\Encoder\EncoderAwareInterface;

class User implements UserInterface, EncoderAwareInterface
{
    public function getEncoderName()
    {
        if ($this->isAdmin()) {
            return 'harsh';
        }

        return null; // use the default encoder
    }
}

If you created your own password encoder implementing the Symfony\Component\Security\Core\Encoder\PasswordEncoderInterface, you must register a service for it in order to use it as a named encoder:

YAML

# app/config/security.yml
security:
    # ...
    encoders:
        app_encoder:
            id: 'app.password_encoder_service'

XML

<!-- app/config/security.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<srv:container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/security"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:srv="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd"
>

    <config>
        <!-- ... -->
        <encoder class="app_encoder"
            id="app.password_encoder_service" />
    </config>
</srv:container>

PHP

// app/config/security.php
$container->loadFromExtension('security', array(
    // ...
    'encoders' => array(
        'app_encoder' => array(
            'id' => 'app.password_encoder_service',
        ),
    ),
));

This creates an encoder named app_encoder from a service named app.password_encoder_service.

This work, including the code samples, is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license.