Digest access authentication: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:28, 1 December 2023

Revision as of 02:29, 1 December 2023

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{{Short description|Method of negotiating credentials between web server and browser}}

'''Digest access authentication''' is one of the agreed-upon methods a web server can use to negotiate credentials, such as username or password, with a user's web browser. This can be used to confirm the identity of a user before sending sensitive information, such as online banking transaction history. It applies a hash function to the username and password before sending them over the network. In contrast, basic access authentication uses the easily reversible encoding instead of hashing, making it non-secure unless used in conjunction with TLS.

{{HTTP}}

'''Digest access authentication''' is one of the agreed-upon methods a [[web server]] can use to negotiate credentials, such as username or password, with a user's [[web browser]]. This can be used to confirm the identity of a user before sending sensitive information, such as online banking transaction history. It applies a [[hash function]] to the username and [[password]] before sending them over the network. In contrast, [[basic access authentication]] uses the easily reversible [[Base64]] encoding instead of hashing, making it non-secure unless used in conjunction with [[Transport Layer Security|TLS]].

Technically, digest authentication is an application of [[MD5]] [[cryptographic hashinghash]]ing with usage of [[cryptographic nonce|nonce]] values to prevent [[replay attacksattack]]s. It uses the [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol|HTTP]] protocol.

== Overview ==