docker / docker/cli

Proposal: deprecate base64 credentials in config.json

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#559 7 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

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area/authentication impact/deprecation
Dominant language
Go
Stars
6.1k
Forks
2.2k
Avg merge
1d 15h
Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

We think w/ @tych0 that storing the credentials directly in a config file in home directory is not safe at all and we should remove this option as the credential management has improved a lot on every platform since then.

@tych0 has implemented a new (and lightweight) backend for credential-helpers on Linux based on pass so now users can easily store credentials on Linux, Windows and MacOS. His docker/cli PR also got merged: https://github.com/docker/cli/pull/451 so we should be good to go on removing plaintext password. (having pass credential store by default is on the way)

/cc @vdemeester @thaJeztah

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by tracing how plaintext credentials are stored in config.json and how the credential-helpers backend is integrated, using the referenced docker/cli pull request as context. Define the supported behavior for Linux, Windows, and macOS, then verify that removing the config-file option does not break credential storage or retrieval.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
docker, go
Domain
cli, security
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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