nextcloud / nextcloud/twofactor_totp

App not working across timezones

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1. to develop bug
Dominant language
JavaScript
Stars
318
Forks
57
Avg merge
1h 58m
Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

This bug is unexpected to me so maybe there is another explanation.

The situation:
I have a nextcloud server in Europe
My smartphone (and I) are in Australia

The problem:
The TOTP is not accepted and login is not allowed

I have tried with google authenticator and FreeOTP. Same problem in both cases.

I have checked the clock synchronisations between server and phone. They are perfectly synchronised.

However they are in very different timezones. I would have assumed that both your nextcloud app and FreeOTP/Google Authenticator used UTC as their timebase, but perhaps I am wrong.

If so, may I suggest if possible to use UTC as the timebase?

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 reproducing the TOTP login failure with the server and phone in Europe and Australia while their clocks are synchronized, then trace the TOTP verification entry point. Compare the time handling with RFC 6238 and confirm that valid codes work across timezones without weakening authentication.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
authentication, security
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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