[Security Suggestion] Increase PBKDF2-HMAC Iterations for Stronger Key Derivation
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Description
Description
Hi, while reviewing the code I noticed that the PBKDF2-HMAC implementation currently uses:
return to_hexstr(hashlib.pbkdf2_hmac('sha512', key, b'Digital Bitbox', iterations = 20480))
According to OWASP 2023 recommendations, the recommended minimum for PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA512 is 210,000 iterations.
This should significantly improve security and protect against brute-force attacks.
Would it be possible to update this in future releases?
Thank you!
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First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Locate the PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA512 call shown in the issue and inspect how its iteration value is used by the surrounding key-derivation code. Check nearby callers or tests for compatibility expectations, then verify that the updated iteration count is applied consistently and the relevant checks pass.
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Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- cryptography, security
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100