sveltejs / sveltejs/kit

Docs: Get rid of "Note that as a precaution, we only return the email back to the page — not the password" in the action docs

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Description

Describe the problem

See https://kit.svelte.dev/docs/form-actions#anatomy-of-an-action

There is a misleading note:

Note that as a precaution, we only return the email back to the page — not the password.

This is a shibboleth, IMO. There's nothing about a password (a wrong password, in this case) that makes it more vulnerable than any other bit of data. There's nothing that makes the server sending it back more vulnerable than the browser sending it to the server in the first place. If I'm wrong, then the note should say how. But assuming I'm right...

The implication is that none of the data passed between the server and the page is secure. That indeed may be the case. The site might be served over http. There maybe malicious code in the app or on the page. If so, the app has a bigger problem, and the note only imparts a false sense of security.

Some folks (used to?) obfuscate the type of login error, passing "login failed" rather than "account not found" or "wrong password." Perhaps that practice somehow got garbled into this?

Describe the proposed solution

Get rid of the note, or replace it with something useful, something like

In production SvelteKit apps should always be served over https. This will keep all data, including things like emails and passwords, secure between the server and browser.

Alternatives considered

No response

Importance

nice to have

Additional Information

No response

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

Open the linked form-actions#anatomy-of-an-action section and review the note about returning email but not passwords. Remove it or replace it with the proposed HTTPS guidance, then confirm the rendered action documentation no longer contains the misleading wording.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
1/5
Estimated time
Under an hour
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
50/100

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