Password Storage Check — Are Passwords Actually Hashed Before Saving?
DevMeth checks the 48 known AI-code failure patterns — not a penetration test or a security guarantee.
What the issue is
Storing passwords as plain text — or with MD5/SHA-1 — means a single database leak exposes every user's password, and users reuse passwords, so the damage spreads to their other accounts.
Why AI tools generate it
AI code generators store what the form sends when no auth library is wired up — the login works, nothing complains, and the unsafe storage ships quietly.
How DevMeth detects it
A code scan finds routes that write password fields to the database and flags any write with no bcrypt/argon2/pbkdf2/scrypt call on its path, plus any password hashed with MD5/SHA-1/unsalted SHA-256.
Passwords are stored without a proper hash
WHAT WE FOUND
C34 — masked sample
The fix, in three steps
Hash with bcrypt or argon2 before every password write, compare with the library's compare on login, or hand credentials to your auth SDK instead of storing them. Three steps.
Run a free scan and each finding carries a paste-ready fix prompt you can act on.
Try a free scanFAQ
Isn't SHA-256 a hash? Why is it flagged?
SHA-256 is a fast general-purpose hash. Password storage needs slow, salted hashes (bcrypt/argon2/scrypt) so stolen hashes can't be brute-forced at GPU speed.
Why not just encrypt passwords?
Encryption is reversible with a key you'd have to store — a leak of key and data recovers every password. Hashing is one-way by design.
What's the fix?
bcrypt (cost 12+), argon2, or scrypt on every password write — or better, delegate credentials entirely to your auth provider.
DevMeth checks the 48 known AI-code failure patterns — not a penetration test or a security guarantee. A clear result means each known pattern was checked and found clear or not applicable for your app; it is not a guarantee of security.