Verify an email account is active using react on the *client side* - javascript

I am making an authentication form and I would like to verify silently an email address is active on the client side. That is if the email address exists, then return true, else return false. This does not involve sending an actualy email to the address. I can do this on the server side using email-verify package in node, ie:
server.post('/api/verify-valid-email-silently', (req, res) => {
if (req.body && req.body.email) {
const email = req.body.email
email_verifier.verify( email, (err : string, info : any) => {
// do something
})
}
}
But I would like to do this on the client side so that I don't have to ping the server and pay for cloud function invocation. Again I'm looking for a free service on the client side. This is important because if I use the current "ping the server" way, someone could conceivably repeatedly enter inactive but well-formed email address and drain my bank account dry completely.

It does require a validation email, but it can be done without maintaining server-side infrastructure. I actually built a platform to do exactly that at https://clicktoverify.net/.
Essentially you just need to add our (small) javascript library to your page. Then you'll be able to send a verification email via our service and execute a client-side callback once the client verifies by clicking the link in their email.

Related

Gmail with Heroku to send mail

I want to add to my web app that after order I'm sending a mail.
I choose Nodemailer because it's the most famous npm to use.
I coded my request and in the local environment, it's working.
I uploaded the code to Heroku and I get an Error.
Error: Invalid login: 534-5.7.14 <https://accounts.google.com/signin/continue?sarp=1&scc=1&plt=AKgnsbs
I checked people told me to disable the captcha wish I did here: UnlockCaptcha
And now I still get the same error, and I get a mail that google blocked the connection what can I do?
const nodemailer = require('nodemailer');
const { sendLog } = require('../middleware/sendLog');
const { coupons, actions } = require('../constant/actionCoupon');
var simple = function () {
var textMultiple = {
text1: 'text1',
text2: 'text2',
};
return textMultiple;
};
// send mail system for the (REQUEST ACCEPTED SYSTEM)
const sendMail = (mail, action) => {
let mailTransporter = nodemailer.createTransport({
service: 'gmail',
auth: {
user: process.env.MAIL,
pass: process.env.PASSWORD,
},
});
let mailDetails = {
from: process.env.MAIL,
to: mail,
subject: `Thank you for your purchase. with love FameGoal`,
text: "for any probleme please reply on this message",
};
mailTransporter.sendMail(mailDetails, function (err, data) {
if (err) {
console.log(err);
console.log(`error sent mail to ${mail}`, 'error');
} else {
console.log('succeed');
console.log(`succesfully sent mail to ${mail}`, 'info');
}
});
};
exports.sendMail = sendMail;
Using Gmail as an SMTP relay isn't the most ideal because Google servers may reject basic username/password authentication at times.
There are some workarounds. The most ideal is to use OAuth2 to send emails.
OAuth2
OAuth2 uses access tokens to perform authentication instead of a password.
I won't go over the steps to set up OAuth2 because it can take some time but if you're interested, this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/51933602/10237430 goes over all of the steps.
App passwords
If the Google account you're trying to send emails from has two step verification enabled, using a password to send emails will not work. You instead need to generate a app-specific password on Google's site and pass that in the password field.
More info on that here: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833?hl=en
Enabling less secure apps
If you still want to use your current setup, you have to make sure you enable less secure apps on the Google account you're sending emails from. This will let you authenticate with Google using just an email and a password.
More info on that here: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255?hl=en
Basic password authentication will not work until you enable less secure apps.

Why does Firebase signInWithPhoneNumber(number, recaptchaVerifier) create a NEW account if the number does not exist?

Action:
- signInWithPhoneNumber(NUMBER NOT IN DB, recaptchaVerifier)
Expected Behavior:
- Since number not in DB, it should not log me in.
Current Behavior:
- If the number does not exist in DB, it CREATES a new user after going through recaptcha + sms verification. WHY?
Code:
function loginWithSMS(phoneNumber) {
firebase.auth().useDeviceLanguage();
//#ts-ignore
window.recaptchaVerifier = new firebase.auth.RecaptchaVerifier("recaptcha-container");
//#ts-ignore
window.recaptchaVerifier.render().then(function (widgetId) {
//#ts-ignore
window.recaptchaWidgetId = widgetId;
});
// #ts-ignore
firebase
.signInWithPhoneNumber(phoneNumber, window.recaptchaVerifier)
.then((confirmationResult) => {
console.log("Login success", confirmationResult);
window.recaptchaVerifier.clear();
// SMS sent. Prompt user to type the code from the message, then sign the
// user in with confirmationResult.confirm(code).
const verificationCode = window.prompt(
"Please enter the verification " + "code that was sent to your mobile device."
);
return confirmationResult.confirm(verificationCode);
})
.catch((error) => {
console.error(error);
// Error; SMS not sent
// Handle Errors Here
window.recaptchaVerifier.clear();
return Promise.reject(error);
});
}
This is just how the API is defined: by sending a text to the number, Firebase allows the user to verify that they have access to that phone number. If they do, they're allowed to sign in.
This is the same for the email+password provider in Firebase Authentication. Calling firebase.auth().createUserWithEmailAndPassword(email, password) creates the user, even if they didn't exist yet. And while your code may not call this API, any developer can take the Firebase configuration data from your app and call the API themselves.
Most often when developers are asking about this they're confusing authentication with authorization.
When you authenticate, you are proving that you are you. So in the examples above, that you have access to a certain phone number, or that you know the email+password combination of the account.
Based on knowing who the user is, the application then authorizes that user to perform certain actions or to access certain data.
For example, if you're using Realtime Database, Cloud Storage, or Cloud Firestore, you can control access with Firebase's server-side security rules.
If you have a different back-end, you'd control it there by checking the information in the ID token of the user (which you get from Firebase Authentication) against some set of authorization rules for your application.
Also see:
Prevent user account creation with sign in by email in firestore (similar question, but then for passwordless email signin)
How to disable Signup in Firebase 3.x
How does the firebase authentication and realtime application database secure itself?

Send email from React application

I have an application, built using React. If I want to send an email to a user after another user successfully completes an action, what are some technologies I need to or can use? To clarify, I have no backend server set up yet.
Check sendgrid! You can do in your backend(nodejs in this case):
const SGmail = require ('#sendgrid/mail')
SGmail.setApiKey(process.env.REACT_APP_SG_API)
app.post('/your/endpoint', (req,res) => {
const data = req.body
const mailOptions = {
from: data.email,
to:'email#example.com',
subject:'Subject',
html:`<p>${data.name}</p>
<p>${data.email}</p>
<p>${data.message}</p>`
}
SGmail.send(mailOptions).then((err,res)=>{res.redirect('/')})
})
Check out SendGrid, they offer a generous free tier.
If you're not expected to do the actual email sending, you could, in JS, build an .eml file and have the user "download" it. They would then send it in their client of choice.
Otherwise you will need, at the very least, access to a mail server, to send this multipart-mime to, or, a little safer, build the message on the server and send it internally.

MySql, NodeJS, ExpressJS and bcrypt: what is the best way to handle users' login?

My solution works, but I'm not sure this is safe and appropriate. On the front end I have a ReactJS app that send with axios a request with the login and password. On the back end I have NodeJS + ExpressJS handling the request as follows:
router.post('/', function(req, res, next) {
// get the records that match the login provided
const sql = "SELECT name, surname, login, password, blocked FROM users WHERE login=?";
query(sql, [req.body.login])
.then((result)=> {
// if there are 1 or more results, compare the passwords with bcrypt
if (result.length > 0) {
bcrypt.compare(req.body.password, result[0].password, function(err, success) {
if (success) {
// if the user is not blocked, send the status 200 with user's data
result[0].blocked ?
res.status(401).json({type: 'Warning', message: 'Your account has been blocked. Plase contact the admins.'})
:
res.status(200).json({name: result[0].name, surname: result[0].surname, email: result[0].email});
} else {
// send an error if the password is wrong
res.status(401).json({type: 'Error', message: 'Please check that your login and password are correct.'});
}
});
} else {
// send an error if the login was not found
res.status(401).json({type: 'Error', message: 'Please check that your login and password are correct.'});
}
});
});
Is it enough/safe to query the db for the provided login (it's unique) with if (result.length > 0)?
Is it ok to have the error message contained in the server response like this?
res.status(401).json({type: 'Warning', message: 'Your account has been blocked. Plase contact the admins.'})
I have the chance to let the user know if he typed the correct login but the wrong password; should I let him know that? I think it would give to malicious users the knowledge that the login actually exists, so for now I just send a generic login/pwd error. Is this ok?
Is ok to send the user's data from the server to the client if the login was successful?
Is it ok to have the error message contained in the server response like this?
I have the chance to let the user know if he typed the correct login but the wrong password; should I let him know that? I think it would give to malicious users the knowledge that the login actually exists, so for now I just send a generic login/pwd error. Is this ok?
Your implementation is good enough. It's also a good practice letting users know why they are unable to login without giving out too much information EVEN when it's a problem with their supplied credentials (something you are doing already).
Is it enough/safe to query the db for the provided login (it's unique) with if (result.length > 0)?
Yes, this is fine too. You may also want to add a LIMIT 1 to your query to give you a little performance boost since there is no point having your DB scan through all the records when you expect only one result.
It is also a good practice to only send the minimum amount of information and request for more on demand.
As a general observation of your code, you would benefit from the following:
Doing some error checking on your request object before querying the database at all (good practice too) as there is no guarantee that a valid or well formatted username/password would be sent with the request.
Moving the responses into another file to make your code cleaner and maintainable.

How to validate user creation on the server in Meteor

What is the best approach to validate user creation on the client and server?
I've tried to validate user creation both server and client side. First I've used methods and Accounts.createUser function but it didn't work even that the documentation says it should.
I've tried different approach. I used Accounts.createUser to validate it on the client and Account.onCreateUser on the server. The problem is that I can't validate password because it's encrypted.
So what is the best way to do it?
For validation of new users, see here
Example from the docs:
// Validate username, sending a specific error message on failure.
Accounts.validateNewUser(function (user) {
if (user.username && user.username.length >= 3)
return true;
throw new Meteor.Error(403, "Username must have at least 3 characters");
});
// Validate username, without a specific error message.
Accounts.validateNewUser(function (user) {
return user.username !== "root";
});

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