Detect password leaks and breached credentials

This page describes how to use the password leak detection feature of reCAPTCHA Enterprise to detect password leaks and breached credentials to prevent account takeovers (ATOs) and credential stuffing attacks. With reCAPTCHA Enterprise, you can conduct regular audits of user credentials (passwords) as part of any assessment to ensure that they have not been leaked or breached. To perform these assessments, Google uses the Password Checkup feature.

Before you begin

  1. Prepare your environment for reCAPTCHA Enterprise.

  2. Set up reCAPTCHA Enterprise.

  3. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

    reCAPTCHA Enterprise requires billing to be linked and enabled on the project to use the password leak detection feature. You can enable billing by using either a credit card or an existing Google Cloud project billing ID. If you require assistance with billing, contact the Cloud Billing Support.

Check for breached and leaked credentials

To check if a set of credentials has been compromised, use password leak detection when creating assessments for actions such as logins, password changes, and password resets.

To check for password leaks and breached credentials, complete the following steps:

  1. Generate request parameters.
  2. Create an assessment to detect password leaks.
  3. Verify leaked credentials from an assessment.
  4. Interpret verdict and take actions.

Generate request parameters

  1. Calculate the necessary request parameters by using the cryptographic functions required by the high-privacy protocol. reCAPTCHA Enterprise provides Java and TypeScript libraries to assist with generating these fields:

  2. To create password check verifications, create a PasswordCheckVerifier object.

    PasswordCheckVerifier verifier = new PasswordCheckVerifier();
    
  3. To initiate a verification, call PasswordCheckVerifier#createVerification. This method uses the username and password to calculate the parameters to perform the password check.

    PasswordCheckVerification verification = verifier.createVerification("username", "password").get();
    
  4. Create an assessment by using the verification parameters.

    byte[] lookupHashPrefix = verification.getLookupHashPrefix();
    byte[] encryptedUserCredentialsHash = verification.getEncryptedUserCredentialsHash();
    

    The byte arrays lookupHashPrefix and encryptedUserCredentialsHash contain the parameters that are required to initiate a password check Assessment.

Create an assessment to detect password leaks

Use the projects.assessments.create method.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • PROJECT_ID: your Google Cloud project ID
  • LOOKUP_HASH_PREFIX: prefix of the username SHA-256 hash prefix
  • ENCRYPTED_USER_CREDENTIALS_HASH: encrypted user credentials Scrypt hash

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://recaptchaenterprise.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/assessments

Request JSON body:

{
  "private_password_leak_verification": {
    "lookup_hash_prefix": "LOOKUP_HASH_PREFIX",
    "encrypted_user_credentials_hash": "ENCRYPTED_USER_CREDENTIALS_HASH"
  }
}

To send your request, choose one of these options:

curl

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
-d @request.json \
"https://recaptchaenterprise.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/assessments"

PowerShell

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
-Method POST `
-Headers $headers `
-ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
-InFile request.json `
-Uri "https://recaptchaenterprise.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/assessments" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "name": "projects/698047609967/assessments/fb22000000000000",
  "score": 0,
  "reasons": [],
  "privatePasswordLeakVerification": {
    "lookupHashPrefix": "zoxZwA==",
    "encryptedUserCredentialsHash": "AyRihRcKaGLj/FA/r2uqQY/fzfTaDb/nEcIUMeD3Tygp",
    "reencryptedUserCredentialsHash": "Aw65yEbLM39ww1ridDEfx5VhkWo11tzn/R1B88Qqwr/+"
    "encryptedLeakMatchPrefixes": [
      "n/n5fvPD6rmQPFyb4xk=", "IVQqzXsbZenaibID6OI=", ..., "INeMMndrfnlf6osCVvs=",
      "MkIpxt2x4mtyBnRODu0=", "AqUyAUWzi+v7Kx03e6o="]
  }
}

Verify leaked credentials from an assessment

From the assessment response extract the fields reEncryptedUserCredentials and encryptedLeakMatchPrefixes, and pass them to the verifier object to determine if the credentials are leaked or not.

PasswordCheckResult result = verifier.verify(verification,
  result.getReEncryptedUserCredentials(),
  result.getEncryptedLeakMatchPrefixes()
).get();

System.out.println("Credentials leaked: " + result.areCredentialsLeaked());

Interpret verdict and take actions

The assessment response shows if the credentials were leaked and provides you with information that you can use to take appropriate actions to protect your users.

The following table lists the recommended actions that you can take when a leaked password is detected:

Leaked password detected Actions to protect your user
During sign-in
  • Reject and require that the customer choose a different password, and trigger an MFA challenge, if possible.
  • Remind the user to use unique passwords across accounts.
  • Require strong passwords on your site.
  • Prompt the user to enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) if they are not using it.
During account creation or password reset
  • Require the user change their password.
  • Trigger a multi-factor authentication (MFA) flow.

If you aren't using an MFA provider on your site already, you can use the MFA capability of reCAPTCHA Enterprise.

Code sample

Java

To authenticate to reCAPTCHA Enterprise, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.


import com.google.cloud.recaptcha.passwordcheck.PasswordCheckResult;
import com.google.cloud.recaptcha.passwordcheck.PasswordCheckVerification;
import com.google.cloud.recaptcha.passwordcheck.PasswordCheckVerifier;
import com.google.cloud.recaptchaenterprise.v1.RecaptchaEnterpriseServiceClient;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import com.google.recaptchaenterprise.v1.Assessment;
import com.google.recaptchaenterprise.v1.CreateAssessmentRequest;
import com.google.recaptchaenterprise.v1.PrivatePasswordLeakVerification;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;
import org.bouncycastle.util.encoders.Base64;

public class CreatePasswordLeakAssessment {

  public static void main(String[] args)
      throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    // Google Cloud Project ID.
    String projectID = "project-id";

    // Username and password to be checked for credential breach.
    String username = "username";
    String password = "password";

    checkPasswordLeak(projectID, username, password);
  }

  /*
   * Detect password leaks and breached credentials to prevent account takeovers
   * (ATOs) and credential stuffing attacks.
   * For more information, see:
   * https://cloud.google.com/recaptcha-enterprise/docs/check-passwords and
   * https://security.googleblog.com/2019/02/protect-your-accounts-from-data.html

   * Steps:
   * 1. Use the 'create' method to hash and Encrypt the hashed username and
   * password.
   * 2. Send the hash prefix (26-bit) and the encrypted credentials to create
   * the assessment.(Hash prefix is used to partition the database.)
   * 3. Password leak assessment returns a list of encrypted credential hashes to
   * be compared with the decryption of the returned re-encrypted credentials.
   * Create Assessment also sends back re-encrypted credentials.
   * 4. The re-encrypted credential is then locally verified to see if there is
   * a match in the database.
   *
   * To perform hashing, encryption and verification (steps 1, 2 and 4),
   * reCAPTCHA Enterprise provides a helper library in Java.
   * See, https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/java-recaptcha-password-check-helpers

   * If you want to extend this behavior to your own implementation/ languages,
   * make sure to perform the following steps:
   * 1. Hash the credentials (First 26 bits of the result is the
   * 'lookupHashPrefix')
   * 2. Encrypt the hash (result = 'encryptedUserCredentialsHash')
   * 3. Get back the PasswordLeak information from
   * reCAPTCHA Enterprise Create Assessment.
   * 4. Decrypt the obtained 'credentials.getReencryptedUserCredentialsHash()'
   * with the same key you used for encryption.
   * 5. Check if the decrypted credentials are present in
   * 'credentials.getEncryptedLeakMatchPrefixesList()'.
   * 6. If there is a match, that indicates a credential breach.
   */
  public static void checkPasswordLeak(
      String projectID, String username, String password)
      throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException, IOException {

    // Instantiate the java-password-leak-helper library to perform the cryptographic functions.
    PasswordCheckVerifier passwordLeak = new PasswordCheckVerifier();

    // Create the request to obtain the hash prefix and encrypted credentials.
    PasswordCheckVerification verification =
        passwordLeak.createVerification(username, password).get();

    byte[] lookupHashPrefix = Base64.encode(verification.getLookupHashPrefix());
    byte[] encryptedUserCredentialsHash = Base64.encode(
        verification.getEncryptedUserCredentialsHash());

    // Pass the credentials to the createPasswordLeakAssessment() to get back
    // the matching database entry for the hash prefix.
    PrivatePasswordLeakVerification credentials =
        createPasswordLeakAssessment(
            projectID,
            lookupHashPrefix,
            encryptedUserCredentialsHash);

    // Convert to appropriate input format.
    List<byte[]> leakMatchPrefixes =
        credentials.getEncryptedLeakMatchPrefixesList().stream()
            .map(x -> Base64.decode(x.toByteArray()))
            .collect(Collectors.toList());

    // Verify if the encrypted credentials are present in the obtained match list.
    PasswordCheckResult result =
        passwordLeak
            .verify(
                verification,
                Base64.decode(credentials.getReencryptedUserCredentialsHash().toByteArray()),
                leakMatchPrefixes)
            .get();

    // Check if the credential is leaked.
    boolean isLeaked = result.areCredentialsLeaked();
    System.out.printf("Is Credential leaked: %s", isLeaked);
  }

  // Create a reCAPTCHA Enterprise assessment.
  // Returns:  PrivatePasswordLeakVerification which contains
  // reencryptedUserCredentialsHash and credential breach database
  // whose prefix matches the lookupHashPrefix.
  private static PrivatePasswordLeakVerification createPasswordLeakAssessment(
      String projectID,
      byte[] lookupHashPrefix,
      byte[] encryptedUserCredentialsHash)
      throws IOException {
    try (RecaptchaEnterpriseServiceClient client = RecaptchaEnterpriseServiceClient.create()) {

      // Set the hashprefix and credentials hash.
      // Setting this will trigger the Password leak protection.
      PrivatePasswordLeakVerification passwordLeakVerification =
          PrivatePasswordLeakVerification.newBuilder()
              .setLookupHashPrefix(ByteString.copyFrom(lookupHashPrefix))
              .setEncryptedUserCredentialsHash(ByteString.copyFrom(encryptedUserCredentialsHash))
              .build();

      // Build the assessment request.
      CreateAssessmentRequest createAssessmentRequest =
          CreateAssessmentRequest.newBuilder()
              .setParent(String.format("projects/%s", projectID))
              .setAssessment(
                  Assessment.newBuilder()
                      // Set request for Password leak verification.
                      .setPrivatePasswordLeakVerification(passwordLeakVerification)
                      .build())
              .build();

      // Send the create assessment request.
      Assessment response = client.createAssessment(createAssessmentRequest);

      // Get the reCAPTCHA Enterprise score.
      float recaptchaScore = response.getRiskAnalysis().getScore();
      System.out.println("The reCAPTCHA score is: " + recaptchaScore);

      // Get the assessment name (id). Use this to annotate the assessment.
      String assessmentName = response.getName();
      System.out.println(
          "Assessment name: " + assessmentName.substring(assessmentName.lastIndexOf("/") + 1));

      return response.getPrivatePasswordLeakVerification();
    }
  }
}

Node.js (TypeScript)

To authenticate to reCAPTCHA Enterprise, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.


import {google} from '@google-cloud/recaptcha-enterprise/build/protos/protos';
import {RecaptchaEnterpriseServiceClient} from '@google-cloud/recaptcha-enterprise';
import {PasswordCheckVerification} from 'recaptcha-password-check-helpers';

// TODO(developer): Uncomment and set the following variables
// Google Cloud Project ID.
// const projectId: string = "PROJECT_ID"

// Username and password to be checked for credential breach.
// const username: string = "user123";
// const password: string = "1234@abcd";

// Create a client.
const client: RecaptchaEnterpriseServiceClient =
  new RecaptchaEnterpriseServiceClient();

/*
* Detect password leaks and breached credentials to prevent account takeovers
* (ATOs) and credential stuffing attacks.
* For more information, see:
* https://cloud.google.com/recaptcha-enterprise/docs/check-passwords and
* https://security.googleblog.com/2019/02/protect-your-accounts-from-data.html

* Steps:
* 1. Use the 'create' method to hash and Encrypt the hashed username and
* password.
* 2. Send the hash prefix (26-bit) and the encrypted credentials to create
* the assessment.(Hash prefix is used to partition the database.)
* 3. Password leak assessment returns a list of encrypted credential hashes to
* be compared with the decryption of the returned re-encrypted credentials.
* Create Assessment also sends back re-encrypted credentials.
* 4. The re-encrypted credential is then locally verified to see if there is
* a match in the database.
*
* To perform hashing, encryption and verification (steps 1, 2 and 4),
* reCAPTCHA Enterprise provides a helper library in Typescript.
* See, https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/typescript-recaptcha-password-check-helpers

* If you want to extend this behavior to your own implementation/ languages,
* make sure to perform the following steps:
* 1. Hash the credentials (First 26 bits of the result is the
* 'lookupHashPrefix')
* 2. Encrypt the hash (result = 'encryptedUserCredentialsHash')
* 3. Get back the PasswordLeak information from
* reCAPTCHA Enterprise Create Assessment.
* 4. Decrypt the obtained 'credentials.getReencryptedUserCredentialsHash()'
* with the same key you used for encryption.
* 5. Check if the decrypted credentials are present in
* 'credentials.getEncryptedLeakMatchPrefixesList()'.
* 6. If there is a match, that indicates a credential breach.
*/
async function checkPasswordLeak(
  projectId: string,
  username: string,
  password: string
) {
  // Instantiate the recaptcha-password-check-helpers library to perform the
  // cryptographic functions.
  // Create the request to obtain the hash prefix and encrypted credentials.
  const verification: PasswordCheckVerification =
    await PasswordCheckVerification.create(username, password);

  const lookupHashPrefix: string = Buffer.from(
    verification.getLookupHashPrefix()
  ).toString('base64');
  const encryptedUserCredentialsHash: string = Buffer.from(
    verification.getEncryptedUserCredentialsHash()
  ).toString('base64');
  console.log('Hashes created.');

  // Pass the credentials to the createPasswordLeakAssessment() to get back
  // the matching database entry for the hash prefix.
  const credentials: google.cloud.recaptchaenterprise.v1.IPrivatePasswordLeakVerification =
    await createPasswordLeakAssessment(
      projectId,
      lookupHashPrefix,
      encryptedUserCredentialsHash
    );

  // Convert to appropriate input format.
  const reencryptedUserCredentialsHash: Uint8Array = Buffer.from(
    credentials.reencryptedUserCredentialsHash!.toString(),
    'base64'
  );
  const encryptedLeakMatchPrefixes: Uint8Array[] =
    credentials.encryptedLeakMatchPrefixes!.map(prefix => {
      return Buffer.from(prefix.toString(), 'base64');
    });

  // Verify if the encrypted credentials are present in the obtained
  // match list to check if the credential is leaked.
  const isLeaked: boolean = verification
    .verify(reencryptedUserCredentialsHash, encryptedLeakMatchPrefixes)
    .areCredentialsLeaked();

  console.log(`Is Credential leaked: ${isLeaked}`);
}

// Create a reCAPTCHA Enterprise assessment.
// Returns: PrivatePasswordLeakVerification which contains
// reencryptedUserCredentialsHash and credential breach database whose prefix
// matches the lookupHashPrefix.
async function createPasswordLeakAssessment(
  projectId: string,
  lookupHashPrefix: string,
  encryptedUserCredentialsHash: string
): Promise<google.cloud.recaptchaenterprise.v1.IPrivatePasswordLeakVerification> {
  // Build the assessment request.
  const createAssessmentRequest: google.cloud.recaptchaenterprise.v1.ICreateAssessmentRequest =
    {
      parent: `projects/${projectId}`,
      assessment: {
        // Set the hashprefix and credentials hash.
        // Setting this will trigger the Password leak protection.
        privatePasswordLeakVerification: {
          lookupHashPrefix: lookupHashPrefix,
          encryptedUserCredentialsHash: encryptedUserCredentialsHash,
        },
      },
    };

  // Send the create assessment request.
  const [response] = await client.createAssessment(createAssessmentRequest);

  // Get the reCAPTCHA Enterprise score.
  console.log(`The reCAPTCHA score is: ${response.riskAnalysis?.score}`);
  // Get the assessment name (id). Use this to annotate the assessment.
  console.log(`Assessment name: ${response.name}`);

  if (!response?.privatePasswordLeakVerification) {
    throw `Error in obtaining response from Private Password Leak Verification ${response}`;
  }

  return response.privatePasswordLeakVerification;
}

checkPasswordLeak(projectId, username, password).catch(err => {
  console.error(err.message);
  process.exitCode = 1;
});

What's next