ASP.NET password hashing and password salt

Question

I'm creating a custom "add user" page in ASP.Net web forms and have hit a problem. I can insert all the data into the membership table but the passwords are stored in plain text and the password salt has been hardcoded.

How do i go about hashing the passwords so that users can log in (as the membership framework checks for a password hash and not a clear text password). Also, is the salt completely random or is it linked to the password hash somehow?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Marc

Answer 1

<membership defaultProvider="SqlProvider" userIsOnlineTimeWindow="15">
      <providers>
        <clear />
        <add 
          name="SqlProvider" 
          type="System.Web.Security.SqlMembershipProvider" 
          connectionStringName="MySqlConnection"
          applicationName="MyApplication"
          enablePasswordRetrieval="false"
          enablePasswordReset="true"
          requiresQuestionAndAnswer="true"
          requiresUniqueEmail="true"
          passwordFormat="Hashed" />
      </providers>
    </membership>

See the line where passwordFormat="Hashed" is mentioned. You need to work out this setting to have the password hashed. PasswordFormat has three values. You chose which one you want and configure your application accordingly.