SQLite doesn't have MD5 built in, so I'm considering using the hash function instead. I don't know much about hashing, but I can see that hash() output is numerical and of varying length while MD5() returns mixed characteds/numbers of a fixed length.
I couldn't find anything on this on stackoverflow or google.
Can hash() with salt be used to safely store passwords?
EDIT: Super embarassing mistake, I actually ment hex(), not hash() - Sorry for the error
hex() is not a cryptographic function. All it does is return the hexadecimal value of the string you pass into it. This is not a secure way of storing passwords.
You want to create a hash value before storing the password in your SQLite database. Use the PHP hash() function as other answers have suggested.
You have this tagged as PHP as well, so why not use a PHP function to accomplish what you need? PHPass seems to be hot right now as people are moving away from sha1() and md5().
You can use hash to store passwords as long as you use seed, and use individual seed for every password. The hash function creates value which is unique for a unique string (you can hash other datatypes as well) so it is a good candidate for your task.
With the php hash function you can pass SHA256 to the first parameter and it will create a strong hash of the password + salt. There is no need for extra extensions, for a web application other than a high security system like a banking site, sha256 is fine. It may even be overkill.
hash('sha256',$salt . $password);
Should do the trick. Now you can save the data in a varchar column in your database since the hash function outputs a hex string. The hash function has variable output because it can use many different hashing algorithms. the hash function with sha256 as show above, will output 64 characters in a string. Putting the salt at the beginning is better than putting it at the end, as more randomness at the beginning of hashes is better than randomness at the end.
I couldn't find anything in the SQLite docs regarding a hash() function. You may be using SQLite with some basic third-party C/C++ plugins included, or you may be using the PHP hash() function (which allows you to specify the hashing algorithm to use).
Generally, a one-way hash is a good way to store passwords, and if it's the PHP hash, used with SHA256, I see no reason why it wouldn't work for you. Just be aware that some hashing functions have demonstrated flaws; MD5 can produce predictable and exploitable collisions, and SHA1 also has theoretical vulnerabilities. SHA2 algorithms including SHA256 are based on SHA1, but have not yet been shown to suffer the same weakness.
In any case, to help ensure a unique hash, use a hashing algorithm that produces a hash equal or larger than the message; it is trivial to prove that, given a finite set of hash values, there cannot be a unique hash value for each of the set of messages larger than the hash size.
Chances are you are using the PHP hash() function, which is more then functional. I would stay away from SHA1 and MD5, as they both have vulnerabilities or known reverse-lookup tables (IE, if someone got the hashed password, they could go to many sites available online and enter that in, and it will give them a password that will, when passed through MD5 or SHA1, give the same password.)
hash(256) or hash(512) are way more than what you could probably need, so those will probably be safe. Just remember to salt your passwords. You can never be too careful.
