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Gmail password first character is case insensitive on mobile device

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Re: Gmail password first character is case insensitive on mobile device

#5
post #2

So they hash both versions of the password? Or how does this work?

They probably just do two password checks.

Yeah we did it this way on an app I worked on in the past, try the verbatim input and then a couple of minor variations in casing if it didn't work.

I've also found that for email fields you need to be careful to normalize the input (trim, casing) as safari had a habit of autocorrecting the first character to be a capital

Re: Gmail password first character is case insensitive on mobile device

#7
Similarly there are many sites that allow you to log in using `your password` or `your password`.swapcase() (for example, Password123 or pASSWORD123). Automatically trying a variant only costs a single bit of entropy and can greatly reduce login issues

Re: Gmail password first character is case insensitive on mobile device

#10
post #2

So they hash both versions of the password? Or how does this work?

From the first answer:

> Looks like the app is clever enough to try changing the case of the first letter if the first attempt fails.

Still, looks like a compromise between usability and security/reduced password entropy.

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