github-starred/better-auth
2
0
Fork 0
mirror of https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth.git synced 2026-06-10 08:47:26 -05:00
Code Issues 2.5k Packages Projects Releases 112 Wiki Activity

Forgot Password Returns 200 for Invalid Emails #398

New Issue
Closed
opened 2026-03-13 07:44:24 -05:00 by GiteaMirror · 4 comments
GiteaMirror commented 2026-03-13 07:44:24 -05:00
Owner
Copy Link

Originally created by @awesomepandapig on GitHub (Dec 14, 2024).

Is this suited for github?

  • Yes, this is suited for github

To Reproduce

  1. Send a request to /forget-password with an invalid email (ie: test@example.com).
  2. Receive 200 response instead of 404

image

Current vs. Expected behavior

Following the steps from the previous section I expect to receive an error message indicating that there is no user with the provided email. This in fact, is already the behavior on the server with the following being logged:
[Better Auth] ERROR Reset Password: User not found { email: 'test@example.com' }

I would expect a similar error to be passed in the response to the client so that users are confident that an email was sent.

What version of Better Auth are you using?

1.0.19

Provide environment information

- OS: MacOS 15.1.1
- Browser: Firefox: 133.0

Which area(s) are affected? (Select all that apply)

Server

Originally created by @awesomepandapig on GitHub (Dec 14, 2024). ### Is this suited for github? - [X] Yes, this is suited for github ### To Reproduce 1. Send a request to `/forget-password` with an invalid email (ie: `test@example.com`). 2. Receive `200` response instead of `404` ![image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8ba269ae-1b72-4a7c-96ba-c0c44c57284f) ### Current vs. Expected behavior Following the steps from the previous section I expect to receive an error message indicating that there is no user with the provided email. This in fact, is already the behavior on the server with the following being logged: `[Better Auth] ERROR Reset Password: User not found { email: 'test@example.com' }` I would expect a similar error to be passed in the response to the client so that users are confident that an email was sent. ### What version of Better Auth are you using? 1.0.19 ### Provide environment information ```bash - OS: MacOS 15.1.1 - Browser: Firefox: 133.0 ``` ### Which area(s) are affected? (Select all that apply) Server
GiteaMirror added the bug label 2026-03-13 07:44:24 -05:00
GiteaMirror commented 2026-03-13 07:44:25 -05:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@Bekacru commented on GitHub (Dec 14, 2024):

this is to avoid leaking unnecessary info. you should display something like: "If the email exists in our database, an email will be sent to your inbox to reset your password."

@Bekacru commented on GitHub (Dec 14, 2024): this is to avoid leaking unnecessary info. you should display something like: "If the email exists in our database, an email will be sent to your inbox to reset your password."
GiteaMirror commented 2026-03-13 07:44:26 -05:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@awesomepandapig commented on GitHub (Dec 14, 2024):

Hmm... I thought it may be to avoid enumeration attacks, but this conflicts with the signup behavior which responds with an error if the user already exists...
image

@awesomepandapig commented on GitHub (Dec 14, 2024): Hmm... I thought it may be to avoid enumeration attacks, but this conflicts with the signup behavior which responds with an error if the user already exists... <img width="1388" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3eb1ec2b-1108-4d47-8325-b0db98b6b922" />
GiteaMirror commented 2026-03-13 07:44:26 -05:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@Bekacru commented on GitHub (Dec 14, 2024):

there are cases where email signups are disabled, but you still want users to reset their passwords. email signups are public, so anyone can easily repeatedly attempt to register and determine if an email exists. protecting signup forms against enumeration is almost useless. But, if you’ve disabled email signups and you are using passwords only for logging in after users sign up through another method, or if the system is for internal use, it’s necessary to avoid exposing whether an email exists.

@Bekacru commented on GitHub (Dec 14, 2024): there are cases where email signups are disabled, but you still want users to reset their passwords. email signups are public, so anyone can easily repeatedly attempt to register and determine if an email exists. protecting signup forms against enumeration is almost useless. But, if you’ve disabled email signups and you are using passwords only for logging in after users sign up through another method, or if the system is for internal use, it’s necessary to avoid exposing whether an email exists.
GiteaMirror commented 2026-03-13 07:44:26 -05:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@lukebarton commented on GitHub (Aug 21, 2025):

there are cases where email signups are disabled, but you still want users to reset their passwords. email signups are public, so anyone can easily repeatedly attempt to register and determine if an email exists. protecting signup forms against enumeration is almost useless. But, if you’ve disabled email signups and you are using passwords only for logging in after users sign up through another method, or if the system is for internal use, it’s necessary to avoid exposing whether an email exists.

I'm not sure you answered @awesomepandapig's point? You say that the forgotten password feature avoids exposing whether the email address exists in the database, but you can easily check if the email exists by trying to signup with the same email and you'll get an "USER_ALREADY_EXISTS" error. It's important to prevent all the leaks, not just some of them. You can prevent the signup from leaking by returning a 200 if someone tries to sign up with the same email address.

@lukebarton commented on GitHub (Aug 21, 2025): > there are cases where email signups are disabled, but you still want users to reset their passwords. email signups are public, so anyone can easily repeatedly attempt to register and determine if an email exists. protecting signup forms against enumeration is almost useless. But, if you’ve disabled email signups and you are using passwords only for logging in after users sign up through another method, or if the system is for internal use, it’s necessary to avoid exposing whether an email exists. I'm not sure you answered @awesomepandapig's point? You say that the forgotten password feature avoids exposing whether the email address exists in the database, but you can easily check if the email exists by trying to signup with the same email and you'll get an "USER_ALREADY_EXISTS" error. It's important to prevent all the leaks, not just some of them. You can prevent the signup from leaking by returning a 200 if someone tries to sign up with the same email address.
Sign in to join this conversation.
No Branch/Tag Specified
Branches Tags
Labels
Clear labels
adapter
astro
awaiting external contributor
blocked
breaking
breaking change
bug
c-devops
core
credentials
database
dependencies
devops
devtools
docs
documentation
duplicate
elysia
enhancement
enterprise
expo
express
fastify
good first issue
help wanted
hono
identity
infra
integration
invalid
javascript
locked
maintenance
need-more-information
needs: info
needs: repro
nextjs
nuxt
oauth
organization
P0
payments
perf
platform
plugin
pull-request
Mirrored from GitHub Pull Request
 question
ready
regression
remix
security
social-provider
solid
stale
svelte
tanstack-start
tracking
version-bump
vue
wontfix
No Label bug
Milestone
No items
No Milestone
Projects
Clear projects
No project
Assignees
Clear assignees
GiteaMirror ninjasurge
No Assignees
1 Participants
Notifications
Due Date
No due date set.
Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference: github-starred/better-auth#398
Delete Branch "%!s()"

Deleting a branch is permanent. Although the deleted branch may continue to exist for a short time before it actually gets removed, it CANNOT be undone in most cases. Continue?