phosphat-report-app/ENCRYPTION_FIX_SUMMARY.md

Encryption Fix Summary

Problem

The application was failing in production with the error:

Decryption error: TypeError: crypto.createDecipher is not a function

This occurred because crypto.createDecipher and crypto.createCipher have been deprecated and removed in newer versions of Node.js.

Root Cause

• Local Development: Running on older Node.js version that still supports deprecated crypto methods
• Production (Dokploy): Running on newer Node.js version where these methods have been removed
• Deprecated Methods: crypto.createCipher() and crypto.createDecipher() are no longer available

Solution Implemented

1. Updated Encryption Methods

• Before: Used crypto.createCipher(algorithm, key)
• After: Using crypto.createCipheriv(algorithm, key, iv) with proper IV (Initialization Vector)

2. Backward Compatibility

• Added legacy decryption support for existing encrypted data
• Graceful fallback handling for corrupted or unreadable data
• Migration utility to convert old format to new format

3. Enhanced Error Handling

• Mail settings page won't crash if decryption fails
• Returns empty password instead of crashing the application
• Comprehensive error logging for debugging

4. New Encryption Format

• Format: IV:EncryptedData (both in hex)
• Algorithm: AES-256-CBC with random IV for each encryption
• Security: Each encryption uses a unique IV for better security

Files Modified

1. app/utils/encryption.server.ts

• ✅ Updated encrypt() to use crypto.createCipheriv()
• ✅ Updated decrypt() to use crypto.createDecipheriv()
• ✅ Added backward compatibility for legacy encrypted data
• ✅ Added migration utility migrateEncryption()
• ✅ Enhanced error handling and validation
• ✅ Added format detection functions

2. app/routes/mail-settings.tsx

• ✅ Added graceful error handling in loader
• ✅ Enhanced action to handle password migration
• ✅ Better error messages for users

3. app/routes/test-encryption.tsx

• ✅ Added migration testing
• ✅ Enhanced test coverage
• ✅ Added environment information display

4. .env.dokploy

• ✅ Added missing ENCRYPTION_KEY environment variable

Key Features

1. Migration Support

// Automatically handles legacy format
const decrypted = decrypt(encryptedPassword); // Works with both old and new formats
const migrated = migrateEncryption(oldEncryptedData); // Converts to new format

2. Format Detection

isEncrypted(text)      // Detects new format (contains ':')
isLegacyEncrypted(text) // Detects old format (hex only)

3. Graceful Degradation

• If decryption fails, returns original text instead of crashing
• Mail settings page shows masked password if decryption fails
• Comprehensive error logging for debugging

Environment Variables Required

Production (.env.dokploy)

ENCRYPTION_KEY=production-secure-encryption-key!

Important: The encryption key should be exactly 32 characters for optimal security.

Testing

1. Test Encryption Route

Visit /test-encryption (Super Admin only) to verify:

• ✅ Basic encryption/decryption works
• ✅ Migration functionality works
• ✅ Different password types work
• ✅ Environment information is correct

2. Mail Settings

• ✅ Existing encrypted passwords are handled gracefully
• ✅ New passwords are encrypted with new format
• ✅ Settings can be saved and loaded without errors

Deployment Steps

1. Update Environment Variables

Make sure ENCRYPTION_KEY is set in your Dokploy environment variables:

ENCRYPTION_KEY=your-32-character-encryption-key

2. Deploy Updated Code

The updated encryption utility will:

• Handle existing encrypted data automatically
• Use new encryption format for new data
• Provide backward compatibility

3. Verify Functionality

1. Check mail settings page loads without errors
2. Test saving mail settings
3. Visit /test-encryption to verify encryption works
4. Check application logs for any encryption errors

Security Improvements

1. Better Encryption

• Uses proper IV (Initialization Vector) for each encryption
• More secure than the deprecated methods
• Each encrypted value is unique even for same input

2. Forward Compatibility

• Code is compatible with current and future Node.js versions
• No dependency on deprecated crypto methods

3. Error Resilience

• Application won't crash due to encryption issues
• Graceful handling of corrupted encrypted data
• Comprehensive error logging

Node.js Version Compatibility

• ✅ Node.js 16+: Full support
• ✅ Node.js 18+: Full support
• ✅ Node.js 20+: Full support
• ❌ Node.js 14 and below: May have issues with deprecated methods

The fix ensures your application works reliably across different Node.js versions in various deployment environments.