Query regarding Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity : Differentiating between incorrect password and unverified email during authentication

Question

I am currently working on configuring the identity system in my application using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity. I have set the 'RequireConfirmedEmail' property to true, ensuring that users must verify their email addresses before accessing the system.

However, I have encountered an issue when handling authentication scenarios where a user enters a wrong password but a valid username. In such cases, the PasswordSignInAsync method returns IsNotAllowed, indicating that the user is not allowed to sign in. However, this response does not specify whether the user is not allowed due to an incorrect password or an unverified email.

To provide a better user experience, I would like to differentiate between these two scenarios. The ideal logic should trigger a message to the user stating "Username or password is incorrect" if the user entered the wrong password. Then, we can check whether the email associated with the username is verified or not.

Here's a sample code snippet to illustrate the issue:

var user = await _userManager.FindByNameAsync(username);

var result = await _signInManager.PasswordSignInAsync(username, password, false, lockoutOnFailure: false);

if (result.Succeeded)
{
    // Authentication successful
}
else if (result.IsNotAllowed)
{
    if (!user.EmailConfirmed)// I want this condition to be !user.EmailConfirmed and Valid Password
    {
        // Handle unverified email scenario
    }
    else
    {
        // Handle incorrect password scenario
        //"Username or password is incorrect"
    }
}
else if //other auth condition

As shown in the code snippet, I'm currently unable to differentiate between the incorrect password and unverified email scenarios.

Could you please advise on the recommended approach to achieve this differentiation? I want to ensure that the correct error message is displayed to the user based on the specific authentication scenario.

Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to your response.

Answer

I found a solution now

var user = await _userManager.FindByNameAsync(username);

var result = await _signInManager.PasswordSignInAsync(username, password, false, lockoutOnFailure: false);

if (result.Succeeded)
{
    // Authentication successful
}
else if (result.IsNotAllowed)
{
   //just figure out, we can revalidate the password.
    var validPassword = await _userManager.CheckPasswordAsync(user, model.Password);

    if (!user.EmailConfirmed && validPassword)
    {
        // Handle unverified email scenario
    }
    else
    {
        // Handle incorrect password scenario
        //"Username or password is incorrect"
    }
}

By using the CheckPasswordAsync method, we can revalidate the password and differentiate between the incorrect password and unverified email scenarios.

Answer

You already know if the user credentials authenticated or not. The else if is not needed.

if (result.Succeeded)
{
    // Authentication successful
}

The following is a snippet from scaffolding Identity. If the user is authenticated then the browser is redirected to the page the user was trying to access. Add a user.EmailConfirmed branch to the logic and redirect to the page you wish to display.

                // This doesn't count login failures towards account lockout
                // To enable password failures to trigger account lockout, set lockoutOnFailure: true
                var result = await _signInManager.PasswordSignInAsync(Input.Email, Input.Password, Input.RememberMe, lockoutOnFailure: false);
                if (result.Succeeded)
                {
                    _logger.LogInformation("User logged in.");
                    return LocalRedirect(returnUrl);
                }
                if (result.RequiresTwoFactor)
                {
                    return RedirectToPage("./LoginWith2fa", new { ReturnUrl = returnUrl, RememberMe = Input.RememberMe });
                }
                if (result.IsLockedOut)
                {
                    _logger.LogWarning("User account locked out.");
                    return RedirectToPage("./Lockout");
                }
                else
                {
                    ModelState.AddModelError(string.Empty, "Invalid login attempt.");
                    return Page();
                }

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Query regarding Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity : Differentiating between incorrect password and unverified email during authentication

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