What is the best practice for generating and sending passwords via email in PHP?

When generating and sending passwords via email in PHP, it is crucial to ensure the security of the password during transmission. To achieve this, it is recommended to generate a random, secure password, hash it using a strong hashing algorithm like bcrypt, and then send it via email using a secure method such as TLS encryption. Additionally, it is good practice to prompt the user to change their password upon first login for added security. 

<?php

// Generate a random password
$password = bin2hex(random_bytes(8));

// Hash the password using bcrypt
$hashedPassword = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT);

// Send the password via email using a secure method
$to = "user@example.com";
$subject = "Your new password";
$message = "Your password is: " . $password;
$headers = "From: admin@example.com\r\n";
$headers .= "Content-type: text/html\r\n";

// Send the email
mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers);

// Prompt the user to change their password upon first login
// This can be done by setting a flag in the database and checking it upon login
?>

Keywords

password hashing password reset email sending PHPMailer security vulnerability

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