212 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
212 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
# LibreCaptcha
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LibreCaptcha is a framework that allows developers to create their own [CAPTCHA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAPTCHA)s.
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The framework defines the API for a CAPTCHA generator and takes care of mundane details
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such as:
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* An HTTP interface for serving CAPTCHAs
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* Background workers to pre-compute CAPTCHAs and to store them in a database
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* Managing secrets for the CAPTCHAs (tokens, expected answers, etc)
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* Safe re-impressions of CAPTCHA images (by creating unique tokens for every impression)
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* Garbage collection of stale CAPTCHAs
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* Sandboxed plugin architecture (TBD)
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Some sample CAPTCHA generators are included in the distribution (see below). We will continue adding more samples to the list. For quick
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deployments the samples themselves might be sufficient. Projects with more resources might want create their own CAPTCHAs
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and use the samples as inspiration. See the [CAPTCHA creation guide](https://github.com/librecaptcha/lc-core/wiki/Creating-your-own-CAPTCHA-provider).
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## Current Status
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The framework is stable, but since it is our first public release, we recommend using it only on small to medium scale
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web apps.
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The sample CAPTCHAs are also just that, samples. They have not been tested against bots or CAPTCHA crackers yet.
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## Quick start with Java
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1. Download the `jar` file from the latest release
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2. Type `mkdir data/`.
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(The data directory is used to store a config file that you can tweak, and for storing the Database)
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3. Type `java -jar LibreCaptcha.jar`
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4. Open [localhost:8888/demo/index.html](http://localhost:8888/demo/index.html) in browser
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We recommend a Java 11+ runtime as that's what we compile the code with.
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Alternatively,
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1. Install [sbt](https://www.scala-sbt.org/)
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2. Clone this repository
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3. Type `sbt run` within the repository
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4. Open [localhost:8888/demo/index.html](http://localhost:8888/demo/index.html) in browser
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## Quick start with Docker
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Using `docker-compose`:
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```
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git clone https://github.com/librecaptcha/lc-core.git
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docker-compose up
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```
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Using `docker`:
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```
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docker run -v lcdata:/lc-core/data librecaptcha/lc-core:1.1.0-stable
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```
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A default `config.json` is automatically created in the mounted volume.
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## Quick test
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Open [localhost:8888/demo/index.html](http://localhost:8888/demo/index.html) in browser.
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Alternatively, on the command line, try:
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```
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> $ curl -d '{"media":"image/png","level":"easy","input_type":"text"}' localhost:8888/v1/captcha
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{"id":"3bf928ce-a1e7-4616-b34f-8252d777855d"}
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> $ curl "localhost:8888/v1/media?id=3bf928ce-a1e7-4616-b34f-8252d777855d" -o sample.png
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> $ file sample.png
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sample.png: PNG image data, 350 x 100, 8-bit/color RGB, non-interlaced
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```
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The API endpoints are described at the end of this file.
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## Configuration
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If a `config.json` file is not present in the `data/` folder, the app creates one, and this can be modified
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to customize the app features, such as which CAPTCHAs are enabled and their difficulty settings.
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More details can be found [in the wiki](https://github.com/librecaptcha/lc-core/wiki/Configuration)
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## Why LibreCaptcha?
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### Eliminate dependency on a third-party
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An open-source CAPTCHA framework will allow anyone to host their own CAPTCHA service and thus avoid dependencies on
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third-parties.
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### Respecting user privacy
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A self-hosted service prevents user information from leaking to other parties.
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### More variety of CAPTCHAs
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Ain't it boring to identify photos of buses, store-fronts and traffic signals? With LibreCaptcha, developers can
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create CAPTCHAs that suit their application and audience, with matching themes and looks.
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And, the more the variety of CAPTCHAS, the harder it is for bots to crack CAPTCHAs.
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## Sample CAPTCHAs
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These are included in this server.
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### ShadowText
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### FilterCaptcha
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An image of a random string of alphabets is created. Then a series of image filters that add effects such as Smear, Diffuse, and Ripple are applied to the image to make it less readable.
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### RainDropsCaptcha
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### PoppingCharactersCaptcha
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### LabelCaptcha
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This CAPTCHA provider takes in two sets of images. One with known labels, and the other unknown.
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The created image has a pair of words one from each set.
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The user is tested on the known word, and their answer to the unknown word is recorded.
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If a sufficient number of users agree on their answer to the unknown word, it is transferred to the list of known words.
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(There is a known issue with this provider; see issue #68 )
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***
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## HTTP API
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The service can be accessed using a simple HTTP API.
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### - `/v1/captcha`: `POST`
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- Parameters:
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- `level`: `String` -
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The difficulty level of a captcha
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- easy
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- medium
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- hard
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- `input_type`: `String` -
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The type of input option for a captcha
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- text
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- (More to come)
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- `media`: `String` -
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The type of media of a captcha
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- image/png
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- image/gif
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- (More to come)
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- `size`: `Map` -
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The dimensions of a captcha (Optional). It needs two more fields nested in this parameter
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- `height`: `Int`
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- `width`: `Int`
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- Returns:
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- `id`: `String` - The uuid of the captcha generated
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### - `/v1/media`: `GET`
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- Parameters:
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- `id`: `String` - The uuid of the captcha
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- Returns:
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- `image`: `Array[Byte]` - The requested media as bytes
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### - `/v1/answer`: `POST`
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- Parameter:
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- `id`: `String` - The uuid of the captcha that needs to be solved
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- `answer`: `String` - The answer to the captcha that needs to be validated
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- Returns:
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- `result`: `String` - The result after validation/checking of the answer
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- True - If the answer is correct
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- False - If the answer is incorrect
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- Expired - If the time limit to solve the captcha exceeds
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## Example usage
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In javascript:
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```js
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const resp = await fetch("/v1/captcha", {
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method: 'POST',
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body: JSON.stringify({level: "easy", media: "image/png", "input_type" : "text"})
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})
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const respJson = await resp.json();
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let captchaId = null;
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if (resp.ok) {
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// The CAPTCHA can be displayed using the data in respJson.
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console.log(respJson);
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// Store the id somewhere so that it can be used later for answer verification
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captchaId = respJson.id;
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} else {
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console.err(respJson);
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}
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// When user submits an answer it can be sent to the server for verification thusly:
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const resp = await fetch("/v1/answer", {
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method: 'POST',
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body: JSON.stringify({id: captchaId, answer: "user input"})
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});
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const respJson = await resp.json();
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console.log(respJson.result);
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```
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***
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## Roadmap
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Things to do in the future:
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* Sandboxed plugin architecture
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* Audio CAPTCHA samples
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* Interactive CAPTCHA samples
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