React OAuth2 with Spotify: State Not Updating and 'Security Breach Detected' Error

Question

I'm developing a React application that uses Spotify's OAuth2 for user authentication. While the OAuth2 flow appears to work (redirecting to Spotify and back to my app), I'm facing issues with the app's state management post-authentication.

Issues:

1. State Not Updating: After a successful OAuth2 flow, my app's state does not update to reflect that the user is logged in.
2. Security Breach Error: I receive a 'Security Breach Detected' error, indicating a mismatch in the state parameter, despite using the same state value for both authorization and validation.

Relevant Code: Here are snippets from my App.js and Spotify.js:

// App.js (simplified)
useEffect(() => {
  const handleHashChange = () => {
    handleAuthorization(state, setAccessToken, setLoggedIn);
  };
  window.addEventListener("hashchange", handleHashChange);
  return () => {
    window.removeEventListener("hashchange", handleHashChange);
  };
}, [state]);

// Spotify.js (simplified)
export const handleAuthorization = (state, setAccessToken, setLoggedIn) => {
  const hash = window.location.hash
    .substring(1)
    .split("&")
    .reduce((initial, item) => {
      let parts = item.split("=");
      initial[parts[0]] = decodeURIComponent(parts[1]);
      return initial;
    }, {});
  if (hash.state !== state) {
    console.error("Security Breach Detected");
  }
};

Attempts to Resolve:

• I've verified that I'm using the same state value in both the authorization URL and the validation process.
• I added debugging logs to compare state and hash.state.

Despite these efforts, the issue persists. Has anyone encountered a similar problem or can identify what might be going wrong?

Answer 1

After some trial and error, I found a solution by leveraging localStorage for state persistence. This approach keeps the state intact even through the OAuth redirection process.

Modifications in App.js and Spotify.js:

In App.js: I added a check in the useEffect hook to retrieve the state from localStorage. If found, it's used for authorization handling.

useEffect(() => {
  const savedState = localStorage.getItem('spotify_auth_state');
  if (savedState) {
    handleAuthorization(savedState, setAccessToken, setLoggedIn);
  }
}, []);

In Spotify.js: For the authorization process, I made sure to store the state in localStorage.

export const authorize = (client_id, redirect_uri) => {
  const state = generateRandomString(16);
  localStorage.setItem('spotify_auth_state', state);
  const url = `https://accounts.spotify.com/authorize?response_type=token&client_id=${client_id}&redirect_uri=${encodeURIComponent(redirect_uri)}&state=${encodeURIComponent(state)}`;
  window.location.href = url;
};

During authorization handling, I compared the stored state with the state in the URL hash.

export const handleAuthorization = (savedState, setAccessToken, setLoggedIn) => {
  // ... existing code ...
  if (hash.state !== savedState) {
    console.error('Security Breach Detected');
    setLoggedIn(false);
    setAccessToken('');
  }
  localStorage.removeItem('spotify_auth_state');
};

This solution with localStorage effectively solved the state management issue across redirects. For a detailed view of the implementation, you can check out my GitHub repository: Jammming

I hope this insight helps anyone facing a similar challenge!