MasterSafe Authenticator 1.4.0

A release about safety and everyday comfort. Nothing changes in how existing vaults are stored: they open as before.

Security

• Sign-in pause after wrong master passwords. After 5 wrong passwords in a row the sign-in screen pauses for 30 seconds, then 1, 2, 5 and 15 minutes with each further mistake. The counter survives restarting the app, a correct password resets it, and the next unlock tells you how many wrong passwords were entered. Nothing is ever deleted because of wrong passwords.
• The vault locks when Windows locks or the computer goes to sleep (on by default), and optionally when the window is minimized.
• The window can be kept out of screenshots and screen sharing (Windows, on by default; turn it off in Settings if you need a screenshot).
• A weak master password is refused when you create a vault. New master passwords are checked for length, variety, repeats, common passwords and patterns, with a live hint.
• Recycle bin, 30 days. Deleting a password moves it to the recycle bin, with its files, where it can be restored. Entries are removed for good after 30 days, or when you empty the bin.
• Linux: the data folder is now readable by its owner only (the vault file already was).
• Signed update check. Settings can look for a newer version, and "Download and verify" checks the installer's ML-DSA-65 signature and checksum against the project key built into the app, deleting a download that does not verify. Nothing is installed automatically. Looking for updates after you unlock is optional and off by default.
• The About window shows the fingerprint of the release signing key.

Added

• Password health page: weak, reused and old passwords, with an Open button for each. An optional check against known data breaches (Have I Been Pwned, off by default) sends only the first 5 characters of a password's SHA-1 hash.
• Password strength meter while you type, and entry history: the last ten versions of an entry, so an overwritten password can be found again.
• Automatic recovery backups: a minute after a change, a new recovery backup is saved to a folder you choose, and the newest five are kept. It never writes while the vault is locked or empty.
• Reminders on the codes page for a missing recovery key, an old recovery backup, an available update, and unlock methods you could add. Each has "Not now", and all can be switched off in Settings.
• Codes page: search, sort and rename (issuer and label only; the secret is untouched).
• Passwords page: sort (title, recently changed, folder), Open site (http and https only), keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+F, Ctrl+N, Ctrl+B, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+U, Delete), right-click menus, double-click to copy a password, and dragging entries onto folders.
• The folder list fits the folder names and can be resized with a divider; its width is remembered.
• Help rewritten as a task-based guide with search, and a redesigned About window with links to the article, website, source code, releases, security policy, licence and third-party notices.

Changed

• Copied passwords, codes and the recovery passphrase stay on the clipboard for 30 seconds, 1 minute or 2 minutes (your choice, 2 minutes at first); copying another secret restarts the wait.
• Updated libraries: ZXing.Net 0.16.11, Microsoft.Win32.SystemEvents 10.0, and the GitHub Actions used by the build and release workflows.

Repository

• Only the owner can change main or the v* release tags (rulesets), force-pushes are blocked, secret scanning with push protection is on, and the release workflow signs the Linux packages on a Windows runner. See SECURITY.md.