Users with 8-11 character passwords could not export/restore config backups
because the export encryption requires 12+ character passphrases for security,
but the password creation UI only enforced an 8-character minimum.
This created a confusing UX where users with short passwords saw validation
errors when trying to export backups, with the only solution being to use a
custom passphrase or change their password.
Root cause:
- FirstRunSetup and ChangePasswordModal allowed 8+ char passwords
- Config export/import requires 12+ char passphrases (backend validation)
- The v4.26.4 fix added frontend validation that showed the mismatch
- Users hit client-side validation before request was sent (no backend logs)
This fix raises the minimum password length to 12 characters everywhere:
- internal/auth/password.go: MinPasswordLength 8 → 12
- FirstRunSetup.tsx: validation and placeholder updated
- ChangePasswordModal.tsx: validation, minLength, and help text updated
- QuickSecuritySetup.tsx: validation and label updated
Impact:
- New users must create 12+ character passwords
- Existing users with <12 char passwords are unaffected (can't detect from hash)
- Those users will see the existing helpful error directing them to use custom
passphrase for backups
- "Use your login password" option now works for all future passwords
This aligns password requirements across the system and eliminates the
confusing mismatch between login credentials and backup encryption requirements.
Related to #646 where user confirmed backups still failed in v4.26.5
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