README

Slim native AES encryption/decryption on client side with Javascript and on server side with PHP

A tool to AES encrypt/decrypt data in javascript and/or PHP. You can use it for PHP only, for Javascript only or mix it together.

It uses aes-256-cbc implementation with random salts and random initialization vector. This library does not support other ciphers or modes.

This library is the successor to my previous CryptoJs-Aes-Php encryption library that required CryptoJS. This library does not require any third party dependency as modern browsers and Node now have proper crypto tools built in. Attention: This library does output different encryption values to my previous library, it cannot be a drop-in replacement.

Features

• Encrypt any value in Javascript (objects/array/etc...) - Everything that can be passed to JSON.stringify
• Encrypt any value in PHP (object/array/etc...) - Everything that can be passed to json_encode
• Decrypt in PHP/Javascript/Typescript, doesn't matter where you have encrypted the values
• Easy store and transfer the encrypted values, the encrypted output only contains hex characters (0-9 A-F)
• Small footprint: 5kb unzipped Javascript file

Install

• Bun: bun install js-aes-php
• NPM: npm i js-aes-php
• Composer: composer require brainfoolong/js-aes-php
• Or just download the latest release zip for everything at once

Requirements

• For Javascript: Any recent Browser or Node environment (15+)
• For Typescript: Use src/ts/js-aes-php.ts
• For PHP: 8.0 or above with OpenSSL extension enabled

PHP - How to use

$value = ['foobar' => 'l`î', 'emojiiii' => '😊'];
$password = '😊Blub';
$encrypted = JsAesPhp::encrypt($value, $password);
$decrypted = JsAesPhp::decrypt($encrypted, $password);

Javascript/Typescript - How to use

const value = { 'foobar': 'l`î', 'emojiiii': '😊' }
const password = '😊Blub'
const encrypted = await JsAesPhp.encrypt(value, password)
const decrypted = await JsAesPhp.decrypt(encrypted, password)

Security Notes

This library use AES-256-CBC encryption, which is still good and safe but there are (maybe) better alternatives for your use case. If you require really high security, you should invest more time for what is suitable for you.

Also, there's a good article about PHP issues/info related to this library: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16600708/how-do-you-encrypt-and-decrypt-a-php-string/30159120#30159120

Alternatives - ASCON

You may wonder if there are alternatives to AES encryption that you can use in PHP/JS. ASCON is a newer, lightweight cipher that have been selected in 2023 by the NIST as the new standard for lightweight cryptography, which may suite your needs. I have created libraries for both PHP and JS which you can find at https://github.com/brainfoolong/php-ascon and https://github.com/brainfoolong/js-ascon

Changelog

1.0.4 and 1.0.5 - 2026-05-11

This release fixes and issue with running inside bun. Also the repository moved to codeberg and github now only mirrors the codeberg repo.

1.0.3 - 2026-03-03

• fixed support for typescript 5.9+ (type errors fixed with casts)

1.0.2 - 2024-12-20

• fixed support for web workers

1.0.1 - 2024-08-14

Initial Public Release