Wp-calypso: Vietnam phone numbers not validating for 2FA

Created on 29 May 2018 · 20Comments · Source: Automattic/wp-calypso

Adding a phone number with an initial "0" or "8" after the Vietnam country code(+84) returns a validation error for 2FA.

Steps to reproduce
Starting at URL: https://wordpress.com/
Go to Security
Click Two-Step authentication > Get Started
Select “Vietnam” in Country code
Enter a phone number in the following format(country code-phone number) : +84-XXXXXXXXXX
Click “Verify via SMS” or “Verify via App”

What I expected
To be prompted to complete the verification process.

What happened instead
I saw the error, “That phone number does not appear to be valid”. It appears we do not support numbers starting with 0 and 8 for this country code.

Browser / OS version
Chrome
Firefox

Screenshot / Video

Context / Source
612695-hc
1190225-zen

user-report

manual-testing

p1527589855000520-slack-triage

Security [Pri] High [Type] Bug

Source

pratikawari28

👍1

All 20 comments

Similar issues: #23276, #21862

From those, we found that our current check for VN numbers only allows for them to begin with a 9 or a 1.

chad1008 on 29 May 2018

Another report from the support forums.

In this case the number has changed from +84 169… to +84 39…

Based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_Vietnam#Mobile_telephone_numbers_[1]_[2] Vietnam converted all 11-digit mobile phone numbers to 10-digit instead, and it appears this has now gone into effect.

KokkieH on 19 Sep 2018

👍1

Based on this news article numbers can now start with 3, 5, 7 and 8, in addition to 9, with the implementation happening from now through July next year. Looking at the Wikipedia page it appears 6 might also be used and 1 has fallen away completely.

KokkieH on 19 Sep 2018

Hi, I am from Vietnam.

I confirm the change like what @KokkieH mentioned above. If we need any confirmation, I can provide more or verify.

Telecom providers are urging people to update numbers across services and 2FA with the following general timeline:

Between the time Sep 15 - ~Oct~ Nov 15, 2018: people can use both 10 and 11 digit numbers.
After that, people can use just 10-digit numbers.

Update: see more details in the comment below https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/25163#issuecomment-424934054

htdat on 19 Sep 2018

Report from a user of running into validation issues from Vietnam

3950579-hc
1415784-zen

anaemnesis on 19 Sep 2018

Looks like there's ongoing internal discussion in p4TIVU-98g-p2 on how to handle these.

KokkieH on 20 Sep 2018

Hi, I am from Vietnam.

I confirm the change like what @KokkieH mentioned above. If we need any confirmation, I can provide more or verify.

Telecom providers are urging people to update numbers across services and 2FA with the following general timeline:

Between the time Sep 15 - Oct 15, 2018: people can use both 10 and 11 digit numbers.

After that, people can use just 11-digit numbers.

Just want to correct your mistake, after that Vietnamese people can only use 10-digit numbers!

lutuyen on 23 Sep 2018

Based on this news article numbers can now start with 3, 5, 7 and 8, in addition to 9, with the implementation happening from now through July next year. Looking at the Wikipedia page it appears 6 might also be used and 1 has fallen away completely.

Correct. Please update Wordpress system asap so that users can use Two-step Authentication properly. Thanks.

lutuyen on 23 Sep 2018

Just want to correct your mistake, after that Vietnamese people can only use 10-digit numbers!

Thanks! Updated.

htdat on 24 Sep 2018

How's it going, guys? We need Two-Step Authentication updated for numbers starting with 7, 8, etc., to be able to be verified, please.

lutuyen on 26 Sep 2018

@lutuyen: Thanks for following up. In the meantime, I suggest these approaches:

FYI. Our team is still working on it. We do not ignore this issue.

From this article (not a goverment source but it can be trusted), the plan looks like this:

General plan:

Between the time Sep 15 - Nov 15, 2018: people can use both 10 and 11 digit numbers.
After that, people can use just 10-digit numbers.

Exact changes:

|||||
|--- |--- |--- |--- |
|Old Prefix Numbers|New Prefix Numbers|Telcom Provider|Conversion starting date (dd/m)|
|0169.66|039.66|Viettel|15/9|
|0169|039|Viettel|17/9|
|0168|038|Viettel|19/9|
|0167|037|Viettel|23/9|
|0166|036|Viettel|25/9|
|0165|035|Viettel|27/9|
|0164|034|Viettel|3/10|
|0163|033|Viettel|5/10|
|0162|032|Viettel|7/10|
|0120|070|MobiFone|15/9|
|0121|079|MobiFone|24/9|
|0122|077|MobiFone|27/9|
|0126|076|MobiFone|4/10|
|0128|078|MobiFone|7/10|
|0124|084|VinaPhone|15/9|
|0127|081|VinaPhone|18/9|
|0129|082|VinaPhone|21/9|
|0123|083|VinaPhone|24/9|
|0125|085|VinaPhone|27/9|
|0186|056|Vietnamobile|15/9|
|0188|058|Vietnamobile|15/9|
|0199.2|059.2|Gtel|15/9|
|0199.3|059.3|Gtel|17/9|
|0199.8|059.8|Gtel|19/9|
|0199.9|059.9|Gtel|21/9|

htdat on 27 Sep 2018

Thanks. But I raised my issue about 5 months ago. I have been using a number starting with 089 and the system never accepted it. The issue has still remained open up to this time and you guys still discussed it. I had to temporarily use another 11-digit instead. Now that all 11-digit numbers of my family were converted to 10-one. How can I update my number? And how long does it take you to get the system updated?
One question, does it take that long to really solve such a small problem? I remember I once managed a web and software development company and my developers only take a day to have such updated!

lutuyen on 27 Sep 2018

Please don't forget the 10-digit number starting with 089. This is not on your list since it's already a 10-digit number and there's no need to convert it. You can check it at < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_Vietnam#Mobile_telephone_numbers_%5B1%5D_%5B2%5D >
This number has already existed for about one and half years but Wordpress system has ignored it! that's why I've got verification issue with your system.

lutuyen on 27 Sep 2018

Can we know the timeline for this? We've been waiting for 6 months already!!!

lutuyen on 11 Oct 2018

Another one in 1482922-zen.

kavyagokul on 17 Oct 2018

1498768-zen

joendotcom on 17 Oct 2018

We use a forked version of the phone npm module which is out of date ( https://github.com/Automattic/node-phone/blob/master/lib/index.js#L1820 ) compared to the original ( https://github.com/AfterShip/phone/blob/master/lib/iso3166Data.js#L1812 ).

We originally forked it because of the slow pace of updates, but that seems to have changed course now.