Hashcat

Last updated
Hashcat
Developer(s) Jens 'atom' Steube, Gabriele 'matrix' Gristina
Stable release
6.2.6 [1]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg / 2 September 2022;2 years ago (2 September 2022)
Repository github.com/hashcat/hashcat
Operating system Cross-platform
Type Password cracking
License MIT License
Website www.hashcat.net OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Hashcat is a password recovery tool. It had a proprietary code base until 2015, but was then released as open source software. Versions are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Examples of hashcat-supported hashing algorithms are LM hashes, MD4, MD5, SHA-family and Unix Crypt formats as well as algorithms used in MySQL and Cisco PIX.

Contents

Hashcat has received publicity because it is partly based on flaws in other software discovered by its creator. An example was a flaw in 1Password's password manager hashing scheme. [2] It has also been compared to similar software in a Usenix publication [3] and been described on Ars Technica. [4]

Variants

Previously, two variants of hashcat existed:

With the release of hashcat v3.00, the GPU and CPU tools were merged into a single tool called hashcat. The CPU-only version became hashcat-legacy. [5] Both CPU and GPU now require OpenCL.

Many of the algorithms supported by hashcat-legacy (such as MD5, SHA1, and others) can be cracked in a shorter time with the GPU-based hashcat. [6] However, not all algorithms can be accelerated by GPUs. Bcrypt is an example of this. Due to factors such as data-dependent branching, serialization, and memory (and more), oclHashcat/cudaHashcat weren't catchall replacements for hashcat-legacy.

hashcat-legacy is available for Linux, OSX and Windows. hashcat is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux with GPU, CPU and generic OpenCL support which allows for FPGAs and other accelerator cards.

Sample output

hashcat (v7.0.0) startingCUDA API (CUDA 12.9)====================* Device #01: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, 23687/24080 MB, 128MCU* Device #02: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, 23687/24080 MB, 128MCUOpenCL API (OpenCL 3.0 CUDA 12.9.76) - Platform #2 [NVIDIA Corporation]=======================================================================* Device #04: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, skipped* Device #05: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, skippedMinimum password length supported by kernel: 0Maximum password length supported by kernel: 256Minimum salt length supported by kernel: 0Maximum salt length supported by kernel: 256Hashes: 1 digests; 1 unique digests, 1 unique saltsBitmaps: 16 bits, 65536 entries, 0x0000ffff mask, 262144 bytes, 5/13 rotatesOptimizers applied:* Zero-Byte* Single-Hash* Single-Salt* Brute-Force* Slow-Hash-DimensionY-LOOPWatchdog: Temperature abort trigger set to 90cHost memory allocated for this attack: 512 MB (164979 MB free)$argon2id$v=19$m=65536,t=3,p=1$FBMjI4RJBhIykCgol1KEJA$2ky5GAdhT1kH4kIgPN/oERE3Taiy43vNN70a3HpiKQU:hashcat  Session..........: hashcatStatus...........: CrackedHash.Mode........: 34000 (Argon2)Hash.Target......: $argon2id$v=19$m=65536,t=3,p=1$FBMjI4RJBhIykCgol1KE...HpiKQUTime.Started.....: Fri Aug  1 14:07:43 2025 (14 secs)Time.Estimated...: Fri Aug  1 14:07:57 2025 (0 secs)Kernel.Feature...: Pure Kernel (password length 0-256 bytes)Guess.Mask.......: ?l?l?l?lcat [7]Guess.Queue......: 1/1 (100.00%)Speed.#01........:     1699 H/s (17.23ms) @ Accel:354 Loops:1 Thr:32 Vec:1Speed.#02........:     1696 H/s (17.21ms) @ Accel:354 Loops:1 Thr:32 Vec:1Speed.#*.........:     3395 H/sRecovered........: 1/1 (100.00%) Digests (total), 1/1 (100.00%) Digests (new)Progress.........: 45666/456976 (9.99%)Rejected.........: 0/45666 (0.00%)Restore.Point....: 1062/17576 (6.04%)Restore.Sub.#01..: Salt:0 Amplifier:12-13 Iteration:11-12Restore.Sub.#02..: Salt:0 Amplifier:12-13 Iteration:10-11Candidate.Engine.: Device GeneratorCandidates.#01...: htrecat -> hoelcatCandidates.#02...: hepacat -> hbencatHardware.Mon.#01.: Temp: 53c Fan: 30% Util: 99% Core:2790MHz Mem:10251MHz Bus:16Hardware.Mon.#02.: Temp: 51c Fan: 30% Util: 99% Core:2715MHz Mem:10251MHz Bus:8Started: Fri Aug  1 14:07:35 2025Stopped: Fri Aug  1 14:07:58 2025

Attack types

Hashcat offers multiple attack modes for obtaining effective and complex coverage over a hash's keyspace. These modes are:

The traditional bruteforce attack is considered outdated, and the Hashcat core team recommends the Mask-Attack as a full replacement.

Competitions

Team Hashcat [9] (the official team of the Hashcat software composed of core Hashcat members) won first place in the KoreLogic "Crack Me If you Can" Competitions at DefCon in 2010, [10] 2012, 2014, [11] 2015, [12] and 2018, and at DerbyCon in 2017.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Release 6.2.6". 2 September 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "On hashcat and strong Master Passwords as your best protection". Passwords. Agile Bits. 16 April 2013.
  3. ↑ Ur, Blase (12 August 2015). "Measuring Real-World Accuracies and Biases in Modeling Password Guessability" (PDF). Proceedings of the 24th USENIX Security Symposium.
  4. ↑ Goodin, Dan (26 August 2013). ""thereisnofatebutwhatwemake" - Turbo-charged cracking comes to long passwords". Ars Technica . Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "hashcat v3.00". Hashcat. Hashcat project. 29 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "Recent Developments in Password Cracking". Passwords. Bruce Schneier. 19 September 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Hashcat [hashcat wiki]".
  8. ↑ "PRINCE: modern password guessing algorithm" (PDF). Hashcat site. Hashcat. 8 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Team Hashcat
  10. ↑ ""Crack Me If You Can" - DEFCON 2010". contest-2010.korelogic.com. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "Crack Me If You Can 2014 Contest". KoreLogic Security.
  12. ↑ "Another trophy in the Pocket! Win @ CMIYC contest 2015". hashcat.net. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

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