Cisco Secret Password Cracker Type 5
Kum Dana
Ever had a type 5 Cisco password that you wanted to crack/break? This piece of Javascript will attempt a quick dictionary attack using a small dictionary of common passwords, followed by a partial brute force attack. Javascript is far too slow to be used for serious password breaking, so this tool will only work on weak passwords.
type 5 passwords are really hard to crack, especially since Cisco uses I think the 'salted' version of the hash. That said, if you are willing to dive into some dark hacker cracker stuff, here are two links to scripts you can use (I hope posting those links does not earn me jail time):
There is no decryption as the passwords are not encrypted but hashed. Although it's also a cryptographic operation, it's not a reversible encryption but a one-way function. All you can do is to take many different passwords, hash them and compare the result to your given hash-value. The used hash-algorithm with type 5 is salted md5 which can be computed lightning fast on modern computers. If you know that the original password is not too complex and long, it should be possible with the given tools.
The triviality in computing md5-based hashes (and also that there can be collisions) make md5-hashed passwords a bad thing and nowadays (at least in newer IOS) pbkdf2 or scrypt is often used. These are the password-types 8 and 9.
Then came an abortion, type 4 passwords. This was meant to be an implementation of PBKDF2. But there was an accident. Cisco's implementation "forgot" to add a salt, and used only a single iteration of SHA256. Under no circumstances should this be used. You are better of using a type 5 password.
Then came type 8 passwords using PBKDF2, but implemented properly. This was a huge step forward. It uses 20,000 iterations of SHA256. I consider PBKDF2 very good, but I don't use it. Basically it relies on using lots of iterations of SHA256 to provide the security. I don't use it because it is primarily SHA256 based - once again something designed to detect changes in the original data - not for storing passwords.
And lastly came type 9 passwords using scrypt. script does use SHA256, but it is just a small part of a much larger crypto algorithm - and for the first time in a very long time in the history of passwords, it was purpose built to store passwords. At last!
Nice write-up! I'm wondering why Cisco doesn't push Type 8 and 9? I remember when Type 4 was released, there were many blogposts and Cisco news proposing the new password type (before the iteration woes were known), but Type 8 and 9 were not mentioned anywhere and never saw something similiar in any release notes.
Paste any Cisco IOS "type 7" password string into the form below to retrieve the plaintext value. Type 7 passwords appears as follows in an IOS configuration file. Copy and paste only the portion bolded in the example.
Hi, I have searched and have seen many people ask and get a response where they overwrite the previous password. I want the actual password as this Cisco 2960 switch is everywhere, and can't take down the network by resetting each switch to change the password. I would like to be able to get the password from this switch because I know the rest will have the same password and I can log in and backup the current configs with no disruption. So what i'm asking is.....is this possible and if so what are the steps to do so? I'm also new to cisco only took their first training course, but will be taking more to manage this network that dropped onto my lap.
This document describes how to recover the enable password and the enable secret passwords. These passwords protect access to privileged EXEC and configuration modes. The enable password password can be recovered, but the enable secret password is encrypted and must be replaced with a new password. Use the procedure described in this document in order to replace the enable secret password.
The show running-config command shows the configuration of the router. In this configuration, the shutdown command appears under all interfaces, which indicates all interfaces are currently shut down. In addition, the passwords (enable password, enable secret, vty, and console passwords) are in either an encrypted or unencrypted format. You can reuse unencrypted passwords. You must change encrypted passwords to a new password.
Both the VPN settings mentioned above and the enable/passwd are not salted, contrary to what the hashcat.net thread suggests in Peleus's post.It is worth while checking this site: Nitrix Hash GeneratorIn there you can enter 'cisco' as the password and you'll recieve the common
From what I can tell in the docs this is a "type 6" password and this seems to be related to encrypting a pre-shared key. "type 6" seems to be an improvement over "type 7" in that there is a per-device salt, though it is reversible.
To provide an additional layer of security, particularly for passwords that cross the network or that are stored on a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server, you can use either the enable password or enable secret global configuration commands. Both commands accomplish the same thing; that is, you can establish an encrypted password that users must enter to access privileged EXEC mode (the default) or any privilege level you specify.
I'm not trying to break into anything; I'm trying to generate the appropriate "enable secret" line given a clear text password, not decode an existing "enable secret" line with a hashed password. I need this for an automated config-file generator that I'm working on (Netomata Config Generator).
I'm not sure if IOS requires you to use specific salt values, but technically there is no reason why it should as long as the string you provide in your 'enable secret' command is a valid MD5 password digest. If you have the opportunity to test, I'd be interested to know your results.
'5' means that the clear password has been converted to cisco password type 5.Type 5 password is a MD5 based algorithm (but I can't tell you how to compute it, sorry).Type 7 that is used when you do a "enable password" is a well know reversible algorithm."service password-encryption" just ensure that password will not be stored in clear (type 0)
In this guide we will go through Cisco password types that can be found in Cisco IOS-based network devices. We will cover all common Cisco password types (0, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9) and provide instructions on how to decrypt them or crack them using popular open-source password crackers such as John the Ripper or Hashcat.
Credentials are naturally the most interesting thing to look for and over the years Cisco has developed number of different methods for storing passwords in their devices. Hence the name Cisco password type.
Cisco password type 0 is basically clear text password. There is no encryption nor obfuscation. It is the oldest and the most insecure method of storing passwords in Cisco devices. It should never be used.
This password type uses Vigenère cipher which is essentially a simple alphabetical substitution encryption. The algorithm is reversible and thus it can be deciphered instantly into a plain text without any need for cracking.
There are also numerous decrypters online for this type of password. But we strongly discourage using any them in order to avoid disclosing sensitive customer information (credentials) to a third party.
This password type was designed around 2013 and the original plan was to use PBKDF2 (Password-Based Key Derivation Function version 2) algorithm. But due to an implementation issue, it somehow ended up being a mere single iteration of SHA256 without salt.
This password type was introduced around 1992 and it is essentially a 1,000 iteration of MD5 hash with salt. The salt is 4 characters long (32 bits). For modern computers this is not difficult enough and thus in many cases it can be successfully cracked.
This password type is a proper implementation of the failed password type 4. This time it really uses the PBKDF2 algorithm and 10 character salt (80 bits). Essentially it is 20,000 iterations of SHA256 and this makes it much harder to crack in comparison with the previous password types.
This password type uses Scrypt algorithm. Scrypt was specifically designed to make cracking very difficult even on large-scale cracking rigs with many GPUs or hardware ASICs. This is due to the fact that Scrypt requires large amount of memory to perform its function.
A password can refer to any string of characters or secret to authenticate an authorized user to a resource. Passwords are typically paired with a username or other mechanism to provide proof of identity.
If the threat actor knows the password length and complexity requirements of the target account, the dictionary is customized to the target. Advanced password crackers often use a dictionary and mix in numbers and symbols to mimic a real-world password with complexity requirements.
6. Implement Password Expiration and Rotation Best Practices: Here the best practices have diverged, depending on whether the passwords are for personal use and/or standard accounts or whether they are for privileged access. NIST advises to avoid changing personal, unless their compromise is in question. On the other hand, privileged passwords, should be routinely changed (rotated). The most sensitive privileged accounts should use one-time-passwords (OTPs), or dynamic secrets, which are expired after each use.