TL;DR
You have a hash that starts with ‘$y$’. This almost certainly indicates a SHA-512 password hash generated by OpenBSD or FreeBSD. We’ll show you how to confirm this and potentially crack it if needed.
Identifying the Hash Type
- Understand the Format: Hashes starting with ‘$y$’ typically follow this structure:
$y$round$salt$hash- Round: The number of hashing rounds (e.g., 10, 12). Higher numbers are more secure but take longer to crack.
- Salt: A random string used to make each password hash unique even if the passwords are the same.
- Hash: The actual SHA-512 hash value.
- Confirm with
identify(hashcat): Use the hashcat utility to identify the hash type.hashcat --help | grep '$y$'This command will show you that ‘$y$’ is recognised as OpenBSD/FreeBSD SHA-512.
- Example: Let’s say your hash is
$y$10$abcdefghijklmnop$somehashvalue.- Round = 10
- Salt = abcdefghijklmnop
- Hash = somehashvalue
Cracking the Hash (if needed)
If you have permission to attempt cracking, here’s how using hashcat:
ol>
hashcat -m 3200 --wordlist /path/to/your/wordlist.txt '$y$10$abcdefghijklmnop$somehashvalue' Replace /path/to/your/wordlist.txt with the actual path to your wordlist file.
hashcat -m 3200 --wordlist /path/to/your/wordlist.txt --rules /path/to/your/ruleset.rule '$y$10$abcdefghijklmnop$somehashvalue' Replace /path/to/your/ruleset.rule with the path to your rules file.
hashcat -m 3200 --attack-mode 0 -a 0 /path/to/your/mask '$y$10$abcdefghijklmnop$somehashvalue' Replace /path/to/your/mask with a mask file defining the character set and length.
Important Considerations
- Legal Implications: Only attempt to crack hashes you have explicit permission to test. Unauthorized access is illegal.
- Computational Resources: Cracking passwords requires significant computing power (GPU recommended).
- Password Strength: The strength of the password and the number of hashing rounds significantly impact cracking time.