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* - GUI for ''rtgen''. * - GUI for ''rtgen''.
* - MD5 online cracking. * - MD5 online cracking.
* - Free ] rainbow tables. * - Free ] rainbow tables.
* - Free online MD5 hash database. * - Free online MD5 hash database.



Revision as of 02:26, 8 October 2005

Rainbow Tables

A rainbow table is a one-way hash cracking method created by Philippe Oechslin that uses a faster time-memory trade-off technique . Lists of hashed passwords are pre-generated into files with a utility (rtgen) that allows for hashes to be cracked in a short period of time, generally less than a minute. Tables are hash specific, e.g. MD5 tables can only crack MD5 hashes.


Defense against Rainbow Tables

A rainbow table is essentially worthless against one-way hashes that include tokens (or salts, in the case of 56-bit DES). For example, if a password hash is generated using the following function (where "." is the concatenation operator):

hash = md5sum(password . token)

...a password cracker would have to generate both every possible token for every possible password -- a rainbow table would not give any benefit. However, if a password hash is generated using the following function:

hash = md5sum(password)

...a password cracker may benefit from a rainbow table.


Nearly all distributions and variations of Unix, Linux, and BSD use one-way hashes and salts, though many PHP web applications use regular MD5.


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