Mastering Mask Attacks in Hashcat
Published on May 15, 2023
Mask attacks are a powerful feature in Hashcat that allow you to target passwords with specific patterns. This technique is particularly useful when you have some information about the password structure or when dealing with password policies that enforce certain patterns.
Understanding Mask Attacks
A mask in Hashcat defines a pattern for passwords. It uses placeholders to represent different character types:
?l- lowercase letters?u- uppercase letters?d- digits?s- special characters?a- all ASCII printable characters
Basic Mask Attack Example
Here's a simple example of a mask attack targeting 8-character passwords that start with an uppercase letter, followed by 6 lowercase letters and a digit:
hashcat -a 3 -m 0 hashes.txt ?u?l?l?l?l?l?l?dAdvanced Techniques
You can combine masks with other attack modes and use custom charsets for more targeted attacks. Stay tuned for our upcoming posts where we'll dive deeper into advanced mask attack techniques!
Remember to always use these techniques responsibly and ethically. Happy hashing!