Hashcat


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.
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. It has also been compared to similar software in a Usenix publication and been described on Ars Technica.
WWW Official Site𝕏 hashcat

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. Both CPU and GPU now require OpenCL.
Many of the algorithms supported by hashcat-legacy can be cracked in a shorter time with the GPU-based hashcat. 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, 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 starting
CUDA API
OpenCL API - Platform #2
Minimum password length supported by kernel: 0
Maximum password length supported by kernel: 256
Minimum salt length supported by kernel: 0
Maximum salt length supported by kernel: 256
Hashes: 1 digests; 1 unique digests, 1 unique salts
Bitmaps: 16 bits, 65536 entries, 0x0000ffff mask, 262144 bytes, 5/13 rotates
Optimizers applied:
  • Zero-Byte
  • Single-Hash
  • Single-Salt
  • Brute-Force
  • Slow-Hash-DimensionY-LOOP
Watchdog: Temperature abort trigger set to 90c
Host memory allocated for this attack: 512 MB
$argon2id$v=19$m=65536,t=3,p=1$FBMjI4RJBhIykCgol1KEJA$2ky5GAdhT1kH4kIgPN/oERE3Taiy43vNN70a3HpiKQU:hashcat
Session..........: hashcat
Status...........: Cracked
Hash.Mode........: 34000
Hash.Target......: $argon2id$v=19$m=65536,t=3,p=1$FBMjI4RJBhIykCgol1KE...HpiKQU
Time.Started.....: Fri Aug 1 14:07:43 2025
Time.Estimated...: Fri Aug 1 14:07:57 2025
Kernel.Feature...: Pure Kernel
Guess.Mask.......: ?l?l?l?lcat
Guess.Queue......: 1/1
Speed.#01........: 1699 H/s @ Accel:354 Loops:1 Thr:32 Vec:1
Speed.#02........: 1696 H/s @ Accel:354 Loops:1 Thr:32 Vec:1
Speed.#*.........: 3395 H/s
Recovered........: 1/1 Digests, 1/1 Digests
Progress.........: 45666/456976
Rejected.........: 0/45666
Restore.Point....: 1062/17576
Restore.Sub.#01..: Salt:0 Amplifier:12-13 Iteration:11-12
Restore.Sub.#02..: Salt:0 Amplifier:12-13 Iteration:10-11
Candidate.Engine.: Device Generator
Candidates.#01...: htrecat -> hoelcat
Candidates.#02...: hepacat -> hbencat
Hardware.Mon.#01.: Temp: 53c Fan: 30% Util: 99% Core:2790MHz Mem:10251MHz Bus:16
Hardware.Mon.#02.: Temp: 51c Fan: 30% Util: 99% Core:2715MHz Mem:10251MHz Bus:8
Started: Fri Aug 1 14:07:35 2025
Stopped: 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 won first place in the KoreLogic "Crack Me If you Can" Competitions at DefCon in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2018, and at DerbyCon in 2017.