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Seeking Advice for VeraCrypt Password Recovery - Printable Version

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Seeking Advice for VeraCrypt Password Recovery - Rannek - 06-16-2023

Hi there!

Just a bit of background: a year ago, I changed my VeraCrypt password and unfortunately, i forgot it. I've been attempting to recover it for the past six months using cloud GPUs, but without any success so far.

Here's what I can recollect about my password structure:
  • It starts with a numerical sequence, ~45 characters long. I know this sequence 100%
  • There might be a space after this.
  • Following that, we have a password string, an underscore, and a number.
  • This pattern (space, password string, underscore, number) repeats once more.
  • So, it's a long numerical string followed by the password potentially repeated twice, with a space possibly separating them. I'm confident about these. I also remember the PIM. I don't remember the hash mode, but I've tested all available modes.

Major difficulty is creating a custom dictionary that balances cracking time with good combinations. The other is the slow cracking speed, where, if lucky, I'm achieving 500-1000 hashes/s with cloud GPUs. Unfortunately, despite these attempts, I could not recover it. 

Up until now, here's what I've done:

  1. Reviewed my password list and generated all possible combinations.
  2. Made a dictionary from scratch for dictionary attack, but with no luck.
  3. Tried to generate combinations for the possible space and the numbers following the 45 character sequence.
  4. Applied every password that I could remember.


Are there any advanced techniques or methods I haven't tried yet that could help crack the password? Would it be advisable to hire a professional password recovery service? I am not a professional. 

Is there still a realistic chance of recovering my password, given what I've tried so far?

I understand this is a complex issue and I apologize if it's beyond the scope of this forum. 

Thanks in advance for your time and expertise.

RE: Seeking Advice for VeraCrypt Password Recovery - lapsikmees - 06-16-2023

I would try mask -1 " "?d_"string" 45character?1?1?1?1 --increment

I don't understand what you mean by string, english is not my mother tongue.

RE: Seeking Advice for VeraCrypt Password Recovery - Rannek - 06-20-2023

Rocking with 7 H/s on an RTX3090. Wish me luck. Pim value is around 7000.

We're talking a laughable 7 H/s. Yes, you're reading that correctly. 7 hashes per second. Not 7k. Not 7M. Just 7.

For perspective, imagine your sports car suddenly running like a moped. That's my GPU dealing with Streebog.

But hey, who doesn’t love a good challenge? Wish me luck, or send more GPUs Big Grin

[Image: Cfgz1O8.png]

RE: Seeking Advice for VeraCrypt Password Recovery - marc1n - 06-20-2023

One RTX 4090 and you got 300 H/s on this hash
Rent on Vast.ai

RE: Seeking Advice for VeraCrypt Password Recovery - Rannek - 06-20-2023

(06-20-2023, 03:56 PM)marc1n Wrote: One RTX 4090 and you got 300 H/s on this hash
Rent on Vast.ai

Not with high PIM. Higher the pim value the slower the cracking is. Streebog with high PIM is a nightmare. Even with 4090 it would not reach 100 H/s maybe 20-30. I am using a high PIM over 7000. The default PIM is 485. This is a hardcore Russian hash function. It was introduced as a standard under GOST R 34.11-2012, replacing the older GOST

But i tried different approach than raw hash speed. I tried to narrow my word list as much as possible.

Started with a 20 GB txt file and now i am optimized it to 10 MB.

RE: Seeking Advice for VeraCrypt Password Recovery - Rannek - 06-20-2023

Streebog exhausted. I've made a list of every password combo I could think of, and still, nothing. What on earth could I have set as the password for this container? It's so annoying. I've tried every password I can possibly remember and even potential passwords I might come up with in the next five years. LOL.
Upper case, lower case, with or without underscores, spaces, different numbers... still nothing Sad
Backup hash:
  • SHA512 - X
  • SHA256 - X
  • Whirlpool - X
  • Streebog - X

Main hash:
  • Whirlpool X
  • SHA512 X
  • Streebog X
  • SHA256 ?


RE: Seeking Advice for VeraCrypt Password Recovery - slyexe - 06-21-2023

If you are unsure of your progress, it is always smart to create a replication of the hash you're attempting to crack with a KNOWN password. That way you can make sure you are extracting the hash correctly and hardware is working correctly without any issues.

Otherwise, have to keep altering your wordlist until the proper result is found!

RE: Seeking Advice for VeraCrypt Password Recovery - Rannek - 06-21-2023

(06-21-2023, 01:27 AM)slyexe Wrote: If you are unsure of your progress, it is always smart to create a replication of the hash you're attempting to crack with a KNOWN password. That way you can make sure you are extracting the hash correctly and hardware is working correctly without any issues.

Otherwise, have to keep altering your wordlist until the proper result is found!

That's certainly a valuable tip! I duplicated a test hash successfully, but my local PC can't seem to crack Whirlpool. So, it's definitely worthwhile to validate if everything operates correctly before investing hundreds of dollars into a cloud GPU. Hashcat's self-test is beneficial too, but if you truly want to ensure everything is functioning properly, self-testing is the best approach.

I'm sure my password is within the list. I suspect it may have an XTS larger than 512 bit. However, Streebog or Whirlpool with high PIM and a 1536 bit XTS? Wow, that could potentially cost $500-600 to crack within a reasonable time frame, say 1-2 days. Renting 8-12 RTX 4090s is the maximum I can manage on Vast.ai, and that charges $5-10 per hour.

I will update my progress, but this could take weeks or months, or just 1 day. No one really knows.

If I can't crack the hash, it's no problem. It's not as if I have 1,000,000 USD in Bitcoin on it or something like that. At least, I verified VeraCrypt is really secure Big Grin

RE: Seeking Advice for VeraCrypt Password Recovery - Rannek - 07-09-2023

Just a quick update, no luck so far. I have tried 10-20 GB custom pw combo, no luck. It feels like a gamble. Every time i start hashcat it's like a slot machine and CRACKED message is like the jackpot. Very weird feelings.

RE: Seeking Advice for VeraCrypt Password Recovery - Rannek - 07-09-2023

Sorry for the double post, i could not edit my last one. I made a cost breakdown to help anyone dealing with veracrypt. And help calculate your costs based on wordlist length.

GPU RTX 4090 - 109.6 TFLOPS
GPU Cost: 0.330/hr

Wordlist length: 110 999 792 lines
PIM value: ~4000

Code:
Algorithm.....................| Time.................| Total Hours | Cost per Hour | Total Cost
------------------------------|----------------------|-------------|---------------|-----------
SHA512 + XTS 512 bit..........| 2 days 8 hours...... | 56..........| $0.330........| $18.48
SHA512 + XTS 1024 bit.........| 3 days 15 hours..... | 87..........| $0.330........| $28.71
SHA512 + XTS 1536 bit.........| 5 days 6 hours...... | 126.........| $0.330........| $41.58
Whirlpool + XTS 512 bit.......| 14 days 17 hours.... | 353.........| $0.330........| $116.49
Whirlpool + XTS 1024 bit......| 29 days 18 hours.... | 714.........| $0.330........| $235.62
Whirlpool + XTS 1536 bit......| 45 days 21 hours.... | 1101........| $0.330........| $363.33
Streebog-512 + XTS 512 bit....| 38 days 14 hours.... | 926.........| $0.330........| $305.58
Streebog-512 + XTS 1024 bit...| 77 days 5 hours..... | 1849........| $0.330........| $610.17
Streebog-512 + XTS 1536 bit...| 116 days 11 hours... | 2795........| $0.330........| $922.35