Hashcat returning multiple incorrect answers for a PDF hash

[ox1d]

Hashcat returning multiple incorrect answers for a PDF hash hashcat.exe -m 25400 -a 3 hashfile ?a?a?a?a --force --potfile-disable
i get: $pdf$4*4*128*-4*1*16*35851ee76af82bbcxxxx40cf9e5de8c3*32*1fd3a5cc45cfd678673c09f9e8ee791828bf4e5e4e758a4164004e56fffa0108*32*b15c9e6311acf6d9ec6398f07f613bf4710e91e57b9e11887d6c3f2b6a410f16:$HEX[723263652020202028757365722070617373776f72643d61411a256a667555261c543f437b6d4f29]

hex decode > r2ce    (user password=aA%jfuU&T?C{mO)

command > hashcat.exe -m 25400 h.hash -a 3  --force --potfile-disable
i get: $pdf$4*4*128*-4*1*16*35851ee76af82bbcxxxx40cf9e5de8c3*32*1fd3a5cc45cfd678673c09f9e8ee791828bf4e5e4e758a4164004e56fffa0108*32*b15c9e6311acf6d9ec6398f07f613bf4710e91e57b9e11887d6c3f2b6a410f16:$HEX[6d6433612020202028757365722070617373776f72643d7c6c703a377c2b5f76244120761b393829]

hex decode > md3a    (user password=|lp:7|+_v$A v98)

What am I doing wrong?

[DanielG]

you are using --force, that can cause a lot of problems, including finding incorrect passwords.

[b8vr]

Hashcat returning multiple incorrect answers for a PDF hash hashcat.exe -m 25400 -a 3 hashfile ?a?a?a?a --force --potfile-disable
i get: $pdf$4*4*128*-4*1*16*35851ee76af82bbcxxxx40cf9e5de8c3*32*1fd3a5cc45cfd678673c09f9e8ee791828bf4e5e4e758a4164004e56fffa0108*32*b15c9e6311acf6d9ec6398f07f613bf4710e91e57b9e11887d6c3f2b6a410f16:$HEX[723263652020202028757365722070617373776f72643d61411a256a667555261c543f437b6d4f29]

hex decode > r2ce    (user password=aA%jfuU&T?C{mO)

command > hashcat.exe -m 25400 h.hash -a 3  --force --potfile-disable
i get: $pdf$4*4*128*-4*1*16*35851ee76af82bbcxxxx40cf9e5de8c3*32*1fd3a5cc45cfd678673c09f9e8ee791828bf4e5e4e758a4164004e56fffa0108*32*b15c9e6311acf6d9ec6398f07f613bf4710e91e57b9e11887d6c3f2b6a410f16:$HEX[6d6433612020202028757365722070617373776f72643d7c6c703a377c2b5f76244120761b393829]

hex decode > md3a    (user password=|lp:7|+_v$A v98)

What am I doing wrong?

It does look weird. But I'm not sure if the (user password) part is intended. I haven't  cracked pdf's for ages.
But some hashing algos - and pdf could be one of them I think - have a lot of false positives. You should run hashcat with
--keep-guessing

[ox1d]

you are using --force, that can cause a lot of problems, including finding incorrect passwords.

--force using for ignore warnings

[ox1d]

Hashcat returning multiple incorrect answers for a PDF hash hashcat.exe -m 25400 -a 3 hashfile ?a?a?a?a --force --potfile-disable
i get: $pdf$4*4*128*-4*1*16*35851ee76af82bbcxxxx40cf9e5de8c3*32*1fd3a5cc45cfd678673c09f9e8ee791828bf4e5e4e758a4164004e56fffa0108*32*b15c9e6311acf6d9ec6398f07f613bf4710e91e57b9e11887d6c3f2b6a410f16:$HEX[723263652020202028757365722070617373776f72643d61411a256a667555261c543f437b6d4f29]

hex decode > r2ce    (user password=aA%jfuU&T?C{mO)

command > hashcat.exe -m 25400 h.hash -a 3  --force --potfile-disable
i get: $pdf$4*4*128*-4*1*16*35851ee76af82bbcxxxx40cf9e5de8c3*32*1fd3a5cc45cfd678673c09f9e8ee791828bf4e5e4e758a4164004e56fffa0108*32*b15c9e6311acf6d9ec6398f07f613bf4710e91e57b9e11887d6c3f2b6a410f16:$HEX[6d6433612020202028757365722070617373776f72643d7c6c703a377c2b5f76244120761b393829]

hex decode > md3a    (user password=|lp:7|+_v$A v98)

What am I doing wrong?

It does look weird. But I'm not sure if the (user password) part is intended. I haven't  cracked pdf's for ages.
But some hashing algos - and pdf could be one of them I think - have a lot of false positives. You should run hashcat with
--keep-guessing

"I tried running it, but I ended up with a lot of hex values. After decoding, I got outputs like:

• md3a
  (user password =
  |lp:7|+_v$A v98
  )
  
• 061028
  (user password =
  gg2DN#nT%Nx5;Mp
  )
  
• lollie02
  (user password =
  C7%9X>t!W{?;5
  )
  

Not sure if these are false positives or if I'm missing something here."

[slyexe]

--force using for ignore warnings

lol ignoring warnings about issues with your setup is most likely the cause. When using --force we cannot troubleshoot your issues because you already have underlying issues which you just decided to bypass.