Formatting mask for mask attack
#1
Hello,

I'm attempting to generate a list of possible passwords for an encrypted drive password. I remember the general setup, however I'm not sure which letters I switched for numerals or symbols. The password is formatted similar to this: "Th!s !s a t3st, n0t a r3@l p@ssw0rd." So there a quite a few characters where I'm 100% certain on, and a handful that could be a symbol or a letter. Is there a good or simple way to format the mask for, for example, that example password? (EG "Th*s *s a t#st" where * can only be i or ! and # can only be # or e)

Thanks!
#2
If there are only a few substitions, hashcat's -1/-2/-3/-4 (aka --custom-charset[1234]) can help with this.

If it's more than that, generating a custom list of masks using maskprocessor might be better.
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#3
You'll need to generate an hcmask file with multiple masks to cover all of the possible positions, but honestly a rule-based attack with the appropriate substitutions might be a better approach.