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Windows credentials

How to identify and crack a DPAPI masterkey v2 hash

Identify a DPAPI masterkey v2 hash and crack it with ready-to-run hashcat and John the Ripper commands. Fast on a GPU.

hashcat mode -m 15310John format DPAPImk

DPAPI masterkey v2 is a windows credential hash type. It is fast and typically unsalted, which makes weak passwords recoverable quickly on consumer GPU hardware. This page shows how to recognise it and the exact commands to attack it.

All identification runs locally in WebAssembly. The commands below write the hash to a local file on your machine — nothing is sent to this site.

Identifying the hash

The hash identifier on the home page detects DPAPI masterkey v2 entirely in your browser — your hash is never uploaded. A typical example looks like this:

$DPAPImk$2*1*S-15-21-407...*aes256*sha512*8000*...

Cracking DPAPI masterkey v2 with hashcat

Save the hash to a file and run hashcat in mode -m 15310. Start with a wordlist such as rockyou.txt:

echo '$DPAPImk$2*1*S-15-21-407...*aes256*sha512*8000*...' > hash.txt && hashcat -m 15310 hash.txt /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt

Add a rule set to mutate dictionary words (capitalisation, leetspeak, appended digits) and dramatically widen coverage:

echo '$DPAPImk$2*1*S-15-21-407...*aes256*sha512*8000*...' > hash.txt && hashcat -m 15310 hash.txt /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt -r /usr/share/hashcat/rules/best64.rule

Cracking DPAPI masterkey v2 with John the Ripper

John the Ripper can attack the same hash with the DPAPImk format:

echo '$DPAPImk$2*1*S-15-21-407...*aes256*sha512*8000*...' > hash.txt && john --format=DPAPImk --wordlist=/usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt hash.txt