Your First Password Crack¶

This guide walks you through performing your first password crack with KrakenHashes. By the end of this tutorial, you'll understand the complete workflow from setup to viewing results.

Step 1: Upload Hashcat Binary¶

First, we need to upload the hashcat binary that agents will use to perform the actual cracking.

Navigate to Binary Management¶

1. From the main menu, click Admin → Binary Management
2. Click the Add Binary button in the top right

Upload the Binary¶

1. In the upload dialog:
2. Click Choose File or drag and drop your hashcat binary
3. Supported formats: .7z, .zip, .tar.gz

4. The binary should be compressed and include all necessary files

5. Click Upload and wait for the process to complete

1. After upload, the system will automatically verify the binary
2. Status should show as verified ✓
3. Note the Binary ID for later reference

Step 2: Upload a Simple Wordlist¶

Next, let's create a basic wordlist for our first crack attempt.

Navigate to Wordlist Management¶

1. From the main menu, click Resources → Wordlists
2. Click the Add Wordlist button

Create a Test Wordlist¶

For this tutorial, let's create a simple wordlist file:

1. Create a text file named common-passwords.txt with these contents:

   password
   123456
   password123
   admin
   letmein
   welcome
   monkey
   dragon
   

2. In the upload dialog:

3. Name: "Common Passwords Tutorial"
4. Description: "Basic wordlist for first crack tutorial"
5. Type: General

6. File: Select your common-passwords.txt

7. Click Upload

Step 3: Create a Test Hashlist¶

Now let's create some password hashes to crack. We'll use known passwords so you can verify the results.

Prepare Test Hashes¶

1. Create a file named test-hashes.txt with these MD5 hashes:

   5f4dcc3b5aa765d61d8327deb882cf99
   e10adc3949ba59abbe56e057f20f883e
   482c811da5d5b4bc6d497ffa98491e38
   

Upload the Hashlist¶

1. Navigate to Hashlists from the main menu

Hashlist Management page with UPLOAD HASHLIST button highlighted, showing the interface where users can view existing hashlists and initiate new uploads

1. Click Upload Hashlist

1. Fill in the details:
2. Name: "Tutorial Test Hashes"
3. Description: "MD5 hashes for first crack tutorial"
4. Hash Type: MD5 (mode 0)
5. Client: (Optional - leave blank for tutorial)

6. File: Select your test-hashes.txt

7. Click Upload

The system will process your hashlist and show: - Total hashes: 3 - Unique hashes: 3 - Status: Active

Step 4: Connect an Agent¶

Agents are the worker machines that perform the actual password cracking. Let's connect one.

Generate a Claim Code¶

1. Navigate to Admin → Agent Management
2. Click Generate Claim Code

1. A claim code will be generated (e.g., ABCD-EFGH-IJKL)
2. Copy this code - you'll need it for the agent

Install and Configure the Agent¶

On your agent machine (can be the same as the server):

1. Download the KrakenHashes agent for your platform
2. Extract it to a directory

3. Run the registration command:

   ./krakenhashes-agent --host your-server:31337 --claim ABCD-EFGH-IJKL
   

4. The agent will:

5. Register with the server
6. Receive an API key
7. Start heartbeat communication
8. Sync required files (binaries, wordlists)

Step 5: Create and Run a Job¶

Now for the exciting part - let's crack those passwords!

Create a New Job¶

1. Go back to Hashlists
2. Find your "Tutorial Test Hashes" and click on it
3. Click Create Job button

Configure the Job¶

You have three options for creating jobs:

Start the Job¶

1. Review your settings
2. Click Create Job

The job will be: - Added to the queue - Assigned to an available agent - Started automatically

Step 6: Monitor Progress¶

View Job Status¶

1. Navigate to Jobs from the main menu
2. Find your job in the list

You'll see: - Status: Running 🔄 - Progress: Percentage complete - Speed: Hashes per second - Time: Elapsed and estimated remaining

Real-time Updates¶

The dashboard updates in real-time showing: - Candidates tested - Passwords cracked - Current speed - Agent assignment

Step 7: View Results¶

Once the job completes (should be quick for this tutorial):

Check the Results¶

1. Go back to your hashlist
2. You'll see the status has updated:
3. Cracked: 3/3 (100%)
4. Status indicators next to each hash

View Cracked Passwords¶

1. Click on a cracked hash to see details
2. The plaintext password will be displayed
3. You should see:
4. 5f4dcc3b5aa765d61d8327deb882cf99 → password
5. e10adc3949ba59abbe56e057f20f883e → 123456
6. 482c811da5d5b4bc6d497ffa98491e38 → password123

Hashlist view showing successfully cracked passwords with their plaintext values revealed

Export Results¶

1. Click Export button
2. Choose format:
3. CSV: For spreadsheets
4. JSON: For programming

5. Hashcat Potfile: hash:plain format

6. Download includes:

7. Original hashes
8. Cracked plaintexts
9. Crack timestamps
10. Metadata

Understanding What Happened¶

Let's review the complete workflow:

graph LR
    A[Upload Binary] --> B[Upload Wordlist]
    B --> C[Create Hashlist]
    C --> D[Connect Agent]
    D --> E[Create Job]
    E --> F[Agent Executes]
    F --> G[View Results]

Key Concepts¶

1. Hashcat Binary: The actual cracking engine
2. Agents download and use this

3. Supports many hash types and attack modes

4. Wordlists: Lists of potential passwords

5. Can be general or targeted

6. Quality matters more than quantity

7. Hashlists: Your target hashes to crack

8. Organized by hash type

9. Can contain thousands or millions

10. Agents: Distributed workers

11. Can be anywhere with internet
12. Automatically sync files

13. Report progress in real-time

14. Jobs: Work assignments

15. Define what to try (wordlists, rules, masks)
16. Can be simple or complex workflows
17. Automatically distributed to agents

Main dashboard view showing hashlist management with crack statistics and job execution interface - what you'll see after completing your first successful password crack

Next Steps¶

Now that you've completed your first crack:

1. Try More Complex Attacks¶

• Add Rules: Transform wordlists (password → Password123!)
• Use Masks: Pattern-based attacks (?u?l?l?l?d?d?d?d)
• Combination Attacks: Combine multiple wordlists

2. Scale Up¶

• Add More Agents: Distribute work across multiple machines
• Use GPUs: Dramatically increase cracking speed
• Upload Larger Wordlists: Try rockyou.txt or custom lists

3. Create Workflows¶

Build multi-stage attacks: 1. Quick dictionary attack 2. Dictionary with rules 3. Targeted masks 4. Brute force (last resort)

4. Explore Features¶

• Client Management: Organize hashlists by client/project
• Scheduling: Control when agents run jobs
• Retention Policies: Automatic cleanup of old data
• Team Collaboration: Share access with team members

Troubleshooting¶

Common Issues¶

Summary¶

Congratulations! You've successfully:

• ✅ Uploaded a hashcat binary
• ✅ Created a wordlist
• ✅ Uploaded target hashes
• ✅ Connected an agent
• ✅ Ran a cracking job
• ✅ Retrieved cracked passwords

You now understand the fundamental workflow of KrakenHashes. From here, you can scale up to crack real-world password hashes with more sophisticated attacks and distributed agents.

Additional Resources¶

• Understanding Hash Types
• Building Better Wordlists
• Advanced Attack Strategies
• Agent Deployment Guide