Decrypt a Cisco VPN Password

Cisco uses relatively weak encryption to protect user and group passwords in a PCF file, and HAL-9000 of evilscientists.de discovered and posted the algorithm. This page uses cisco-decrypt.c written by Maurice Massar for the decryption.

Reference: Cisco Security Notice: Cisco IPsec VPN Implementation Group Password Usage Vulnerability

You can find the encrypted password by opening a PCF file and taking everything on the line after enc_GroupPwd= or enc_UserPassword=. For example with the following line

enc_GroupPwd=9196FE0075E359E6A2486905A1EFAE9A11D652B2C588EF3FBA15574237302B74C194EC7D0DD16645CB534D94CE85FEC4

The encrypted password would be:

9196FE0075E359E6A2486905A1EFAE9A11D652B2C588EF3FBA15574237302B74C194EC7D0DD16645CB534D94CE85FEC4

Enter the encrypted user or group password in the field below and press the Decode button to decrypt the password.

Cisco VPN Password Decryption

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19 Responses to “Decrypt a Cisco VPN Password”

  1. lilian Says:
    January 30th, 2009 at 4:20 am

    Thanks !

    It works perfectly !

  2. Dmitry Says:
    February 13th, 2009 at 10:01 am

    Cheers, your VPN set up guide and VPN password decryption is as laconic as effective! Set up my VPN connection in 3 minutes

  3. MAK Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 1:29 am

    Thanks a million ..

  4. Derek Brown Says:
    April 15th, 2009 at 9:54 am

    This is an absolute godsend. I am running Windows 7 x64, and since Cisco won't get with the times and offer a 64-bit IPSec VPN client, I am using a third party client from Shrew. The client works well enough, but there is no PCF import. Now I don't have to try and get the PSK from the remote party anymore, and can do my own version of a PCF import :)

  5. Corey Says:
    April 17th, 2009 at 11:07 pm

    @Derek – Cisco has no plans to offer a 64-bit IPSec client either, instead they're pushing people towards their SSL VPN option, AnyConnect.

  6. Andy Says:
    April 20th, 2009 at 2:34 am

    Brilliant. Saved hours of faffing around when setting up VPN on iPhone.

    Cheers!

  7. fstyle.de » Blog Archive » University of Würzburg and Shew VPN Says:
    May 31st, 2009 at 7:26 am

    [...] here to decrypt the password from vpn-uniwue.pcf here http://coreygilmore.com/projects/decrypt-cisco-vpn-password/ (you could also copy the encrypted password to the file above at [...]

  8. Jeremy Says:
    June 9th, 2009 at 11:30 am

    Thanks! This allowed me to setup my VPN on my IPhone where I cannot use the PCF file.

  9. Joe Says:
    June 28th, 2009 at 10:37 pm

    Jeremy or others that might be interested:
    I have Cisco VPN software on home desktop to connnect to work. I can see my name but the password has asterisks. This is under group authentication. I used the decrypted password for group password. Now for Iphone cisco I also have a place for account and password. This is in addition to the group name and secret which I guess are the name that I could see and the decrypted password. I am not sure what to put in for the account and password.

  10. mister Says:
    July 12th, 2009 at 11:46 pm

    this is def a godsend. I've tried all kinds of Google searches until i stumbled onto the algorithm w/o knowing how to implement it. This way is very user friendly :)

    now I can finally use VPN on my iPhone!

    cheers

  11. Cisco VPN Client Password Encrypt / Decrypt « danejeffrey.com Says:
    July 19th, 2009 at 2:29 am

    [...] password from a PCF (profile) file. Fortunately, I recalled this was particularly simple given this [coreygilmore.com] awesome [...]

  12. marco Says:
    July 28th, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    Thanks a lot. It worked perfectly.

  13. iPhone User Says:
    September 15th, 2009 at 1:32 pm

    Thank you for making this decryption algorithm so easily accessible. You're a lifesaver for all of us with Cisco PCF files with encrypted "shared secret" passwords with IT staff not willing to share the secret.

  14. VPN on iPhone « Java Jill Says:
    September 18th, 2009 at 3:26 pm

    [...] VPN on iPhone By jill I was having a little trouble setting up my iPhone to use VPN so I could connect to work… it needed something labeled "Secret" after the Group Name.  Then I found this handy site which would decode the encoded group password from the  .pcf file  here. [...]

  15. iPhone Says:
    September 24th, 2009 at 1:54 pm

    Worked like a charm, I did this before for my iPod Touch but then I didn't find this site and had to spend a lot more time breakning it. When it ws time for configuring the iPhone I couldn't find my notes with the pwd, some googling got me here and hey presto, simple and perfect!

  16. Mustafa Gökhan Kurt Says:
    October 8th, 2009 at 6:56 am

    Hi there,

    How can i encrypted my password for cisco vpn pcf file.
    e.g
    password : my password

    encryped :905A1EFAE9A11D652B2C588EF3FBA15574237302B74C194EC7D0DD16645CB534D94CE85FEC4KJ5K6H5K6H5K65K6

    decryped : my password

    Could you please write me experience software or website.

    Thanks in advanced.

  17. Memoria de Acceso Aleatorio » links for 2009-10-12 Says:
    October 12th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

    [...] corey gilmore: Descifrar el secreto de una VPN Cisco Si tienes instalada la utilidad VPN Client de Cisco, y usas Snow Leopard, o iPhone OS 3.0, es posible utilizar el cliente nativo que proporcionan estos sistemas operativos si analizamos el contenido de los perfiles de conexión de cisco en <tt>/private/etc/opt/cisco-vpnclient/Profiles/</tt>, y seguimos las instrucciones de esta página. (tags: IT Mac OSX SnowLeopard Cisco VPNclient configuration password decryption) [...]

  18. DY Says:
    January 4th, 2010 at 10:17 pm

    Thanks a lot. It works~~

  19. schmuk Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 5:47 pm

    AWSOME! needed to set up iPHONE coreygilmore=genius!

Leave a Reply

19 Responses to “Decrypt a Cisco VPN Password”

  1. lilian Says:
    January 30th, 2009 at 4:20 am

    Thanks !

    It works perfectly !

  2. Dmitry Says:
    February 13th, 2009 at 10:01 am

    Cheers, your VPN set up guide and VPN password decryption is as laconic as effective! Set up my VPN connection in 3 minutes

  3. MAK Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 1:29 am

    Thanks a million ..

  4. Derek Brown Says:
    April 15th, 2009 at 9:54 am

    This is an absolute godsend. I am running Windows 7 x64, and since Cisco won't get with the times and offer a 64-bit IPSec VPN client, I am using a third party client from Shrew. The client works well enough, but there is no PCF import. Now I don't have to try and get the PSK from the remote party anymore, and can do my own version of a PCF import :)

  5. Corey Says:
    April 17th, 2009 at 11:07 pm

    @Derek – Cisco has no plans to offer a 64-bit IPSec client either, instead they're pushing people towards their SSL VPN option, AnyConnect.

  6. Andy Says:
    April 20th, 2009 at 2:34 am

    Brilliant. Saved hours of faffing around when setting up VPN on iPhone.

    Cheers!

  7. fstyle.de » Blog Archive » University of Würzburg and Shew VPN Says:
    May 31st, 2009 at 7:26 am

    [...] here to decrypt the password from vpn-uniwue.pcf here http://coreygilmore.com/projects/decrypt-cisco-vpn-password/ (you could also copy the encrypted password to the file above at [...]

  8. Jeremy Says:
    June 9th, 2009 at 11:30 am

    Thanks! This allowed me to setup my VPN on my IPhone where I cannot use the PCF file.

  9. Joe Says:
    June 28th, 2009 at 10:37 pm

    Jeremy or others that might be interested:
    I have Cisco VPN software on home desktop to connnect to work. I can see my name but the password has asterisks. This is under group authentication. I used the decrypted password for group password. Now for Iphone cisco I also have a place for account and password. This is in addition to the group name and secret which I guess are the name that I could see and the decrypted password. I am not sure what to put in for the account and password.

  10. mister Says:
    July 12th, 2009 at 11:46 pm

    this is def a godsend. I've tried all kinds of Google searches until i stumbled onto the algorithm w/o knowing how to implement it. This way is very user friendly :)

    now I can finally use VPN on my iPhone!

    cheers

  11. Cisco VPN Client Password Encrypt / Decrypt « danejeffrey.com Says:
    July 19th, 2009 at 2:29 am

    [...] password from a PCF (profile) file. Fortunately, I recalled this was particularly simple given this [coreygilmore.com] awesome [...]

  12. marco Says:
    July 28th, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    Thanks a lot. It worked perfectly.

  13. iPhone User Says:
    September 15th, 2009 at 1:32 pm

    Thank you for making this decryption algorithm so easily accessible. You're a lifesaver for all of us with Cisco PCF files with encrypted "shared secret" passwords with IT staff not willing to share the secret.

  14. VPN on iPhone « Java Jill Says:
    September 18th, 2009 at 3:26 pm

    [...] VPN on iPhone By jill I was having a little trouble setting up my iPhone to use VPN so I could connect to work… it needed something labeled "Secret" after the Group Name.  Then I found this handy site which would decode the encoded group password from the  .pcf file  here. [...]

  15. iPhone Says:
    September 24th, 2009 at 1:54 pm

    Worked like a charm, I did this before for my iPod Touch but then I didn't find this site and had to spend a lot more time breakning it. When it ws time for configuring the iPhone I couldn't find my notes with the pwd, some googling got me here and hey presto, simple and perfect!

  16. Mustafa Gökhan Kurt Says:
    October 8th, 2009 at 6:56 am

    Hi there,

    How can i encrypted my password for cisco vpn pcf file.
    e.g
    password : my password

    encryped :905A1EFAE9A11D652B2C588EF3FBA15574237302B74C194EC7D0DD16645CB534D94CE85FEC4KJ5K6H5K6H5K65K6

    decryped : my password

    Could you please write me experience software or website.

    Thanks in advanced.

  17. Memoria de Acceso Aleatorio » links for 2009-10-12 Says:
    October 12th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

    [...] corey gilmore: Descifrar el secreto de una VPN Cisco Si tienes instalada la utilidad VPN Client de Cisco, y usas Snow Leopard, o iPhone OS 3.0, es posible utilizar el cliente nativo que proporcionan estos sistemas operativos si analizamos el contenido de los perfiles de conexión de cisco en <tt>/private/etc/opt/cisco-vpnclient/Profiles/</tt>, y seguimos las instrucciones de esta página. (tags: IT Mac OSX SnowLeopard Cisco VPNclient configuration password decryption) [...]

  18. DY Says:
    January 4th, 2010 at 10:17 pm

    Thanks a lot. It works~~

  19. schmuk Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 5:47 pm

    AWSOME! needed to set up iPHONE coreygilmore=genius!

Leave a Reply


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