| Format | Encryption | KDF | Iterations (default) | Vulnerability | |--------|------------|-----|----------------------|----------------| | RAR3 (old) | AES-128 | PBKDF1-like | ~2048 | Some timing side-channels, but practically secure | | RAR5 | AES-256 | PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 | 262144 | No known break |
The key derivation function (PBKDF2) intentionally slows down each password guess, forcing attackers to trade off time for attempts.
Step 1: Extract the hash Using rar2john (from John the Ripper suite):
Users often lose passwords for encrypted RAR archives. Unlike ZIP’s legacy PKZIP encryption (vulnerable to known-plaintext attacks), modern RAR encryption is robust. RAR5 uses PBKDF2 with 256,000 iterations (configurable) and AES-256 in CBC mode, making direct cryptographic breaks infeasible. Hence, password recovery relies on brute-force or dictionary-based guessing.