cryptographymd5cryptographic-hash-function

Known plain text attack on MD5 encryption algorithm


I have a plain text and its cypher text. I know that the algorithm used was MD5. I want to break all cypher texts that are produced using the same algorithm.

Is there any way to do so?


Solution

  • Kerckhoffs's Principle applies here. Knowing the mathematics, and the interaction between the plaintext and ciphertext, will not let you break the MD5 hashing algorithm.

    This is due to Shannon's principles of cryptography, outlined in 1945, "Confusion and Diffusion". In simple terms, this means that any even reasonably good encryption algorithm does not show a clear relationship between the cleartext and the ciphertext.

    The short answer to your question is no, there is no way to break MD5 purely by knowing a cleartext and a ciphertext. There's no key, so you can't reverse engineer it like a simple XOR cipher.

    However, **as MD5 is a very quick, processor-light algorithm, it has been (and is still) possible to simply bruteforce a vast array of cleartext strings, then compare your target ciphertext to the resulting **rainbow table.

    This site can help you do this: MD5 Decryptor

    I will mention, however, that it's generally rare that there is a use for this outside of computer misuse, which I will strongly caution you against.

    I hope this was helpful.