aeondave/name-that-hash

Name-That-Hash

Cheap ambiguity reduction before you waste hours cracking the wrong thing.

When to use Name-That-Hash

Use it when you need to:

• identify likely algorithms for unknown hash strings
• distinguish similar-looking formats before choosing a cracking mode
• generate a short candidate list for john or hashcat

Quick Start

# Identify a single hash
name-that-hash 5f4dcc3b5aa765d61d8327deb882cf99

# Short alias if installed
nth 5f4dcc3b5aa765d61d8327deb882cf99

Practical Workflow

1. Feed the observed hash string to the tool.
2. Review the ranked candidate algorithms.
3. Use surrounding context to prune the list: length, prefix, salt markers, application source.
4. Pass the best candidate into john or hashcat with an explicit format/mode.

Practical Notes

• Identification is strongest when you also know the source application or file type.
• Treat output as candidate ranking, not certainty.
• Combine with archive/file-specific extractors such as zip2john, keepass2john, or PDF tools when the source is known.

Caveats

• Many formats share the same length and alphabet.
• Salted, truncated, or application-wrapped hashes can confuse generic identification.
• Do not skip context; it is often more valuable than the string alone.

Resources

No bundled scripts/, references/, or assets/. Use the upstream project docs for current aliases, input modes, and output interpretation.