John the Ripper alternatives

Looking for an alternative tool to replace John the Ripper? During the review of John the Ripper we looked at other open source tools. Based on their category, tags, and text, these are the ones that have the best match.

Top 3

THC Hydra (password discovery)
Patator (multi-purpose brute-force tool)
hashcat (password recovery tool)

These tools are ranked as the best alternatives to John the Ripper.

Alternatives (by score)

THC Hydra (thc-hydra)

Introduction

THC Hydra is a brute-force cracking tool for remote authentication services. It supports many protocols, including telnet, FTP, LDAP, SSH, SNMP, and others.

Project details

THC Hydra is written in C.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 25 contributors
+ More than 1000 GitHub stars
+ Project is mature (10+ years)
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Penetration testing
Security assessment

THC Hydra review

Patator

Introduction

Patator is based on similar tools like Hydra, yet with the goal to avoid the common flaws these tools have like performance limitations. The tool is modular and supports different types of brute-force attacks or enumeration of information.

Project details

Patator is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 500 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Password discovery
Penetration testing
Reconnaissance
Vulnerability scanning

Patator review

hashcat

Introduction

Hashcat can be used to discover lost passwords, or as part of a security assignment. For example, it could be trying to crack a password from a password file that was obtained during a penetration test.

Project details

hashcat is written in C.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 25 contributors
+ More than 4000 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available
+ Well-known tool

Typical usage

Password discovery

hashcat review

0d1n

Introduction

0d1n is useful to perform brute-force login attempts for authentication forms. It can discover useful directory names by using a predefined list of paths. With options to use a random proxy per request and load CSRF tokens, it is a tool that can be used in different type of assignments.

Project details

0d1n is written in C.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Information gathering
Penetration testing
Security assessment
Vulnerability scanning

0d1n review

Crowbar

Introduction

While most brute forcing tools take a similar approach, Crowbar can use different methods that are not always available in other utilities. For example, Crowbar can use SSH keys, instead of the typical username and password combination. This might be useful during penetration testing when these type of details are discovered.

Project details

Crowbar is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Penetration testing

Crowbar review

Fail2ban

Introduction

Fail2Ban is an intrusion prevention software framework that protects computer servers from brute-force attacks

Project details

Fail2ban is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 2000 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Network traffic filtering
Security monitoring

Fail2ban review

IKEForce

Introduction

IKEForce is a command line utility to brute force VPN connections (IPSEC) that allow group name/ID enumeration and XAUTH.

Project details

IKEForce is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

IKEForce review

RouterSploit

Introduction

RouterSploit is a framework to exploit embedded devices such as cameras and routers. It can be used during penetration testing to test the security of a wide variety of devices. RouterSploit comes with several modules to scan and exploit the devices. The tool helps in all steps, like from credential testing to deploying a payload to perform an exploitation attempt.

Project details

RouterSploit is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 50 contributors
+ More than 6000 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Penetration testing
Self-assessment
Software testing
Vulnerability scanning

RouterSploit review

WPForce

Introduction

This toolkit is fairly new and consists of WPForce and Yertle. As the name implies, the first component has the focus on brute force attacking of login credentials. When admin credentials have been found, it is Yertle that allows uploading a shell. Yertle also has post-exploitation modules for further research.

Project details

WPForce is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

- Full name of author is unknown

Typical usage

Penetration testing
Security assessment
Vulnerability scanning

WPForce review

WPSeku

Introduction

With WPSeku a WordPress installation can be tested for the presence of security issues. Some examples are cross-site scripting (XSS), sql injection, and local file inclusion. The tool also tests for the presence of default configuration files. These files may reveal version numbers, used themes and plugins.

Project details

WPSeku is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

- Unknown project license

Typical usage

Penetration testing
Security assessment
Vulnerability scanning

WPSeku review

Wfuzz

Introduction

Wfuzz is a fuzzing tool written in Python. Tools like Wfuzz are typically used to test web applications and how they handle both expected as unexpected input.

Project details

Wfuzz is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 1000 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Application fuzzing
Application security
Application testing
Web application analysis

Wfuzz review

aiodnsbrute (Async DNS Brute)

Introduction

When a project requires resolving or guessing host names, then this tool is a great addition to the toolkit. It focuses on 'fast' by using asynchronous operations. The list of names to try is provided with a wordlist.

Project details

aiodnsbrute is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ Very low number of dependencies
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Network scanning
Penetration testing

aiodnsbrute review

dirsearch

Introduction

Dirsearch is a tool to guide security professionals to find possible information leaks or sensitive data. It does this by looking for directory and file names.

Project details

dirsearch is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 10 contributors
+ More than 500 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Information gathering
Penetration testing
Security assessment

dirsearch review

django-axes

Introduction

This tool may be used by developers that work with the Django framework. It adds a security layer on top of the application by looking at login attempts and track them.

Project details

django-axes is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 50 contributors
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Application security

django-axes review

100

Buttercup for desktop

Introduction

The typical users have at least a multitude of ten when it comes to passwords. Ensuring that every website has a unique password and remembering, is almost impossible. Passwords managers like Buttercup help with the generation and secure storage of these secrets. It is freely available and open source, making it a good alternative for commercial options.

Project details

Buttercup for desktop is written in Node.js.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 10 contributors
+ More than 1000 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Password management

Buttercup for desktop review

Confidant

Introduction

Most applications with a connection to a database or other software component, need some form of authentication. Often the related credentials are stored in a configuration file. A secret manager like Confidant will provide an alternative, by storing the details in a database. Only applications that need to access the secrets are allowed to obtain them. Often system administrators are denied access to them.

Project details

Confidant is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 1000 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available
+ Supported by a large company

Typical usage

Secrets management
Secure storage

Confidant review

KeePassX

Introduction

The database is encrypted with AES (alias Rijndael) or Twofish encryption algorithm using a 256-bit key. KeePassX uses a database format that is compatible with KeePass Password Safe.

Project details

KeePassX is written in C++.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available
+ Well-known tool

- Full name of author is unknown

Typical usage

Secure storage

KeePassX review

KeePassXC

Introduction

KeePassXC is a cross-platform platform to store sensitive data like passwords, keys, and other secrets. It has a graphical user interface and is written in C++.

Project details

KeePassXC is written in C++.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 50 contributors
+ Runs on multiple platforms
+ More than 1000 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Password management
Secure storage

KeePassXC review

LaZagne

Introduction

The LaZagne tool can be a good addition to the toolkit of pentesters or forensic specialists to recover sensitive details from systems. For a pentester, this typically means that limited access has been gained. By trying to find passwords from local applications, the step to other applications or privilege level might be possible. For example, a password that is shared among multiple services, or even finding an administrator password.

Project details

LaZagne is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ More than 10 contributors
+ More than 3000 GitHub stars
+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Data extraction
Information gathering
Password discovery
Password recovery

LaZagne review

PassGen

Introduction

PassGen is a tool to help with password dictionary attacks to guess a password. It does not perform the attack but creates the related database.

Project details

PassGen is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

+ The source code of this software is available

Typical usage

Password discovery
Password strength testing
Security assessment

PassGen review

Passmgr

Introduction

Passmgr is a simple portable password manager written in Go. It helps with storing secrets, like passwords and API keys.

Project details

TeamVault

Introduction

Storing passwords within a team security can be a challenging task. TeamVault is a password manager with the goal to be easy to use, flexible, and adhering to several security principles. These include a solid base for the data encryption, support for folders, and role-based access control (RBAC).