Re:Inception: Leaking the root hash from /etc./shadow on AMD...
by e12e on Tuesday August 08, 2023 @02:17PM
(#37053283)
> Whats the security implication of leaking the root hash?
That you can try to crack the hash off-line with something like hashcat.
For a random, salted, 22 character password (roughly log2(62^22)~130 bits of entropy, no rainbow tables because of the salt) - it might not be game over.
On the other hand - if you can make an educated guess at the password - it's now trivial to check a few million variations without having to try to log in.
As other's mentioned - reading arbitrary memory is probably worse (eg keyboard buffer, getting the plaintext password if a user logs in...).
That you can try to crack the hash off-line with something like hashcat.
For a random, salted, 22 character password (roughly log2(62^22)~130 bits of entropy, no rainbow tables because of the salt) - it might not be game over.
On the other hand - if you can make an educated guess at the password - it's now trivial to check a few million variations without having to try to log in.
As other's mentioned - reading arbitrary memory is probably worse (eg keyboard buffer, getting the plaintext password if a user logs in...).