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@iantho
Last active November 10, 2025 22:15
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TrueCrypt Password Hunter
"""
The MIT License (MIT)
Copyright (c) 2012-2025 Ian Thomas
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
THE SOFTWARE.
"""
import os
import string
import itertools
import subprocess
# SETTINGS ====================================================================
max_combination_size = 3
password_components_file = "password_components.txt"
truecrypt_device = "\\Device\\Harddisk1\\Partition1"
truecrypt_exe = "C:\\Program Files\\TrueCrypt\\truecrypt.exe"
# FUNCTIONS ===================================================================
def read_password_components():
if not os.path.exists(password_components_file):
raise RuntimeError("Password components file not found: '%s'" % password_components_file )
file = open( password_components_file, "r" )
password_components = file.readlines()
if not password_components:
raise RuntimeError("Password components file is empty!")
password_components = list(map( lambda s: s.strip(), password_components )) # strip trailing newlines from each line
print(f"Read {len(password_components)} password components: {password_components}")
return password_components
def find_password_combination( password_components, combination_size ):
print(f"\nTrying passwords of combination size {combination_size}...\n")
product = itertools.product( password_components, repeat=combination_size )
for prod in product:
password = ''.join(prod)
print(f"\tTrying password: '{password}'")
truecrypt_command = "\"%s\" /q /s /v %s /lT /m ro /a /p \"%s\" /b" % ( truecrypt_exe, truecrypt_device, password )
process = subprocess.Popen( truecrypt_command, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE )
return_code = process.wait() # wait until TrueCrypt has finished trying current password
( stdout, stderr ) = process.communicate()
if stderr:
print(f"Error: '{stderr}'")
return False
if return_code == 0:
print(f"\nPassword found: {password}")
return True
return False
def find_password():
password_components = read_password_components()
for i in range( 1, max_combination_size + 1 ):
if find_password_combination( password_components, i ):
return True
return False
# MAIN ========================================================================
print(f"Hunting TrueCrypt password for device '{truecrypt_device}'...")
try:
success = find_password()
if success:
print("Success!")
else:
print("Failed!")
except Exception as ex:
print(f"Fatal Error: {ex}")
@SheldonPatnett
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Simple, but saved my neck in a pinch!

Thanks!

@IanD26
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IanD26 commented Nov 9, 2025

Hi, can you update this script for the python 3.33. It does not run.
Thanks
Ian

@IanD26
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IanD26 commented Nov 9, 2025

Online I found this:

This is a Python 3 incompatibility: under Python 3, map
no longer returns a list but an interator (and you cannot call
len on an iterator). Fix: enclose the map call in list(...).

But I do not know python at all.

@iantho
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iantho commented Nov 9, 2025

Hi, can you update this script for the python 3.33. It does not run. Thanks Ian

Hey @IanD26 - yes of course, I'll take a look as soon as I can...

@IanD26
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IanD26 commented Nov 9, 2025 via email

@iantho
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iantho commented Nov 9, 2025

Hi @IanD26 - a couple of important things have changed since I last looked at this TrueCrypt script many years ago:

  • I now develop using a Mac rather than Windows
  • TrueCrypt is no longer actively maintained, and has been superseded by VeraCrypt

I already released a port of this script that is compatible with VeraCrypt. Are you able to use that updated version instead by any chance?

https://gist.github.com/iantho/78ca710215c112f152c301db198176da

@iantho
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iantho commented Nov 9, 2025

Hi again @IanD26 - if you'd prefer to try an updated version of this original script, I've just made some changes and it now appears to be compatible with Python3. Please keep in mind that I don't have access to a Windows machine with TrueCrypt, so I can't test it properly, but I think it's probably okay now!

@IanD26
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IanD26 commented Nov 10, 2025 via email

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