FUNCTIONS.md

Functions Overview

This document describes the core methods in the project and explains their purpose and functionality.

1. App.java

This is the main class that drives the application by interacting with the user and initiating password cracking techniques.

main()

Pseudocode:
- Initialize Scanner for user input
- Prompt user for username
- Prompt user for shadow file path and password list file path
- Parse the shadow file to get the hashed password and salt for the given username
- Load the list of passwords from the provided password list
- Use DictionaryAttack to attempt to crack the password
- If dictionary attack fails, use BruteForce to attempt to crack the password

2. PasswordListLoader.java

This class is responsible for loading a list of common passwords from a file.

loadPasswords()

Pseudocode:
- Open the file specified in the constructor
- Read each line from the file and add it to a list of passwords
- Return the list of passwords

3. ShadowParser.java

This class parses the shadow file and retrieves the password hash for a given username.

getShadowEntry()

Pseudocode:
- Open the shadow file
- Read each line to find a match for the given username
- If a matching entry is found, parse the line to extract the password hash
- Return the shadow entry containing the username and password hash

4. DictionaryAttack.java

This class implements a dictionary-based password cracking approach.

attempt()

Pseudocode:
- For each password in the password list:
    - Hash the password using the appropriate hashing algorithm
    - Compare the generated hash with the hash from the shadow file
    - If a match is found, return the password
- If no match is found, return null

5. BruteForce.java

This class implements a brute-force password cracking technique by trying every possible combination of characters.

attempt()

Pseudocode:
- Define the set of characters to be used for brute-forcing
- Iterate through all possible combinations of characters
- Hash each combination and compare it with the target hash
- If a match is found, return the password
- If no match is found after all combinations, return null

6. HashComparer.java

This class provides functionality to compare password hashes.

compare()

Pseudocode:
- Take two hashes as input
- Compare the two hashes byte by byte
- Return true if they match, false otherwise

These methods and their respective classes make up the core functionality of the password-cracking tool.