Recover password

[Partha Mandayam]

Is there any way to find the password of a VBA project?

 

[Jezebel]

Only brute-force password-cracking.

 

[Partha Mandayam]

arethere any free utilities for this?

Only brute-force password-cracking.

 

[Kemosabe]

arethere any free utilities for this?

I doubt it, but you can do a Google search to find out. There are
expensive utilities such as the Passware Password Kit. You would pay
a lot of money for that one, and of course I can't recommend searching
or putting a request into a warez group for that. Let us know if you
turn up a free one in your search. And of course it should only be
used to unlock your own forgotten passwords, not somebody else's
project.

 

[Jezebel]

There wouldn't be much point in having the password at all if it were easy
to defeat.

I've not seen any free utilities, and the paid services are not businesses I
would trust with my credit card details.

 

[Kemosabe]

There wouldn't be much point in having the password at all if it were easy
to defeat.

Believe me, the Passware Kit can break a VBA password instantly. But
I don't recommend that unless it's your own forgotten password.

I've not seen any free utilities, and the paid services are not businesses I
would trust with my credit card details.

I know what you mean.

 

[Ken Wan]

If passwords can be broken easily, why should there be passwords? Microsoft
should do something to make VBA project passwords more secure.

 

[Jezebel]

Actually, I'm very sceptical about the 'immediately'. All the reviews I've
read suggest that cracking is possible only if the password was short. I'd
be very interested to hear from someone's who's actually paid the money and
tried it (as opposed to Kemosabe's who are trying to sell it).

 

[Kemosabe]

Actually, I'm very sceptical about the 'immediately'. All the reviews I've
read suggest that cracking is possible only if the password was short. I'd
be very interested to hear from someone's who's actually paid the money and
tried it (as opposed to Kemosabe's who are trying to sell it).

I'm not trying to sell anything. I merely said that it could be done,
instantly. And it can. And yes, Microsoft should do something about
it, but they haven't. Have a read of some of Steve Gibson's articles
on his web site http://grc.com/ and you will see how little Microsoft
cares about security. And Steve Gibson's fixes are so simple,
Microsoft has no excuse; they just won't listen because they don't
care.

I said that it could be done, but I advised against it (unless it is
your own forgotten password). Cracking your own forgotten password is
legal; it is your password after all. That is what the password
cracking software is ostensibly marketed for. Cracking somebody
else's password is not legal, and I don't recommend it.

 

[Jezebel]

Have YOU actually done it? (I'm not saying it can't be done, or that MS's
security is especially good. But for all the discussion, I've yet to meet
anyone who's actually SEEN it work.)

 

[Kemosabe]

Have YOU actually done it? (I'm not saying it can't be done, or that MS's
security is especially good. But for all the discussion, I've yet to meet
anyone who's actually SEEN it work.)

Yes. I have a copy of Passware, and it cracks VBA passwords
instantly. I have learned, by the way, not to password protect my own
files until it is time to distribute them. Even then, I save a
non-protected copy and distribute the protected copy. That way, I
don't have to worry about forgetting the password and needing to use
Passware (http://www.lostpassword.com/)
works as advertised. Buy it if you want to recover your own lost
passwords, but don't crack somebody else's.

 

[Martijn]

To confirm Jezebel:

MS office protection (all versions) has always been useless.
Passware for example will show all office passwords instantly. (no brute
force is used)

The only thing that does seem to be difficult (nearly impossible) to recover
is VBA source code from a MDE file.
Forms and reports can be extracted easily with freeware tools.

Have YOU actually done it? (I'm not saying it can't be done, or that MS's
security is especially good. But for all the discussion, I've yet to meet
anyone who's actually SEEN it work.)

Yes. I have a copy of Passware, and it cracks VBA passwords
instantly. I have learned, by the way, not to password protect my own
files until it is time to distribute them. Even then, I save a
non-protected copy and distribute the protected copy. That way, I
don't have to worry about forgetting the password and needing to use
Passware (http://www.lostpassword.com/)
works as advertised. Buy it if you want to recover your own lost
passwords, but don't crack somebody else's.

Actually, I'm very sceptical about the 'immediately'. All the reviews I've
read suggest that cracking is possible only if the password was short. I'd
be very interested to hear from someone's who's actually paid the

money
and

tried it (as opposed to Kemosabe's who are trying to sell it).

I'm not trying to sell anything. I merely said that it could be done,
instantly. And it can. And yes, Microsoft should do something about
it, but they haven't. Have a read of some of Steve Gibson's articles
on his web site http://grc.com/ and you will see how little Microsoft
cares about security. And Steve Gibson's fixes are so simple,
Microsoft has no excuse; they just won't listen because they don't
care.

I said that it could be done, but I advised against it (unless it is
your own forgotten password). Cracking your own forgotten password is
legal; it is your password after all. That is what the password
cracking software is ostensibly marketed for. Cracking somebody
else's password is not legal, and I don't recommend it.





If passwords can be broken easily, why should there be passwords?
Microsoft
should do something to make VBA project passwords more secure.