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	Author	Topic: Password Protected Word Document (Read 8662 times)
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Mr. Roboto

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Password Protected Word Document

« on: April 11, 2008, 01:14:26 PM »

Does anyone have a suggestion on what method would be best to crack a password protected MS Word document?


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rance

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Re: Password Protected Word Document

« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2008, 01:25:13 PM »

I'd manually try the obvious things first; password, document, 12345, qwerty, etc.

Failing that, you'll probably have to look at a commercial brute forcer.


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BillV

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Re: Password Protected Word Document

« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2008, 01:35:06 PM »

Yeah, there are several programs available specifically for MS Office applications. Just do a quick search and I'm sure you'll come up with many options.


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Mr. Roboto

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Re: Password Protected Word Document

« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2008, 01:42:08 PM »

Thanks for your suggestions guys. I was under the gun to get this document ready for adjustments ASAP.

The fix was pretty easy...after I tried 1,2,3,4,5 and qwerty...(thanks Rance), I saved the document to html. From there, the password restrictions were lifted and I was able to copy and paste it into a new document.


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shawal

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Re: Password Protected Word Document

« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2008, 11:53:16 AM »

you mean you still did not have the password, however you were able to convert it and make it unsecure? that would be a bug wouldn't it?


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Mr. Roboto

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Re: Password Protected Word Document

« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2008, 03:55:36 PM »

Quote from: shawal on April 12, 2008, 11:53:16 AM

you mean you still did not have the password, however you were able to convert it and make it unsecure? that would be a bug wouldn't it?

Surely you aren't suggesting that there are bugs in Microsoft products?


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Bogwitch

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Re: Password Protected Word Document

« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2008, 04:22:33 PM »

I guess Mr Roboto didn't make it clear.
I assume the document was password protected from modification but not from opening. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Alternative methods could be:
1. Use OpenOffice Writer.
2. Save as a different format. I would use RTF as the HTML produced by MS Word is ~~crap~~ not very good. IIRC, saved as RTF, you will still need to remove the protection but there is no password to enter. I think that's how it works but I don't have MS Office with me to play with!


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Mr. Roboto

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Re: Password Protected Word Document

« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2008, 02:03:19 PM »

Right. The document could be opened, but not modified. Good suggestions Bogwitch.


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