Kali Linux

Kraken : A Multi-Platform Distributed Brute-Force Password Cracking System

Kraken is an online distributed brute force password cracking tool. It allows you to parallelize dictionaries and crunch word generator based cracking across multiple machines both as a web app in a web browser and as a standalone electron based client. Kraken aims to be easy to use, fault tolerant and scalable.

I wrote Kraken because I wanted to learn more about offensive security and to write an easy solution to overcome the limitation of using a single device when attempting distribute brute force workloads.

Installation

Server and Browser Client

Kraken is a dockerized application using docker-compose which will launch the db (Postgres), s3 compliant file storage (Minio), the server and the browser client. You can find the docker-compose file at the root directory of the repository. You can deploy it using the following command:

docker-compose up

Kraken’s Browser Client should be accessible at:

  • HTTP : localhost:8080 (use server url http://localhost:5000/api [default])
  • HTTPS : https://localhost:8443 (use server url https://localhost:8443/api)

Note: To run the Browser Client from a remote machine, you MUST use HTTPS for both server url and browser url. Eg. If you are hosting the server on 192.168.1.2, then browser client will be available at https://192.168.1.2:8443 and the server url should be https://192.168.1.2:8443/api

To upload password lists or dictionaries, upload them to Minio Console at localhost:9001. View steps below for a detailed guide Otherwise, you can generate word lists dynamically using crunch. See crunch options and how to use them here: crunch man page

Kraken’s server runs on localhost:5000 and also hosts swagger documentation at localhost:5000/swagger.

Portable Desktop Client

The desktop client is an electron based portable application and can be run on Mac, Windows and Linux. Due to sensitive permissions required to function, it is highly recommended that you compile and it yourself by cloning the repo and using :

cd kraken-client
npm install
npm run electron-start

Windows

Note: Window EXE portable client needs to run in the folder with its hashcat dependencies. Hashcat files can be dowloaded from their home page or here. Ive included a compressed zip file with the portable executable and required hashcat files. They can be downloaded:

  • Portable Exe
  • Compressed Zip
Linux

Releases include a Linux AppImage which only requires hashcat to be installed.

  • AppImage

Install hashcat:

sudo apt-get install hashcat

You will have to give AppImage permission via properties to execute.

R K

Recent Posts

Understanding the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and How It Works

Introduction to the Model Context Protocol (MCP) The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open…

5 days ago

The file Command – Quickly Identify File Contents in Linux

While file extensions in Linux are optional and often misleading, the file command helps decode what a…

6 days ago

How to Use the touch Command in Linux

The touch command is one of the quickest ways to create new empty files or update timestamps…

6 days ago

How to Search Files and Folders in Linux Using the find Command

Handling large numbers of files is routine for Linux users, and that’s where the find command shines.…

6 days ago

How to Move and Rename Files in Linux with the mv Command

Managing files and directories is foundational for Linux workflows, and the mv (“move”) command makes it easy…

6 days ago

How to Create Directories in Linux with the mkdir Command

Creating directories is one of the earliest skills you'll use on a Linux system. The mkdir (make…

6 days ago