Account password recovery?

F

Felenari

Registered
Ok here's my situation...

I run a G5 2.0ghz comp on V 10.3.9 OS X
My stepmom decided it would be best for me not to use the computer at all and has pasworded my admin account on the computer. I'm a 20 year old adult btw... the reason I'm doing this behind her back is cuz if she gets pissed off she'll send me back to belgium and I dun want that...

So my question is. Can I find out what the password is without having to change the password to something new? My stepmom signs me on every now and then to let me work on my animation final for my major but other than that I have little to no acces... Are there any programs or keychain options I can set to find out what the password is without her noticing?


-A very frustrated and annoyed teenager...
 
If you're a 20 year-old adult, why did you sign the end of your message as "-A very frustrated and annoyed teenager" ???
 
Well I figure anyone under 21 is a teenager. :P

I do have the install disk but I dun wanna reset the password ^-^
Thx fer that piece of info tho. Imma write that down
 
The password is never stored but rather a one way hash. That means that the password itself is not in the computer to recover.
 
Well, yes and no -- the password itself is not stored in the computer, but a one-way hash of it is, like lurk said.

I just completed an assignment in my UNIX System Securities class that was an exercise in cracking passwords on a UNIX system. I recommend getting familiar with John the Ripper program (easily compiled on Mac OS X with the Developer Tools installed) and using some social engineering to get a feel for what the password may be constructed from (ie, is your mother computer-savvy? Would she use a simple word-based password? Would she choose a 6, 7 or 8 character password? ... etc.).

While I don't advocate cracking your password over finding out what exactly the problem is that would cause a grown woman to lock down a computer as if you were 11 years old, it may come in handy for completing your midterm/final whatevers on time.

Is the computer yours? Or does it belong to her or someone else? Also, you are 20 years old. I don't care what country you're in, you were raised in, or what country you're being threatened with being sent back to... 20 years old is about as adult as they come anywhere in the world. Teenager means just that: the word has "teen" in it, like nineteen, eighteen, etc. You're an adult -- instead of sneaking behind your stepmother's back, confront her in an adult fashion and work out your differences and find out exactly why she's locking you out of an educational tool.
 
I know it's a simple word and it's a 7 letter password.

And yes I own the computer. Bought it outright for 1800$ and saved up for 1 year to get it.
I've tried confronting her on fair terms with it. Fair terms meaning I sat down with her during dinner and talked... She's beyond stubborn and for a person with a 141 IQ she's incredibly stupid... She refuses to let me on for several reasons... these reasons being:
1: She says I'm addicted to world of warcraft... Which is true but still.
2: She's the most uberdominatrix megacontrolling woman you'll ever meet.
3: She refuses to let me win. She told me to get a job with 24 hours a week for at least 8$ an hour. I now have a job with 32 hours a week for 9.50$ an hour. She told me to have good grades in my classes. I have straight A's with 115% on my last quiz...

I know I'm whining and all but she's my sponsor for being in the united states and can send me back to belgium with the snap of her fingers as far as I know... Which reminds me I should investigate that.

Any chance on you giving me some more info on how to construct this john the ripper program?
 
Hell, I'll even compile it for you, make a dictionary to use it with and email it to you. There's no reason in the world that she should be locking you out of your own damn computer. Addictions should be confronted -- not taken away outright. Addiction to WoW is a pretty pathetic addiction, but hey, you're 20 years old and can make your own decisions.

If the computer is yours outright, I would suggest simply plugging in the Mac OS X Install CD/DVD and resetting the password. I'm sure that whatever legal body governs your admission into the US would not "deport" you because you use a computer to play games -- if she wants to threaten that, then it's up to you what course of action to take. From the sound of it, you're holding a good part-to-full time job and making excellent grades. If you wanna have some lame-o addiction in your free time, you're old enough and responsible enough to have one. Lord only knows how much time Halo 2 and Call of Duty 2 take away from more productive things with me.

A simple 7-letter password (all lowercase) took me only 3 hours to crack using a brute-force (trying all possible combinations of letters) on a P4 3.0GHz machine. It would take probably 4 times that long on my current Mac (500MHz G4), but hey, your computer is your computer -- I'd personally cut off her hands next time she touched my computer -- she may have control over which nation you reside in, but she should NOT have control over personal property you purchased legitimately with your own money, regardless of whether it's in her house or not.

Here's the web page on John the Ripper:

http://www.openwall.com/john/

Read up on it and then report back if you need help with compiling and using it.
 
Lol I wish I could just cut off her hands when she touched it... God knows which files she's looking at on my comp...

Well I installed the 1.7.0.1 version with the jumbo upgrade for mac osx... and I have absolutely no clue whatsoever on how to use it... Lol I dun even know where to enter the commands...


I think the password should be relatively easy to crack. Her password hint is Who am I? and I've tried Stepmom stepmom etc. and her names nicknames abreviations and all that and it's driving me nuts lol. I bet it's something odd like mushroom or summin...
 
Aight I'm living on my own now ^-^

I reset all the passwords and everything so ty ty for all the help and may this never happen to anyone else lol ^-^
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top