APGBFM(1) User Manual APGBFM(1)NAME
apgbfm - APG Bloom filter management program
SYNOPSIS
apgbfm -f filter -n numofwords [-q] [-s]
apgbfm -f filter -d dictfile [-q] [-s]
apgbfm -f filter -a word [-q]
apgbfm -f filter -A dictfile [-q]
apgbfm -f filter -c word [-q]
apgbfm -f filter -C dictfile [-q]
apgbfm -i filter
apgbfm [-v] [-h]
DESCRIPTION
apgbfm is used to manage Bloom filter that is used to restrict password generation in APG pasword generation software. Usage of the Bloom
filter allows to speed up password check for large dictionaries and has some other benefits.
The idea to use Bloom filter for that purpose is came from the description of the OPUS project OPUS: Preventing Weak Password Choices Pur-
due Technical Report CSD-TR 92-028 writen by Eugene H. Spafford.
You can obtain this article from:
http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/homes/spaf/tech-reps/9128.ps
It has very nice description of Bloom filter and it's advantages for password checking systems.
In simple words, apgbfm generates n hash values for every word and sets corresponding bits in filter file to 1. To check the word apgbfm
generates the same hash functions for that word and if all n corresponding bits in filter file are set to 1 then it suppose that word
exists in dicionary. apgbfm uses SHA-1 as a hash function.
apgbfm can be used as standalone utility, not only with apg, or apgd.
WARNING !!!
Filter file format can be changed in the future. I'll try to make file formats compatible but i can not guaranty this.
WARNING !!!
apgbfm may slow down your computer during filter creation.
OPTIONS -f filter
use filter as the name for Bloom filter filename.
-i filter
print information about filter.
-n numofwords
create new empty filter for numofwords number of words. Useful when you want to fill filter dynamicaly.
-d dictfile
create new filter from dictfile. It may take a lot of time to generate filter from a big dictionary. In that dictionary you may
place words (one per line) that should not appear as generated passwords. For example: user names common words, etc. You even can
use one of the dictionaries that come with dictionary password crackers. This check is case sensitive. For example, if you want to
reject word 'root', you should insert in dictfile words: root, Root, RoOt, ... , ROOT. To indicate that program is working apgbfm
prints dot for every 100 words added in dictionary.
-a word
add word to the filter.
-A dictfile
add all words from dictfile to the filter. To indicate that program is working apgbfm prints dot for every 100 words added in dic-
tionary.
-c word
check word for appearance in the filter.
-C dictfile
check every word from dictfile for appearance in the filter.
-q quiet mode.
-s create new filter in case-insensitive mode.
-v print version information.
-h print help information.
EXIT CODE
On successful completion of its task, apgbfm will complete with exit code 0. An exit code of -1 indicates an error occurred. Textual
errors are written to the standard error stream.
FILES
None.
BUGS
None. If you've found one, please send bug description to the author.
This man page is Alpha too.
SEE ALSO apg(1)AUTHOR
Adel I. Mirzazhanov, <a-del@iname.com>
Project home page: http://www.adel.nursat.kz/apg/
Automated Password Generator 2003 Jun 19 APGBFM(1)
Check Out this Related Man Page
APG(1) User Manual APG(1)NAME
apg - generates several random passwords
SYNOPSIS
apg [-a algorithm] [-M mode] [-E char_string] [-n num_of_pass] [-m min_pass_len] [-x max_pass_len] [-r dictfile] [-b filter_file] [-p
min_substr_len] [-s] [-c cl_seed] [-d] [-y] [-l] [-t] [-q] [-h] [-v]
DESCRIPTION
apg generates several random passwords. It uses several password generation algorithms (currently two) and a built-in pseudo random number
generator.
Default algorithm is pronounceable password generation algorithm designed by Morrie Gasser and described in A Random Word Generator For
Pronounceable Passwords National Technical Information Service (NTIS) AD-A-017676. The original paper is very old and had never been put
online, so I have to use NIST implementation described in FIPS-181.
Another algorithm is simple random character generation algorithm, but it uses four user-defined symbol sets to produce random password. It
means that user can choose type of symbols that should appear in password. Symbol sets are: numeric symbol set (0,...,9) , capital letters
symbol set (A,...,Z) , small letters symbol set (a,...,z) and special symbols symbol set (#,@,!,...).
Built-in pseudo random number generator is an implementation of algorithm described in Appendix C of ANSI X9.17 or RFC1750 with exception
that it uses CAST or SHA-1 instead of Triple DES. It uses local time with precision of microseconds (see gettimeofday(2)) and /dev/random
(if available) to produce initial random seed.
apg also have the ability to check generated password quality using dictionary. You can use this ability if you specify command-line
options -r dictfile or -b filtername where dictfile is the dictionary file name and filtername is the name of Bloom filter file. In that
dictionary you may place words (one per line) that should not appear as generated passwords. For example: user names, common words, etc.
You even can use one of the dictionaries that come with dictionary password crackers. Bloom filter file should be created with apgbfm(1)
utility included in apg distribution. In future releases I plan to implement some other techniques to check passwords (like pattern check)
just to make life easier.
OPTIONS
Password generation modes options
-a algorithm
use algorithm for password generation.
0 - (default) pronounceable password generation
1 - random character password generation
-n num_of_pass
generate num_of_pass number of passwords. Default is 6.
-m min_pass_len
generate password with minimum length min_pass_len. If min_pass_len > max_pass_len then max_pass_len = min_pass_len. Default mini-
mum password length is 8.
-x max_pass_len
generate password with maximum length max_pass_len. If min_pass_len > max_pass_len then max_pass_len = min_pass_len. Default maxi-
mum password length is 10.
-M mode
Use symbolsets specified with mode for password generation. mode is a text string consisting of characters S, s, N, n, C, c, L, l.
Where:
S generator must use special symbol set for every generated password.
s generator should use special symbol set for password generation.
N generator must use numeral symbol set for every generated password.
n generator should use numeral symbol set for password generation.
C generator must use capital symbol set for every generated password.
c generator should use capital symbol set for password generation.
L generator must use small letters symbol set for every generated password (always present if pronounceable password generation
algorithm is used).
l generator should use small letters symbol set for password generation.
R,r not supported any more. Use -E char_string option instead.
mode can not be more than 4 characters in length.
Note:
Usage of L, M, N, C will slow down password generation process.
Examples:
-M sncl or -M SNCL or -M Cn
-E char_string
exclude characters in char_string from password generation process (in pronounceable password generation mode you can not exclude
small letters). To include special symbols that can be recognized by shell (apostrophe, quotes, dollar sign, etc.) in char_string
use the backslashed versions.
Examples:
Command apg -a 1 -M n -n 3 -m 8 -E 23456789 will generate a set of passwords that will look like this
10100110
01111000
11011101
Command apg -a 1 -M nc -n 3 -m 26 -E GHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ will generate a set of passwords that will look like this
16A1653CD4DE5E7BD9584A3476
C8F78E06944AFD57FB9CB882BC
8C8DF37CD792D36D056BBD5002
Password quality control options
-r dictfile
check generated passwords for their appearance in dictfile
-b filter_file
check generated passwords for their appearance in filter_file. filter_file should be created with apgbfm(1) utility.
-p min_substr_len
this option tells apg(1) to check every substring of the generated password for appearance in filter_file. If any of such substrings
would be found in the filter_file then generated password would be rejected and apg(1) will generate another one. min_substr_len
specifies minimum substring length to check. This option is active only if -b option is defined.
Pseudo random number generator options
-s ask user for random sequence for password generation
-c cl_seed
use cl_seed as a random seed for password generation. I use it when i have to generate passwords in a shell script.
Password output options
-d do NOT use any delimiters between generated passwords. I use it when i have to generate passwords in a shell script.
-y print generated passwords and crypted passwords (see man crypt(3))
-q quiet mode (do not print warnings)
-l spell genetated passwords. Useful when you want to read generated password by telephone.
WARNING: Think twice before read your password by phone.
-t print pronunciation for generated pronounceable password
-h print help information and exit
-v print version information and exit
DEFAULT OPTIONS
apg -a 0 -M sncl -n 6 -x 10 -m 8 (new style)
If you want to generate really secure passwords, you should use option -s. To simplify apg usage, you can write a small shell script. For
example:
[begin]----> pwgen.sh
#!/bin/sh
/usr/local/bin/apg -m 8 -x 12 -s
[ end ]----> pwgen.sh
EXIT CODE
On successful completion of its task, apg will complete with exit code 0. An exit code of -1 indicates an error occurred. Textual errors
are written to the standard error stream.
DIAGNOSTICS
If /dev/random is not available, apg will display a message about it.
FILES
None.
BUGS
None. If you've found one, please send bug description to the author.
SEE ALSO apgbfm(1)AUTHOR
Adel I. Mirzazhanov, <a-del@iname.com>
Project home page: http://www.adel.nursat.kz/apg/
Automated Password Generator 2003 Aug 04 APG(1)