Subject: crypt

From: [email-masked] (Alan Bain)
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 96 23:17 BST

The crypt() function is effectively a DES encryption which is perturbed by 
the salt.  It is perfectly possible to use it (the one in GNU libc)
to perform DES encryption -- I have don it.  It is not reversible\
when it is used as a one way hash.  Vi on genuine un*x systems uses
crypt() to encrypt your files (:X - of course you mustn't confuse 
with :x).  I can dig out the C code which uses crypt for encoding
and decoding if it is of any use.  

Alan Bain
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 11 Jun 1996 19:40:31 -0400

> crypt() to encrypt your files (:X - of course you mustn't confuse 

Nope. Please don't confuse crypt(3) with crypt(1) [in "man page"
notation, the C library function crypt() and the user-program crypt.]
The latter is a modified Enigma-style rotor cipher, see also the Crypt
Breaker's Workshop. debian does not include a package for crypt(1)
[and if it did, it should be in the "games" section...]

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From: [email-masked] (Kai Henningsen)
Date: 12 Jun 1996 18:39:00 +0200

> [and if it did, it should be in the "games" section...]

Well, I have no idea what vi uses.

It's been some years since I last looked at the AT&T Unix crypt() man  
page, but I still remember that it is most definitely an encryption  
function.

However, the usual application for password encoding uses crypt() in a  
very strange way. I don't quite remember the details, but it's something  
like encoding data generated from the salt with other data generated from  
the password to produce the encoded password; decrypt()ing won't be able  
to reverse this.

MfG Kai