🚀 go-pugleaf

In <adamsd.715442992@crash> adamsd@crash.cts.com (Adams Douglas) writes:


> It's my understanding that the file-locking algorithm in Wordperfect 5.1
>is easily broken. Is this something that can be fixed or guarded against 
>(without actually doing something outside the program)? 

The only way to "fix" it is using an encryption program (meaning outside,
not as a patch or so).

>Why is it so
>easily crackable? Were they just lazy, or what?

It seems to be a combination of two factors. The basic encryption scheme
is just simple, this is probably a matter of choice. The indended purpose
will have been dayly use encryption, not spy proof. The major problem
of the WP encryption seems to be a bug. Due to the way the header of
a file is encrypted one can extract the password almost directly.

The used encryption method has to do with xoring with the password and
since the header contains known data the encrypted header leads to
the password.

>And, yes, although I'm curious how one _does_ crack it, I'm more interested
>in how to fix it - if it can be.

There are 1001+ tools to crack WP files. The best fix for know is using an
external program like PGP (available garbo etc). The best fix in time will
be WP 6.0 (currently only for OS/2 2.0 planned I believe) which might
contain RSA encryption they licenced from RSA.


Nico E. de Vries
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