Tom Butcher 8f2d3a2489 Add initial project structure for DES Key Cracker

- Created .gitignore to exclude build artifacts and dependencies.
- Added package.json and package-lock.json for project dependencies and scripts.
- Included pnpm workspace configuration for managing packages.
- Implemented TypeScript configuration in tsconfig.json.
- Added README.md with project description and usage instructions.
- Introduced native code for DES encryption and decryption in C/C++.
- Created initial decoded data structure for handling scan results.
- Established basic file structure for decoded outputs and native builds.

2026-09-19 16:10:35 +01:00

2.9 KiB

Raw Blame History

DES Key Cracker

Native desktop app (Node.js + NodeGui) that recovers the 8-byte DES key for a TechMed / Pectus .med scan, using CPU threads plus GPU acceleration:

macOS: Apple Metal (des_brute kernel)
Windows: NVIDIA CUDA when the CUDA Toolkit is installed
Both: multi-core CPU fallback

Search is short printable keys over a charset, padded to 8 bytes.

Machines can cooperate on a LAN. The master listens on a WebSocket port and hands each slave worker (each exposed CPU or GPU) a block described only by generation parameters (start, count, deviceKey, keyLen, charset, padByte) — not a list of keys. Each worker has its own block size; CPU workers default to 1,048,576 keys and GPU workers to 16,777,216 so the GPU keeps more of the keyspace.

Requirements

Node.js 18+ (the app runs under qode, which NodeGui installs)
CMake and a C++ toolchain (needed to install @nodegui/nodegui)
macOS: Xcode command-line tools (clang + Metal)
Windows CPU: clang++, g++, or MSVC (cl)
Windows CUDA: CUDA Toolkit (nvcc) and an NVIDIA GPU. Without nvcc the app still runs on CPU.

Build

npm install
npm run build:native
npm run build
npm start

build:native compiles whatever this machine supports into bin/:

Binary	Platform
`med_cpu`	macOS and Windows
`med_gpu`	macOS Metal
`med_cuda`	Windows (or `FORCE_CUDA=1` if `nvcc` is on the PATH)

Using the app

Set Role in the toolbar to Master or Slave.
Under Devices, tick local cards to use or expose. On the master, set Block size on each local and remote card; Workers (CPU thread count) appears only on CPU cards.
Master: choose the .med file, charset, min/max length, and pads. Optionally Start service so other computers can join. Click Start search. The master searches on its selected local devices and assigns a block of that device’s size to every exposed slave device.
Slave: tick the devices to expose, set CPU threads on CPU cards if needed, enter the master’s IP and port, and Connect. The slave does not set block size — the master does. Each exposed device stays listed on Workers with current-block progress and a completed-block count. The slave does not need the .med file.

Hits are written under decoded/bruteforce/ (decrypted_*.bin, hit_*.json, results.json).

Do not expose the WebSocket port to the public internet; it has no authentication.

Native runner CLI

All three runners share the same commands:

med_* devices
med_* selftest [--device N]
med_* brute --device N --key-len L --charset S --pad XX \
      --target HEX --fills HEX,... --start I --count N --batch B

Metal also needs --shader native/metal/des_bruteforce.metal. CPU accepts --workers N.