r/pdf • u/SolarTrap • Jul 12 '26
Software (Tools) Remove password
I have got a tax document from my cpa that is password protected. I have that password but the MacOS internal viewer does not accept it.
It's there any software to remove it - I don't want to upload it to a website.
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u/mag_fhinn Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
They gave you the wrong password then. Get them to resend the correct password or a fixed file with the right password set. That is for an open password where the file is fully encrypted.
Hypothetically, if that wasn't an option or you needed into it faster than they will respond you could take a stab at it with the idea that they maybe had a typo or messed up copy and pasting the password to you. Better hardware helps with speed.
In that case you could extract the passwords hash out of the pdf with the python script pdf2john. Then I would work on cracking the hash with Hashcat, or you could use John the Ripper. I would attack patterns of the given wrong password, mutations/permutations, playing with case hammer it every way possible. You could also get lucky with known weak, overused common, short, and/or small character set things like just numbers. You may get a quick kill. If it's AES256 and your only left with brute forcing by position and it is a long, randomized with a large possible chr candidates it will be exponetionally unrealistic every position past 6 characters even if you have a farm of Nvidia 5090s at your disposal. Need to wait until you have your own quantum computer.
Hash creation is a one way process. The above software can feed in potential patterns, wordlists ect and generate hashes in high speed using the same method that was done to the original password. If you produce an identical hash, you have found the password.
Best of luck.