Apache HTTP Server Version 2.2
Apache HTTP Server Version 2.2
This document refers to a legacy release (2.2) of Apache httpd. The active release (2.4) is documented here. If you have not already upgraded, please follow this link for more information.
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Notes about the password encryption formats generated and understood by Apache.
There are four formats that Apache recognizes for basic-authentication passwords. Note that not all formats work on every platform:
crypt(3) function
with a randomly-generated 32-bit salt (only 12 bits used) and the first 8
characters of the password.
$ htpasswd -nbm myName myPassword
myName:$apr1$r31.....$HqJZimcKQFAMYayBlzkrA/
$ htpasswd -nbs myName myPassword
myName:{SHA}VBPuJHI7uixaa6LQGWx4s+5GKNE=
$ htpasswd -nbd myName myPassword
myName:rqXexS6ZhobKA
OpenSSL knows the Apache-specific MD5 algorithm.
$ openssl passwd -apr1 myPassword
$apr1$qHDFfhPC$nITSVHgYbDAK1Y0acGRnY0
openssl passwd -crypt myPassword
qQ5vTYO3c8dsU
The salt for a CRYPT password is the first two characters (converted to
a binary value). To validate myPassword against
rqXexS6ZhobKA
$ openssl passwd -crypt -salt rq myPassword
Warning: truncating password to 8 characters
rqXexS6ZhobKA
Note that using myPasswo instead of
myPassword will produce the same result because only the
first 8 characters of CRYPT passwords are considered.
The salt for an MD5 password is between $apr1$ and the
following $ (as a Base64-encoded binary value - max 8 chars).
To validate myPassword against
$apr1$r31.....$HqJZimcKQFAMYayBlzkrA/
$ openssl passwd -apr1 -salt r31..... myPassword
$apr1$r31.....$HqJZimcKQFAMYayBlzkrA/
The SHA1 variant is probably the most useful format for DBD authentication. Since the SHA1 and Base64 functions are commonly available, other software can populate a database with encrypted passwords that are usable by Apache basic authentication.
To create Apache SHA1-variant basic-authentication passwords in various languages:
'{SHA}' . base64_encode(sha1($password, TRUE))
"{SHA}" + new sun.misc.BASE64Encoder().encode(java.security.MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA1").digest(password.getBytes()))
"{SHA}" & ToBase64(BinaryDecode(Hash(password, "SHA1"), "Hex"))
require 'digest/sha1'
require 'base64'
'{SHA}' + Base64.encode64(Digest::SHA1.digest(password))
Use the APR function: apr_sha1_base64
'{SHA}'||encode(digest(password,'sha1'),'base64')
Apache recognizes one format for
digest-authentication passwords - the MD5 hash of the string
user:realm:password as a 32-character string of hexadecimal
digits. realm is the Authorization Realm argument to the
AuthName directive in
httpd.conf.
Since the MD5 function is commonly available, other software can populate a database with encrypted passwords that are usable by Apache digest authentication.
To create Apache digest-authentication passwords in various languages:
md5($user . ':' . $realm . ':' .$password)
byte b[] = java.security.MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5").digest( (user + ":" + realm + ":" + password ).getBytes());
java.math.BigInteger bi = new java.math.BigInteger(1, b);
String s = bi.toString(16);
while (s.length() < 32)
s = "0" + s;
// String s is the encrypted password
LCase(Hash( (user & ":" & realm & ":" & password) , "MD5"))
require 'digest/md5'
Digest::MD5.hexdigest(user + ':' + realm + ':' + password)
encode(digest( user || ':' || realm || ':' || password , 'md5'), 'hex')
Available Languages: en