Learn how to extract passwords that have been saved in the Remmina Remote Desktop Client.

Extracting Passwords from Remmina

The Problem

Sometimes you might need to recover passwords saved in Remmina, the popular remote desktop client for Linux. These passwords are stored in an encrypted format in the .remmina directory, but they can be retrieved using a simple Python script.

The Solution

Prerequisites

You’ll need Python installed with the following modules:

  • base64
  • Crypto.Cipher (from pycrypto package)

The Decryption Script

Here’s a Python script that can decrypt the saved Remmina passwords:

import base64
from Crypto.Cipher import DES3

# Get the secret key from remmina.pref
secret = base64.decodestring("<STRING FROM remmina.prefs>")
# Get the encrypted password from the .remmina file
password = base64.decodestring("<STRING FROM XXXXXXX.remmina>")

# Decrypt the password using Triple DES
print DES3.new(secret[24:], DES3.MODE_CBC, secret[24:]).decrypt(password)

How to Use the Script

  1. Locate the Required Files

    • Find your Remmina configuration directory: ~/.remmina/
    • Locate the remmina.pref file
    • Find the specific .remmina file for the connection whose password you want to recover

  2. Extract the Required Strings

    • From remmina.pref: Look for a base64 encoded string
    • From your specific .remmina file: Find the encrypted password string

  3. Run the Script

    • Replace the placeholder strings in the script with your actual values
    • Execute the script to get your decrypted password

Security Considerations

  1. Local Security

    • This method only works if you have access to the local files
    • Keep your .remmina directory secure
    • Consider using a password manager instead of saving passwords in Remmina

  2. System Access

    • Anyone with access to your user account can potentially recover these passwords
    • Consider using SSH keys or other secure authentication methods for critical systems

Alternative Approaches

  1. Password Managers

    • Use a dedicated password manager like KeePass or Bitwarden
    • These offer better security and cross-platform accessibility

  2. SSH Keys

    • For SSH connections, use key-based authentication
    • More secure than password-based authentication

Remember that while this method can be helpful for recovery purposes, it’s important to maintain good password management practices and use secure authentication methods whenever possible.