Why is the 32 character hash not considered an md5 hash?

337 Asked by amit_2689 in Cyber Security , Asked on Mar 24, 2022

This string, when dropped into hash detection tools, is not being identified as a hash. As far as I knew, an md5 has was a 32 digit string with hex numbers. Everything below is hex. So what other rules does md5 have that prevent this from being a hash? 8019ed9fa0c5d1c36c7ef3a4e931205368da339079331Here is just one example of an ID failure for this string:

https://www.onlinehashcrack.com/hash-identification.php#results

"Your hash may be one of the following : Sorry we cannot identify your hash.."

Answered by Andrew Jenkins

It's not a 32 character hash. It's 45. That's 180 bits, not the 128 bits you expect from md5.

You can see this easily in a monospace font:

8019ed9fa0c5d1c36c7ef3a4e931205368da339079331

d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e

(The lower hash is the md5sum of an empty string)

Apart from that it's important to realise that a hex number is just another number. Most hashes don't carry any metadata in the hash identifying the algorithm or what kind of number it is.

Why is the 32 character hash not considered an md5 hash?

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