PDF editors' AES-256 encryption so broken some keys can be cracked by hand
matthew_d_green · x · 2026-10-29
Security team v12sec reports flaws in the AES-256 implementations of multiple PDF editors, some weak enough to break manually. A satirical "MuPDF AES-256 key recovery worksheet" image shows how weak seeding (trailer ID plus time(NULL), 9 bits of entropy per stream) lets you enumerate all 512 candidate keys in 11ms and decrypt with qpdf.
Related event: AES-256 Encryption in Multiple PDF Editors Found Trivially Breakable(2 posts)→
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