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Crack That ZIP - Using John + Hashcat (`No hashes loaded` Error Fix Included)

Walkthrough for cracking encrypted ZIP files using zip2john + Hashcat. Includes how to solve the dreaded 'No hashes loaded' error when dealing with multi-file archives. Battle-tested and beginner-friendly.

Posted Updated
By phruit
3 min read
Crack That ZIP - Using John + Hashcat (`No hashes loaded` Error Fix Included)

Disclaimer:
This post is shared strictly for educational and ethical purposes.

🧪 Missed Part 1?
👉🏻 Dive into Hashcat Basics first - that’s where the magic begins.

🧨 Install zip2john (John Jumbo Build)

🛠 1. Install build dependencies

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sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential git zlib1g-dev libssl-dev libbz2-dev libgmp-dev libpcap-dev pkg-config

💻 2. Clone the Jumbo repo

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git clone https://github.com/openwall/john.git
cd john/src

🪛 3. Build it

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./configure && make -s clean && make -sj$(nproc)
  • This might take a minute or two.
  • It will compile the full John suite, including zip2john, rar2john, pdf2john, and all the goodies

✅ 4. Verify it’s installed

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cd ../run
./zip2john

If that works, you’re golden.

🐾 Optional: Add it to your $PATH

So you can use it from anywhere:

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echo 'export PATH="$HOME/john/run:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc 
# echo 'export PATH="$HOME/john/run:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc 
source ~/.zshrc 
# source ~/.bashrc

or:

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echo 'export PATH="$HOME/john/run:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc 
source ~/.bashrc

Now you can just do:

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zip2john your.zip

From any folder.

🧪 Test the Encrypted ZIP

I messed around with ZIP files a lot during this part.

If the archive contains multiple files, but I keep using 17200 (the single-file Hash-Mode), then after john dumps the hash, Hashcat will always throw an error:

No hashes loaded.

🔨 0. Solve the error No hashes loaded in Hashcat

Most of the time, this issue comes from using the wrong hash mode.

You’ve got two options:

  1. Let Hashcat guess it for you
    Run:

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     hashcat --identify hash.txt

    This will analyze the hash format and suggest the best mode.

  2. Manually check the official Hashcat wiki
    Browse through the mode list here:
    Hashcat Wiki: Hash Modes

Here are some example_hashes from Hashcat Wiki: Hash Modes.

Hash-Mode 	Hash-Name 	Example 
17200 	PKZIP (Compressed) 	$pkzip2$1*1*2*0*e3*1c5*eda7a8de*0*28*8*e3*eda7*5096*a9fc1f4e951c8fb3031a6f903e5f4e3211c8fdc4671547bf77f6f682afbfcc7475d83898985621a7af9bccd1349d1976500a68c48f630b7f22d7a0955524d768e34868880461335417ddd149c65a917c0eb0a4bf7224e24a1e04cf4ace5eef52205f4452e66ded937db9545f843a68b1e84a2e933cc05fb36d3db90e6c5faf1bee2249fdd06a7307849902a8bb24ec7e8a0886a4544ca47979a9dfeefe034bdfc5bd593904cfe9a5309dd199d337d3183f307c2cb39622549a5b9b8b485b7949a4803f63f67ca427a0640ad3793a519b2476c52198488e3e2e04cac202d624fb7d13c2*$/pkzip2$
17210 	PKZIP (Uncompressed) 	$pkzip2$1*1*2*0*1d1*1c5*eda7a8de*0*28*0*1d1*eda7*5096*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*$/pkzip2$
17220 	PKZIP (Compressed Multi-File) 	$pkzip2$3*1*1*0*8*24*a425*8827*d1730095cd829e245df04ebba6c52c0573d49d3bbeab6cb385b7fa8a28dcccd3098bfdd7*1*0*8*24*2a74*882a*51281ac874a60baedc375ca645888d29780e20d4076edd1e7154a99bde982152a736311f*2*0*e3*1c5*eda7a8de*0*29*8*e3*eda7*5096*1455781b59707f5151139e018bdcfeebfc89bc37e372883a7ec0670a5eafc622feb338f9b021b6601a674094898a91beac70e41e675f77702834ca6156111a1bf7361bc9f3715d77dfcdd626634c68354c6f2e5e0a7b1e1ce84a44e632d0f6e36019feeab92fb7eac9dda8df436e287aafece95d042059a1b27d533c5eab62c1c559af220dc432f2eb1a38a70f29e8f3cb5a207704274d1e305d7402180fd47e026522792f5113c52a116d5bb25b67074ffd6f4926b221555234aabddc69775335d592d5c7d22462b75de1259e8342a9ba71cb06223d13c7f51f13be2ad76352c3b8ed*$/pkzip2$
17225 	PKZIP (Mixed Multi-File) 	$pkzip2$3*1*1*0*0*24*3e2c*3ef8*0619e9d17ff3f994065b99b1fa8aef41c056edf9fa4540919c109742dcb32f797fc90ce0*1*0*8*24*431a*3f26*18e2461c0dbad89bd9cc763067a020c89b5e16195b1ac5fa7fb13bd246d000b6833a2988*2*0*23*17*1e3c1a16*2e4*2f*0*23*1e3c*3f2d*54ea4dbc711026561485bbd191bf300ae24fa0997f3779b688cdad323985f8d3bb8b0c*$/pkzip2$
17230 	PKZIP (Mixed Multi-File Checksum-Only) 	$pkzip2$8*1*1*0*8*24*a425*8827*3bd479d541019c2f32395046b8fbca7e1dca218b9b5414975be49942c3536298e9cc939e*1*0*8*24*2a74*882a*537af57c30fd9fd4b3eefa9ce55b6bff3bbfada237a7c1dace8ebf3bb0de107426211da3*1*0*8*24*2a74*882a*5f406b4858d3489fd4a6a6788798ac9b924b5d0ca8b8e5a6371739c9edcfd28c82f75316*1*0*8*24*2a74*882a*1843aca546b2ea68bd844d1e99d4f74d86417248eb48dd5e956270e42a331c18ea13f5ed*1*0*8*24*2a74*882a*aca3d16543bbfb2e5d2659f63802e0fa5b33e0a1f8ae47334019b4f0b6045d3d8eda3af1*1*0*8*24*2a74*882a*fbe0efc9e10ae1fc9b169bd060470bf3e39f09f8d83bebecd5216de02b81e35fe7e7b2f2*1*0*8*24*2a74*882a*537886dbabffbb7cac77deb01dc84760894524e6966183b4478a4ef56f0c657375a235a1*1*0*8*24*eda7*5096*40eb30ef1ddd9b77b894ed46abf199b480f1e5614fde510855f92ae7b8026a11f80e4d5f*$/pkzip2$

The examples below assume the ZIP file is Compressed and contains only one file, which means you should use Hash-Mode 17200.

✅ 1. Extract hash from Encryted zip

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zip2john -s "~/test.zip" > /tmp/test_zip.john

This raw .john would be like:

test.zip:$pkzip2$8*1*1*0*8*24*d9...ed69b2b*$/pkzip2$::test.zip:test/myfile.txt:/home/username/test.zip

🥡 About /tmp/

You can:

  • Read/write/execute files from /tmp/ in any program or path. Example:

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    hashcat -m 17200 /tmp/test_zip.john rockyou.txt

You cannot:

  • Count on them being permanent.

    • Most Linux distros auto-clean /tmp/ on reboot or periodically.

If it’s a file you don’t wanna lose, move or copy it somewhere:

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mv /tmp/multi_zip.john ~/Documents/hashcat/zip_hash_clean.txt

Then crack that sucker from the new path.

✅ 2. Strip the zip2john label and save as separate file

This created the file in your current directory:

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cut -d ':' -f2 /tmp/test_zip.john > zip_hash_clean.txt

This clean .txt would be like:

$pkzip2$8*1*1*0*8*24*d9...ed69b2b*$/pkzip2$

✅ 3. Run Hashcat

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hashcat -m 17200 -a 3 zip_hash_clean.txt '?a?a?a?a?'

🎭 Some Doable Mask Ideas

Try testing with these masks - let’s see where your password starts to stumble.

  • rockyou.txt
  • rockyou.txt -r rules/best64.rule

When rockyou.txt fails and you’re outta patience?
Bring in the masks.

  • ?d?d?d?d - 4-digit PINs (phone locks, dumb zips, grandpa’s secrets)
  • ?d?d?d?d?d?d?d?d - 8-digit PINs (lazy but common)
  • ?l?l?l?l?l?l - lowercase words (secret, monkey, hunter)
  • ?u?l?l?l?l?l - capital + lowercase (Admin1, Jesus7)
  • ?l?l?l?l?d?d - classic endings (music88, cool99)
  • ?l?l?d?d?l?l - creative combos (co88de, py33rs)
  • ?a?a?a?a - full wildcard madness when you’ve lost all hope

💡 Use --increment to let Hashcat automatically test shorter → longer combos.
Save your fingers, save your time:

  • '?a?a?a?a?a?a?' --increment --increment-min 4 --increment-max 6
  • '?d?d?d?d?d?d?d?d' --increment --increment-min 7 --increment-max 8
  • '?l?l?l?l?l?l?l?l' --increment --increment-min 7 --increment-max 8

✍🏻️ Customize Your guesslist.txt

If you’ve exhausted them all, consider using itertools to customize your own guesslist.txt.

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import itertools

# Define your keyword list
keywords = ['2025', '0605', 'somenames']
# Generate combinations of 1 and 3 parts
with open("/PATH/TO/YOUR/guesslist.txt", "w") as f:
    for r in range(1, 4):
        for combo in itertools.product(keywords, repeat=r):
            f.write(''.join(combo) + '\n')

Then:

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hashcat -m 17200 zip_hash_clean.txt guesslist.txt

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🤖 tech, 🔒 Web Security
🐧 Linux 🐾 Penetration 🐾 Hacker Basics 🔒 Web Security 🔒 Privacy 😼 Hashcat 🧔 JohnTheRipper 🧪 zip2john 🔒 Password Cracking 🖥️ CLI 🐾 Brute Force
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