In the world of cybersecurity, penetration testing, and password cracking research, one task remains constant: generating massive hash lists from wordlists. HashGen, a blazing-fast command-line tool makes this process effortless. Designed specifically for bulk hash generation, HashGen takes a plain wordlist and outputs cryptographic hashes for every line — either to the screen or directly into a file. With support for over 20 algorithms and simple syntax, it’s the go-to utility for security researchers, red teamers, and anyone needing clean hash dumps quickly.
What Exactly Does HashGen Do?
HashGen is built for one powerful purpose: convert every line in a wordlist into its cryptographic hash. Each word becomes a hash, ready for tools like Hashcat, John the Ripper, or custom cracking scripts.
Unlike general-purpose hash utilities, HashGen is optimized for speed and scale. It processes millions of lines in seconds, streaming results without hogging memory. Whether you’re preparing datasets for research, building rainbow tables, or testing password policies, HashGen delivers clean, consistent output every time.
Supported Hash Algorithms
HashGen supports a wide range of popular and legacy algorithms via the ‘-m’ flag. Here are some of the most commonly used:
- crc32, crc64
- md4, md5
- ripemd-160
- mysql5
- sha1, sha224, sha256, sha384, sha512
- blake2b-256, blake2b-384, blake2b-512
This variety means you can generate exactly the hash format your target system uses — from old PHP apps still on MD5 to modern systems using SHA-512 or BLAKE2.
How to Use HashGen: Simple Examples
The syntax is clean and memorable. Just download the correct binary for your system (e.g., ‘hashgen_amd64’ for 64-bit Linux) and run it from the terminal.
Example 1: Output Hashes to Screen
hashgen_amd64 -m md5 -w wordlist.txt
This reads each line from ‘wordlist.txt’, computes its MD5 hash, and prints it directly to the terminal.
Example 2: Save Hashes to a File
hashgen_amd64 -m md5 -w wordlist.txt -o md5_hashes.txt
Same as above, but all hashes are saved neatly into ‘md5_hashes.txt’ — perfect for feeding into cracking tools.
Example 3: Include Plaintext with Hashes
hashgen_amd64 -m md5 -w wordlist.txt -o hashes_with_plain.txt -hashplain
This creates output in the classic hash:plaintext format. The following is an example output from a wordlist that contains fruit names per line:
9f6290f4436e5a2351f12e03b6433c3c:Apple e6f9c347672daae5a2557ae118f44a1e:Banana 909cea0c97058cfe2e3ea8d675cb08e1:Orange
Ideal for training machine learning models, testing cracking speed, or creating known-plaintext datasets.
Real-World Use Cases
Security professionals love HashGen for its speed and reliability. Here are common scenarios:
- Password Auditing: Convert corporate password lists into SHA-1 or NTLM hashes for compliance checks.
- CTF Challenges: Quickly generate hash lists for “crack the hash” puzzles.
- Research & Education: Teach students how different algorithms produce unique outputs from the same input.
- Tool Integration: Pipe results into Hashcat or John with zero formatting cleanup needed.
Because it’s a single binary with no runtime dependencies, you can drop it onto air-gapped systems, USB drives, or live forensic environments without worry.
Conclusion
HashGen is the ultimate wordlist-to-hash converter for security professionals. With simple commands, broad algorithm support, and blazing speed, it removes the friction from one of the most common tasks in penetration testing and research.
You can download HashGen from https://github.com/cyclone-github/hashgen.