IKE:

Exploitation

PSK capture, cracking, and weak transform VPN access guides

2 guides • Created Mar 16, 2026 • Updated Mar 29, 2026

2 guides

IKEv1 Aggressive Mode PSK Capture and Cracking

Exploit IKEv1 aggressive mode to capture PSK handshakes via ike-scan, then crack the hash offline using ike-crack or hashcat.

Mar 16, 2026 • 4 min read

IKE Weak Transform Set Connection

Mar 16, 2026 • 3 min read

IKE exploitation centers on cracking pre-shared keys captured from aggressive mode exchanges. When the VPN gateway responds in aggressive mode, it hands you a hash derived from the PSK that can be cracked offline with tools like psk-crack and hashcat.

Once you have a valid PSK, you can authenticate to the VPN and access the internal network. Credential brute-forcing against IKE gateways is also viable when aggressive mode is not available but the gateway accepts multiple authentication attempts.