● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportLow impact
Hashcat password cracker ported to Gameboy Advance at 727 hashes per second
Key points
- gba-hashcat runs on original Gameboy Advance hardware
- achieves 727 hashes per second using SHA256
- new version limited by GBA's memory and processing power
Overview of gba-hashcat
The gba-hashcat software was developed by security engineer solstICE, who aimed to showcase the capabilities of the Gameboy Advance (GBA) in a domain typically dominated by high-powered hardware. By running on an original GBA with a 16.8 MHz ARM7TDMI chip, gba-hashcat can process SHA256 hashes, albeit at a drastically slower speed compared to modern setups.
Performance details
The performance of gba-hashcat is measured at 727 hashes per second. According to the developer, performing the same work on a modern GPU would take only one second for the time equivalent to one year on the GBA. The software is constrained by the GBA's maximum memory capacity, as standard cartridges allow for only 32 MB.
Technical limitations
The Gameboy Advance has limited RAM and video RAM amounting to 288 KB and 98 KB respectively. This restriction leads to the inclusion of a smaller ignis-1M word list, limited to 8 MB, in the software. The GBA's processing and memory limitations significantly hamper the efficacy of brute-force password cracking.
Community interest
X commenters on the original GitHub commit have expressed a desire for networking support to create clusters of GBA devices for more effective password cracking. Despite its limitations and being described as a 'dumb app,' this project demonstrates creativity in utilizing retro hardware for modern tasks.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
The daily brief
One email each morning: the day's tech stories, clustered across outlets and summarized. No account needed.
One email a day. Unsubscribe in one click, any time.
Today's brief
Spend a few minutes, get the whole day. Every topic's top stories in one hands-free rundown — listen, watch, or read the transcript.
▶ Play today's brief
New every morning, and the back catalogue is archived by date.
Reporting from
A security engineer has ported the hashcat password cracking utility to the Gameboy Advance, achieving 727 hashes per second. This version, called gba-hashcat, utilizes the GBA's limited hardware resources, but significantly lags behind modern systems, performing 30 million times slower than today's powerful GPUs.