Quick HOWTO: 1. Open the protected document in Word 2. File / Save As (XML Document) 3. Open XML Document, look for <w:documentProtection w:edit="read-only" w:enforcement="on" w:unprotectPassword="xxxxxxx"/> The "unprotectPassword" will be a hex byte string. 4. Open the .doc in your favorite hex editor, and search for the hex string in the reverse order, i.e. if the unprotectPassword says "1F C6 CB EB" you would be searching for "EB CB C6 1F" .. when you find this string simply zero them out and save the document (I suggest saving as a copy obviously). Once you open the document again you should be able to just click "Tools / Unprotect Document" and it will not even prompt for a password. -Chris -----Original Message----- From: Dave.Collins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Dave.Collins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2005 4:11 PM To: bugtraq@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Microsoft Word Protection Bypass Where can I find the "how to" to get around the password protection? I have a form that I need to modify, but whoever created it is no longer with the company and as a result, the password is "gone" Many Thanks
