network-secret

Encode, decode, and check network device secrets for Juniper/HPE JunOS, Nokia SR OS, and Cisco IOS, from the command line or Python. network-secret is a unified successor to juniper8-crypt and juniper9-crypt: it covers all seven formats in a single package with a single CLI.

Prefer a browser? Decode, encode, hash and verify all seven formats at network-secret.pages.dev. It runs the same algorithms fully client-side - nothing you type is ever sent to a server.

Repository layout

This repo holds both the Python package and the website that share these algorithms.

The two implementations share known-answer vectors, so keeping them in one repo means a cipher fix and its test data land in a single commit.

Supported formats

$8$ and $9$ mean two different things. Juniper/HPE and Cisco both use these markers, for unrelated algorithms. A Juniper/HPE $9$ is a keyless substitution cipher; a Cisco $9$ is a scrypt password hash. Pick the subcommand by the device the value came from, not by the prefix. network-secret never guesses between them.

Install

pip install network-secret

Or with uv:

uv add network-secret

Python API

from network_secret import juniper8, juniper9, nokia_sros_custom_hash

# Juniper/HPE $9$ (keyless)
cipher9 = juniper9.encrypt("BGPsecret1")
plain9 = juniper9.decrypt(cipher9)
# 'BGPsecret1'

# Juniper/HPE $8$ (master-password keyed)
master = "MyMasterPassword"
cipher8 = juniper8.encrypt("BGPsecret1", master)
plain8 = juniper8.decrypt(cipher8, master)
# 'BGPsecret1'
plain_a, plain_b, match = juniper8.check(cipher8, "BGPsecret1", master)
# match is True

# Nokia SR OS custom-hash (16/24/32-character shared key)
key = "a3f8d9e112c04b7af1c3e8b92d057a4e"
cipher_nokia = nokia_sros_custom_hash.encrypt("BGPsecret1", key)
plain_nokia = nokia_sros_custom_hash.decrypt(cipher_nokia, key)
# 'BGPsecret1'
plain_a, plain_b, match = nokia_sros_custom_hash.check(cipher_nokia, "BGPsecret1", key)
# match is True

# Cisco IOS type 7 (keyless, legacy obfuscation)
from network_secret import cisco_type6, cisco_type7, cisco_type8, cisco_type9

cipher7 = cisco_type7.encrypt("BGPsecret1")
plain7 = cisco_type7.decrypt(cipher7)
# 'BGPsecret1'

# Cisco IOS type 6 (master-key keyed)
cipher6 = cisco_type6.encrypt("BGPsecret1", "MyMasterKey")
plain6 = cisco_type6.decrypt(cipher6, "MyMasterKey")
# 'BGPsecret1'

# Cisco IOS type 8 and type 9 are one-way hashes
hash8 = cisco_type8.encrypt("BGPsecret1")
given, recomputed, match = cisco_type8.check(hash8, "BGPsecret1")
# match is True
cisco_type8.decrypt(hash8)
# ValueError: Cisco type 8 is a one-way hash and cannot be decrypted. Use --check to test a password against it.

All seven check() functions return a tuple[str, str, bool]. For five of them the two strings are the decrypted plaintexts and whether they match. Cisco type 8 and type 9 cannot decrypt anything, so they return the hash you passed in, the hash recomputed from the candidate password, and whether those match. For Cisco type 6 and type 7, the second argument to check() is always read as cleartext, because neither format carries a marker that tells it apart from a password.

Command-line usage

# List all supported ciphers
network-secret --list

# Show the version
network-secret --version

Juniper/HPE $9$ (keyless)

network-secret juniper9 --encrypt 'BGPsecret1'
network-secret juniper9 --decrypt '$9$abc...'
network-secret juniper9 --check '$9$abc...' 'BGPsecret1'

Juniper/HPE $8$ (master-password keyed)

The master password is resolved in this order: -m/--master flag, then the JUNOS_MASTER_PASSWORD environment variable, then an interactive no-echo prompt.

# Master on the command line
network-secret juniper8 -m 'MyMaster' --encrypt 'BGPsecret1'
network-secret juniper8 -m 'MyMaster' --decrypt '$8$aes256-gcm$...'
network-secret juniper8 -m 'MyMaster' --check '$8$aes256-gcm$...' 'BGPsecret1'

# Master from the environment (keeps it out of shell history and the process list)
export JUNOS_MASTER_PASSWORD='MyMaster'
network-secret juniper8 --decrypt '$8$aes256-gcm$...'

# Master from an interactive prompt
network-secret juniper8 --decrypt '$8$aes256-gcm$...'
# Master password: <typed without echo>

Always quote $8$ and $9$ strings with single quotes - the shell expands $8 and $9 as positional parameters otherwise.

Nokia SR OS custom-hash (shared-key)

The shared key is resolved in this order: -k/--key flag, then the SROS_CUSTOM_HASH_KEY environment variable, then an interactive no-echo prompt. Keys must be exactly 16, 24, or 32 characters.

# Key on the command line
network-secret nokia-sros-custom-hash -k 'a3f8d9e112c04b7af1c3e8b92d057a4e' --encrypt 'BGPsecret1'
network-secret nokia-sros-custom-hash -k 'a3f8d9e112c04b7af1c3e8b92d057a4e' --decrypt 'ABC123...'
network-secret nokia-sros-custom-hash -k 'a3f8d9e112c04b7af1c3e8b92d057a4e' --check 'ABC123...' 'BGPsecret1'

# Key from the environment
export SROS_CUSTOM_HASH_KEY='a3f8d9e112c04b7af1c3e8b92d057a4e'
network-secret nokia-sros-custom-hash --decrypt 'ABC123...'

Cisco IOS type 6 (master-key keyed)

The master key is the one set with key config-key password-encrypt. It is resolved in this order: -m/--master flag, then the CISCO_MASTER_KEY environment variable, then an interactive no-echo prompt.

network-secret cisco-type6 -m 'MyMasterKey' --encrypt 'BGPsecret1'
network-secret cisco-type6 -m 'MyMasterKey' --decrypt 'NdUI^_YP[VEP...'
network-secret cisco-type6 -m 'MyMasterKey' --check 'NdUI^_YP[VEP...' 'BGPsecret1'

export CISCO_MASTER_KEY='MyMasterKey'
network-secret cisco-type6 --decrypt 'NdUI^_YP[VEP...'

Cisco IOS type 7 (keyless)

network-secret cisco-type7 --encrypt 'BGPsecret1'
network-secret cisco-type7 --decrypt '060506324F41'
network-secret cisco-type7 --check '060506324F41' 'cisco'

Type 7 is obfuscation, not encryption. Anyone can decode it. Treat any type 7 value you find as cleartext.

Cisco IOS type 8 and type 9 (one-way)

These are password hashes, so there is nothing to decrypt. --encrypt computes a hash with a fresh random salt, and --check tests a password against an existing hash by reusing that hash's salt.

network-secret cisco-type8 --encrypt 'BGPsecret1'
network-secret cisco-type8 --check '$8$J5J/1K3e8gk974$HRez...' 'cisco123'

network-secret cisco-type9 --encrypt 'BGPsecret1'
network-secret cisco-type9 --check '$9$ihSswXDbk0kaVK$o.uy...' 'cisco123'

network-secret cisco-type9 --decrypt '$9$ihSswXDbk0kaVK$o.uy...'
# error: Cisco type 9 is a one-way hash and cannot be decrypted. Use --check to test a password against it.

Exit codes

Supersedes

network-secret supersedes the older single-format packages juniper8-crypt and juniper9-crypt. It exposes the same algorithms under the same function signatures (encrypt, decrypt, check); migrating is a matter of updating the import path.

License

MIT