PTPASSTIME - Password Timing Attack Tester
ptpasstime tests whether a login endpoint compares passwords in constant time.
If response time grows with the number of matching prefix characters, the endpoint is
vulnerable to timing attacks.
How it works
Non-constant-time comparison (password == input) stops at the first mismatch:
| Attempt | Example password | Response time |
|---|---|---|
| all_wrong | XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX |
fastest |
| first_wrong | XorrectPassword |
medium |
| last_wrong | correctPassworX |
slowest |
The tool sends each attempt -n times and uses the median response time.
If first_wrong or last_wrong exceeds all_wrong by a configurable threshold,
the endpoint is reported as vulnerable.
Optional --brute-force mode recovers the password character-by-character by picking
the candidate with the longest median response time at each position.
Installation
pip install ptpasstime
Test server
A vulnerable Flask app is included for local testing:
pip install -r test_server/requirements.txt
python test_server/vulnerable_app.py
Endpoints:
POST /login/vulnerable— early-exit comparison (vulnerable)POST /login/secure—hmac.compare_digest(safe)
Default credentials: admin / correctPassword
Usage examples
Detection mode:
ptpasstime -u http://127.0.0.1:5000/login/vulnerable \
-d 'username=admin&password=INJECT' -p correctPassword -n 15
Brute-force recovery:
ptpasstime -u http://127.0.0.1:5000/login/vulnerable \
-d 'username=admin&password=INJECT' -p correctPassword --brute-force -n 5
Raw request file:
ptpasstime -f login.txt -p correctPassword -n 10
Options
-u --url <url> Login endpoint URL
-d --data <post-data> POST body with INJECT placeholder
-f --request-file <file|base64> Raw HTTP request (alternative to -d)
-p --password <password> Reference password (length + validation)
-n --repeat <n> Repetitions per attempt (default 10)
--brute-force Character-by-character recovery mode
--placeholder <text> Password placeholder (default INJECT)
--threshold-percent <pct> Relative threshold % (default 15)
--threshold-ms <ms> Absolute threshold in ms (default 1)
--charset <chars> Charset for brute-force mode
--wrong-char <char> Padding character (default X)
--proxy <proxy> Proxy (e.g. http://127.0.0.1:8080)
-T --timeout Request timeout (default 10)
-c --cookie <cookie> Cookie header
-a --user-agent <a> User-Agent header
-H --headers <header:value> Custom headers
-r --redirects Follow redirects
-j --json JSON output
-v --version Show version
-h --help Show help
Dependencies
ptlibs
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Penterep Security s.r.o.
ptpasstime is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
Warning
You are only allowed to run the tool against websites you have permission to test. Penterep is not responsible for any illegal or malicious use of this code. Be ethical!
Metadata
Release files for ptpasstime 0.0.2
For a detailed explanation of source distributions (sdists) and built distributions (wheels), please see the package formats documentation.
Source distribution (sdist)
| File | Size | Uploaded | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ptpasstime-0.0.2.tar.gz | 23.6 kB | Details |
Built distribution (wheel)
| File | Interpreter | ABI | Platform | Reset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ptpasstime-0.0.2-py3-none-any.whl | Python 3 | none | any | Details |
Total release size: 46.8 kB
Release files / ptpasstime-0.0.2.tar.gz
| Download URL | ptpasstime-0.0.2.tar.gz |
|---|---|
| Size | 23.6 kB |
| Tags | Source |
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| Size | 23.2 kB |
| Tags | Python 3 |
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