Forgot password for VS project pfx file

Question

I am trying to work on an old Visual Studio 2010 project from another computer, but I forgot the password for the pfx file used to sign the assembly. Is it possible to crack a password or is there a way to create a project without knowing the password?

Answer 1

If you remember certain characteristics of your password (ie begins with "pass", does not contain tildes, ampersands, numbers 6 - 9, etc.), you can use this utility (boredwookie.net) I wrote to help you recover your password. It is released under the Open Source (MIT) license so you can see how it works.

Answer 2

Open the project file in Notepad. Locate the signtool.exe command line. This is the line after the / p switch ...

Answer 3

You can create a new key to sign the assembly with. 1) Open the project.

2) Right-click the project name in the solution explorer and select properties.

3) On the "Signing" tab, where it says "Select a file with a strong name:", select "Create .."

4) Use the dialog box to create a new key file, and the password will encode it with something that you can remember.

Answer 4

Can you just create a new one? You may be able to crack the password, but if you do not use it in other projects, it will be easier.

Answer 5

It was an old project, and the author left. I just made sure that the build sign was not set, and I deleted any pfx files in the project.