fadi002 / unshackle

Open-source tool to bypass windows and linux passwords from bootable usb

End of support ⚠

the project is now archived and will no longer be worked on because of the time that is needed to maintain this project and testing it on VMware in a not-so-good pc,

Unshackle - Password Bypass Tool

Unshackle is an open-source tool to bypass Windows and Linux user passwords from a bootable USB based on Linux.

Contributions are welcomed.

To-Do List:

Feature	Status
Easy to use	✅
Support windows	✅
Simple CLI	✅
Support linux	✅
Tutorial video	🟡
easy to build	❌
Simple GUI	❌

✅ = Done 🟡 = Under development ❌ = Planned

Requirements

To use Unshackle, you need:

1. Unshackle ISO
2. Rufus
3. USB pen drive

Usage

1. Download the Unshackle ISO from the releases.
2. Download etcher (recommended).
3. Use Rufus to burn the ISO to your USB drive.
4. Boot from the USB and select Unshackle.
5. Choose your OS (Windows or Linux).
6. Let the process finish, then reboot your system.
7. For Windows, press Shift five times on the lock screen.

Donation 💸

if you liked the project feel free to donate!

BNB : 0xAF0445f3eEDd7f113a47D3a339820F5b4B1F700c

BTC : bc1q5dedemhl64lqrcjpa226l9sf3hx2l9zm6mzszf

ETH : 0xAF0445f3eEDd7f113a47D3a339820F5b4B1F700c

LTC : ltc1qcu8z2wuexn4lq9em4taerkxcxca267lyg8xac8

Disclaimer

This tool is for educational purposes only. Do not use it for any illegal activities or unauthorized access. Use it at your own risk. We are not liable for any damage caused by its use.

License

The program, libraries, etc., are licensed under the GNU General Public License.

Notes

Linux support is in beta, so expect bugs. You need to disable secure boot in the motherboard settings. The uninstall command for Windows has a bug (99% of the time) that causes it to fail, but you can manually uninstall it.

Uninstall Commands

takeown /F "%SystemRoot%\System32\sethc.exe" /A
takeown /F "%SystemRoot%\System32\sethc.exe.old" /A
del /f "%SystemRoot%\System32\sethc.exe"
move /y "%SystemRoot%\System32\sethc.exe.old" "%SystemRoot%\System32\sethc.exe"

unshackle's Issues

on top

Says its just to log in but doesnt work

so im trying this on my school pc to remove the admin password or log onto an admin account and use that instead, and thing is, everything works fine when booting and everything, but once i choose "remove password" or "change password" it either doesnt find the user even tho im taking it straight from the "!users" or it says "done, now just boot" and then i try logging onto the account and it says the name or password is wrong, u think u know whats wrong?

Not work for (Oracle VM VirtualBox)

Hi Hi,

Unfortunately, the standalone ISO does not work for (Oracle VM VirtualBox with Windows).
Can you please fix this bug or release a version specific to VirtualBox?

Thank you.

[FEAT.] Screenshot

To present better the project a screenshot and a better description it will be helpful.

As example a screenshot of the boot menu. About the description says about bypass but this means that remove the password request for the login?

How is the unshackle bin compiled? I would like to make changes

Dropping binaries to disk and not cleaning up

The tool searches for the sethc.exe binary on the mounted Windows drive, then renames it and drops it's own binary in place before rebooting.

This leaves the user with a backdoor on the system as I don't see any clean up occurring, which could later be picked up by AV and removed - which removes Windows functionality.

A post-run script should fix this before permitting Windows to boot again.

Are the effects of unshackle persistent?

After using the tool, will anyone be able to walk up to the machine in question and press shift 5 times to unlock or only while the USB is present?

Thanks!

[BUG]centos7.6运行错误 error:unknown filesystem

Not working

After it finished,it showed now window booting medium found and I followed all the instructions.