WhatsApp Crypt14-15 Backup Decrypter

Decrypts WhatsApp .crypt12, .crypt14 and .crypt15 files, given the key file or the 64-characters long key.
The key file is named "key" if the backup is crypt14 or
"encrypted_backup.key" if the backup is crypt15 (encrypted E2E backups).
The output result is either a SQLite database or a ZIP file (in case of wallpapers and stickers).
This is the only thing this script does. Those who are looking for a complete suite for WhatsApp forensics, check out whapa.

Quickstart

Cloud - Google Colab

If you do not want to install programs in your computer, you can run this program in Google Colab . (This version is not controlled by me.)

Local - Jupyter

If you are familiar with Jupyter (read here if you're not), you can use the notebook version of the program.

Local - Traditional

Just copy-paste this block into your terminal
(should be multi-platform - ignore errors during "activate" lines, as one is for Linux/macOS, one is for Windows (Batch) and one is for Windows PowerShell)

git clone https://github.com/ElDavoo/WhatsApp-Crypt14-Crypt15-Decrypter.git
cd WhatsApp-Crypt14-Crypt15-Decrypter
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
.\venv\Scripts\activate.bat
.\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

Requirements

Remember to download the proto folder!

Python 3.7 or more recent

pycriptodomex or pycryptodome
javaobj-py3
protobuf 3.20 or more recent

... or just install the requirements.txt file

Use:

             python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

Or:

             python -m pip install pycryptodomex javaobj-py3 protobuf

Usage

usage: decrypt14_15.py [-h] [-f] [-nm] [-bs BUFFER_SIZE] [-ng] [-np]
                      [-ivo IV_OFFSET] [-do DATA_OFFSET] [-v]
                      [keyfile] [encrypted] [decrypted]

Decrypts WhatsApp backup files encrypted with crypt12, 14 or 15

positional arguments:
 keyfile               The WhatsApp encrypted_backup key file or the hex
                       encoded key. Default: encrypted_backup.key
 encrypted             The encrypted crypt12, 14 or 15 file. Default:
                       msgstore.db.crypt15
 decrypted             The decrypted output file. Default: msgstore.db

options:
 -h, --help            show this help message and exit
 -f, --force           Makes errors non fatal. Default: false
 -nm, --no-mem         Does not load files in RAM, stresses the disk more.
                       Default: load files into RAM
 -bs BUFFER_SIZE, --buffer-size BUFFER_SIZE
                       How many bytes of data to process at a time. Implies
                       -nm. Default: 8192
 -ng, --no-guess       Does not try to guess the offsets, only protobuf
                       parsing.
 -np, --no-protobuf    Does not try to parse the protobuf message, only
                       offset guessing.
 -ivo IV_OFFSET, --iv-offset IV_OFFSET
                       The default offset of the IV in the encrypted file.
                       Only relevant in offset guessing mode. Default: 8
 -do DATA_OFFSET, --data-offset DATA_OFFSET
                       The default offset of the encrypted data in the
                       encrypted file. Only relevant in offset guessing mode.
                       Default: 122
 -v, --verbose         Prints all offsets and messages

Examples, with output

Crypt15

python ./decrypt14_15.py ./encrypted_backup.key ./msgstore.db.crypt15 ./msgstore.db
[I] Crypt15 key loaded
[I] Database header parsed
[I] Done

or

python ./decrypt14_15.py b1ef5568c31686d3339bcae4600c56cf7f0cb1ae982157060879828325257c11 ./msgstore.db.crypt15 ./msgstore.db
[I] Crypt15 key loaded
[I] Database header parsed
[I] Done

Crypt14

python ./decrypt14_15.py ./key ./msgstore.db.crypt14 ./msgstore.db
[I] Crypt12/14 key loaded
[I] Database header parsed
[I] Done

Crypt12

python ./decrypt14_15.py ./key ./msgstore.db.crypt12 ./msgstore.db
[I] Crypt12/14 key loaded
[I] Database header parsed
[I] Done

I had to use --force to decrypt

Please open an issue.

Not working / crash / etc

Please open an issue and attach:

1. Output of the program (both with and without --force)
2. Hexdump of keyfile
3. Hexdump of first 512 bytes of encrypted DB

I will happily accept pull requests for the currently open issues. :)

Where do I get the key(file)?

On a rooted Android device, you can just copy /data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key (or /data/data/com.whatsapp/files/encrypted_backup.key if backups are crypt15).
If you enabled E2E backups, and you did not use a password (you have a copy of the 64-digit key, for example a screenshot), you can just transcribe and use it in lieu of the key file parameter.
There are other ways, but it is not in the scope of this project to tell you.
Issues asking for this will be closed as invalid.

Last tested version (don't expect this to be updated)

Stable: 2.22.15.74
Beta: 2.23.2.6

Protobuf classes generation

You can replace the provided generated protobuf classes with your own.
In order to do that, download the protoc 21.0 from here. After that put protoc in the proto folder and run:
./protoc *.proto --python_out=.
We then need to manually patch the generated classes to fix import errors.
Open prefix_pb2.py and C14_cipher_pb2.py
Add proto. after any import keyword.
For example:
import C14_cipher_version_pb2 as C14__cipher__version__pb2
becomes
import proto.C14_cipher_version_pb2 as C14__cipher__version__pb2

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Donations

Thank you so much to each one of you!

• 🎉🎉🎉 courious875 🎉🎉🎉

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Credits:

Original implementation for crypt12: TripCode
Some help at the beginning: DjEdu28
Actual crypt14/15 implementation with protobuf: ElDavoo
Help with crypt14/15 footer: george-lam

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