Help with PGP decryption - CHALLENGE
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Hi, I have a bit on an unusual request. I need help decrypting a message on a geocaching.com web page. The page is at [shortcut]: http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2YQBW_1789?guid=f1b853a9-4244-404d-903f-1424a1702ff2
On this page is the following message:
-----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----
hQIMA1/TAuwZWoH5ARAAugRNRo8+JlTyram3H6TaaV8Fwi/gjaMddhlNT5xacxpJ
7qD9/+s82V5Ao5iFQgSsbCHaj/cqiKM7Y9mmc+EqyalfrKLUJzkJYIwBj3FQwxYc
/800tgGEveo6ftFmaBUVMkus8psWChMRdPkzcpBq+bgjSK1Jsr8dQf+Kb6zKPSqo
s1hSuFn231ws4sgEIDL0vxgBdkkBSzud81y0A9QZhNTbz6I101MD+MYkKHbBPS16
jADpvoAkJ/C7Hfm3XW8p23SyctxIhjlXzphWiqGvRVl1g7A6wLa9SCB0NDl0NyTe
dJs1TVprXcLPPj3flkKdG0XD7ce7my2hfuTcyTvnsIikFiSpQJPiyVuFe9ATD+Xo
6lhjxBJdea970HOEN1Ej6O+8OIMqfrX12Uy3kJBent49VrKe3/K/NvL89x2Ofr+1
e5c6+Qr9pQT0YBJggGqGnvSee+W5Y5AxfeaQuJmRYoVb8yasvbYXOWJfvDgr+F6l
zRpsSzV/7cgMMwmJETDSrGWUwzYEMkV1uApqd6Bx29vDnGKuFZFaRX3CfjcDh9bE
exptwb82ARJkgGoIwAK9Gile+nfk14j29koxf0yNbIbavNbUVOIWw+VM7opfRwLv
G/MeOZ0wf88xl8//FBgDFL4pQht18ioS5Bdo2cq82ndaSo9eCjGWw+FzzfxxKR7S
wF8Bs0yMVU30YVOCnIj+85gb5D4HwPbb0Cq1lEMYtnT5QlJBvf0tTq66eTSkJb8a
t1zTgCZ8I9jwxE5g/nc5459QEHGDmDD3+mihU/I7Yq1GkODqmbZFNQJklZVLnM0S
bhADU21eleZcxKaYBbShW/k0lXuVscN5CE1Ov6mREq3448nZCt2LO76LBosbA+jd
5UpI/mxu2Np9hvF8qXfu+VlnH/jdL/HzFAaAhYgid6cenVSvUYqGB11GIqVdiNvg
Ts92pAmGrjKHhQtXwowmlgtkvlr8dx2CmBC4SBE40i4IP1sNdTNNcbdq0I6LS2Jf
Yt9fIudS08fAPxitg5EVF1+AzQAghhvrYPYzEUo0c4424x0QpSMPc7vsZSpLPnVM
PA==
=6OOI
-----END PGP MESSAGE-----
Now I know I need to have a secret key and passphrase to decode it but there is no help in this regard.
Given the title of this cache is 1789 and the owner is "Marianne" I'm thinking the passphrase has something to do with the French Revolution.
I know the owner personally and his public key is:
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: SKS 1.1.4
Comment: Hostname: pgp.mit.edu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=fqUY
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Any ideas how I might decrypt this if he has sent the message to himself using his secret key? Any ideas would really help as I'm new to this topic.
Thanks
AdrianW
Last edit: Adrian W 2014-05-08
Hi,
Cannot read the linked text since I'm not a premium member.
But if I understand this correctly...
I think there are two different keypairs involved.
Let's assume "Keypair-geo" has been created for the geocache,
"keypair-ml" has been created for the owner's e-mail.
Plaintext has been encrypted with Public-geo which generates Ciphertext-geo that is now published on geocaching.com
You will need Secret-geo to decrypt it.
The very same Plaintext has been encrypted once again, but this time with Public-ml which generates Ciphertext-ml to be transferred via e-mail. You will need Secret-ml to decrypt.
Also, please note:
e-mails are encrypted with the recipient's PUBLIC key and before reading they are decrypted with the recipient's secret key.
If somebody sends e-mail to themselves their secret key is not involved yet. It's only used afterwards to decrypt the incoming message.
Summarized:
Ciphertext-geo is different from Ciphertext-ml.
What you were asking for, actually, is to decrypt Ciphertext-geo with Public-ml. This won't work.
Good luck,
tom
Hi Tom, Thanks for the response. I'm not sure, but this may well be a bogus PGP file anyway... I'll keep trying to find Keypair-geo, which may well be hidden by the owner somewhere, as he has done similar things with other puzzles.
Cheers
A
Hi Adrian, I'm a few years late, but im also trying to solve this. Did you have any luck? Msg me on geocaching - greybro