MD4 Hash Generator
Generate cryptographic MD4 hashes instantly for any input text
About MD4 Hash Generator
What is MD4?
MD4 (Message Digest Algorithm 4) is a cryptographic hash function developed by Ronald Rivest in 1990. It produces a 128-bit (16-byte) hash value, typically rendered as a 32-character hexadecimal number.
Security Note
While MD4 was groundbreaking in its time, it's now considered cryptographically broken and unsuitable for security purposes. It's still useful for checksums and legacy systems, but consider stronger alternatives like SHA-256 for security applications.
Common Uses
MD4 hashes are still used in some legacy systems, NT LAN Manager (NTLM) authentication protocol, and for checksums in file verification. Our tool helps developers working with these systems.
Understanding MD4 Hashes
The MD4 algorithm processes input data in 512-bit blocks, first padding the input to ensure it's a multiple of 512 bits. It then performs a series of bitwise operations, logical functions, and modular additions to produce the final hash value.
Technical Characteristics
- Produces a fixed 128-bit (16-byte) output
- Processes messages in 512-bit blocks
- Uses three rounds of 16 operations each
- Designed for 32-bit systems
- Faster than its successor MD5 but less secure
Frequently Asked Questions
No, MD4 is not considered secure for cryptographic purposes. It was broken shortly after its introduction, with practical collision attacks demonstrated as early as 1995. For security applications, you should use more modern hash functions like SHA-2 (SHA-256, SHA-512) or SHA-3.
MD5 is the successor to MD4 and includes additional security measures. While both produce 128-bit hashes, MD5 has a more complex algorithm with four rounds of processing (compared to MD4's three) and additional security features. However, both are now considered cryptographically broken.
MD4 is still found in some legacy systems, including older versions of Microsoft's NTLM authentication protocol. It's also sometimes used for checksums in non-security contexts where collision resistance isn't critical. Some file verification systems may still use MD4 for compatibility reasons.
Our tool implements the standard MD4 algorithm in JavaScript. When you input text, it processes the data through the MD4 algorithm's three rounds of operations, producing the 128-bit hash. The result is then displayed as a 32-character hexadecimal string, which is the standard representation of MD4 hashes.
This online tool currently only processes text input. For generating MD4 hashes of files, you would need to use a dedicated file hashing utility that supports MD4. Many command-line tools and programming languages have libraries that can compute MD4 hashes for files.