For weak passwords, various online databases exist where you can paste the hash. If the password is common (like "cisco" or "admin"), the database likely already contains the corresponding plaintext.
When you see a configuration line like: username admin privilege 15 secret 5 $1$XwAo$7hR9Z/N7S.9Y9j7tO6R4K0 cisco password 5 cracker
Cisco recommend migrating away from Type 5 wherever hardware supports newer, more computationally expensive algorithms. Password Type Algorithm Security Status Type 7 Vigenère (Obfuscation) Unsafe (Instantly reversible) Type 5 Salted MD5 Legacy (Vulnerable to GPU cracking) Type 8 SHA-256 (PBKDF2) Strong (Recommended) Type 9 Scrypt Strongest (Memory-hard; highly resistant) For those managing legacy systems, the best defense is using long, complex passphrases and migrating to For weak passwords, various online databases exist where