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pythonpython-3.xencryptionxor

Python 3.6 File Decryption with XOR


I've written a bit of code that works great in encrypting a file, however I do not know how to decrypt it. Could someone explain to me how to decry the encrypted file? Thanks.

Code:

from itertools import cycle

def xore(data, key):
    return bytes(a ^ b for a, b in zip(data, cycle(key)))

with open('C:\\Users\\saeed\\Desktop\\k.png', 'rb') as encry, open('C:\\Users\\saeed\\Desktop\\k_enc.png', 'wb') as decry:
    decry.write(xore(encry.read(), b'anykey'))

Solution

  • To decrypt a xor encryption, you just need to encrypt it again with the same key:

    >>> from io import BytesIO
    >>> plain = b'This is a test'
    >>> with BytesIO(plain) as f:
    ...     encrypted = xore(f.read(), b'anykey')
    >>> print(encrypted)
    b'5\x06\x10\x18E\x10\x12N\x18K\x11\x1c\x12\x1a'
    >>> with BytesIO(encrypted) as f:
    ...     decrypted = xore(f.read(), b'anykey')
    >>> print(decrypted)
    b'This is a test'