macOS
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brew install hydraprovider-native install command
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Install hydra with Homebrew
Network logon cracker which supports many services. Version 9.7 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-18.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
Network logon cracker which supports many services
Project links
Commands and aliases
- dpl4hydra.sh
- hydra
- hydra-wizard.sh
- pw-inspector
history
Project history and usage
THC Hydra is a parallelized network login auditing tool. Its README and manpage describe it as a fast, flexible login cracker for many protocols, intended for legal security research and consulting demonstrations of weak remote authentication.
Project history
The upstream README carries a 2001-2023 copyright line for van Hauser / THC, credits many modules to David Maciejak, and notes BFG code by Jan Dlabal. It also states that Hydra was created because existing login tools did not support multiple protocols or parallelized connects.
The GitHub repository was created in April 2014, but the README copyright makes clear the project predates that hosting era. The changelog shows a long-running 7.x, 8.x, and 9.x line with continued module work, protocol fixes, output changes, dependency updates, and hardening.
Adoption history
Hydra is widely packaged for security-oriented and general-purpose Unix ecosystems. Package metadata lists Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora-family, Alpine, Arch, Nix, MacPorts, openSUSE, and other package channels, while Kali documents it as a password-attack tool with hydra and xhydra packages.
How it is used
Authorized users supply login and password sources, select a protocol module, tune parallel task counts, use SSL or IPv6 options when needed, restore interrupted sessions, and write results in text or JSON formats. The manpage and README emphasize module-specific options and list many supported services, from FTP, SSH, HTTP forms, IMAP, LDAP, SMB, RDP, Redis, MongoDB, and VNC to less common network services.
Why package nerds care
Hydra is package-nerd-significant because it is a classic example of a specialist security CLI whose value depends on optional protocol libraries and distro build choices. The same formula/package name can expose different module coverage depending on linked dependencies such as libssh, FreeRDP, PCRE2, database clients, and SSL libraries.
Timeline
- 2001: Upstream README copyright begins for van Hauser / THC.
- 2014: GitHub repository created for the public development history on GitHub.
- 2020: 9.0 changelog added memcached and MongoDB modules and changed JSON output behavior.
- 2022: 9.4 changelog switched from PCRE/PCRE3 to PCRE2 for Debian compatibility.
- 2023: 9.5 changelog focused on module behavior and HTTP-form fixes.
- 2025: 9.6 release notes mention FreeRDP v3, compiler fixes, and protocol/module fixes.
- 2026: 9.7 and 9.8-dev notes show GTK3 support for xhydra, Mongo v2 support, and security hardening work.
Related projects
- Hydra is related to xhydra, pw-inspector, THC security tooling, Kali packaging, libssh, FreeRDP, PCRE2, OpenSSL, and the many protocol libraries used to build optional modules.
Sources
- Project README, changelog, manpage, GitHub release page, Kali tool metadata, repository metadata, and Homebrew package metadata were used.
security posture
Risk level: red
credential attack tooling.
Risk classifier
red risk · high confidence · escape-surveillance-offensive
Why
- credential attack tooling
Signals
- override:hydra
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
dpl4hydra.sh | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
hydra | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
hydra-wizard.sh | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
pw-inspector | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version9.7
manager updated2026-07-18
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:hydra |
|---|---|
| Version | 9.7 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://github.com/vanhauser-thc/thc-hydra |
| Repository | https://github.com/vanhauser-thc/thc-hydra |
| Last updated | 2026-07-18T11:01:18Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation