{"record":{"id":"5370e0f18f201449","repo":"moonD4rk/HackBrowserData","slug":"abe-encrypted-key-too-short-d-bytes","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"abe: encrypted key too short: %d bytes","messagePattern":"abe: encrypted key too short: (.+?) bytes","errorType":"exception","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"masterkey/abe_windows.go","lineNumber":89,"sourceCode":"\tif localStatePath == \"\" {\n\t\treturn nil, errNoABEKey\n\t}\n\tdata, err := os.ReadFile(localStatePath)\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"abe: read Local State: %w\", err)\n\t}\n\n\traw := gjson.GetBytes(data, \"os_crypt.app_bound_encrypted_key\")\n\tif !raw.Exists() {\n\t\treturn nil, errNoABEKey\n\t}\n\n\tdecoded, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(raw.String())\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"abe: base64 decode: %w\", err)\n\t}\n\tif len(decoded) <= len(appbPrefix) {\n\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"abe: encrypted key too short: %d bytes\", len(decoded))\n\t}\n\tfor i, b := range appbPrefix {\n\t\tif decoded[i] != b {\n\t\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"abe: unexpected prefix: got %q, want %q\",\n\t\t\t\tdecoded[:len(appbPrefix)], appbPrefix)\n\t\t}\n\t}\n\treturn decoded[len(appbPrefix):], nil\n}\n","sourceCodeStart":71,"sourceCodeEnd":99,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/moonD4rk/HackBrowserData/blob/0503d04d7a8d0379d060268a74f1b149e5a0aad5/masterkey/abe_windows.go#L71-L99","documentation":"The base64-decoded app_bound_encrypted_key must be longer than the 'APPB' prefix so the prefix can be stripped. This error means the decoded blob was too short to contain even the prefix, i.e. it is not valid app-bound key material.","triggerScenarios":"Calling RetrieveKey when the decoded value from Local State is empty or shorter than len(appbPrefix) bytes — e.g. the JSON field held an empty string, a very short non-key value, or a partially written/corrupted profile.","commonSituations":"Fresh/never-used Chrome profile where the key was never written; manually edited Local State; decoding the wrong field; profile corruption after a crash.","solutions":["Check the raw app_bound_encrypted_key value in Local State — if it's empty or tiny, Chrome never stored the key and ABE cannot proceed.","Launch Chrome once under the target user so it populates the app-bound key, then retry.","Verify you decoded the correct JSON field and that base64 decoding succeeded on a full-length value.","Fall back to a non-ABE decryption path or skip the browser when the key is absent."],"exampleFix":"// before\nraw := gjson.GetBytes(data, \"os_crypt.app_bound_encrypted_key\")\n// after - detect empty/missing value before decoding\nraw := gjson.GetBytes(data, \"os_crypt.app_bound_encrypted_key\")\nif !raw.Exists() || len(raw.String()) == 0 {\n\treturn nil, errNoABEKey\n}","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"decoded, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(rawKey)\nif err != nil {\n\treturn err\n}\nif len(decoded) <= len(\"APPB\") {\n\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"app_bound key too short (%d bytes); Chrome may not have stored a key\", len(decoded))\n}","typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"key, err := RetrieveKey(exePath, localStatePath)\nif err != nil {\n\tif strings.Contains(err.Error(), \"too short\") {\n\t\tlog.Warnf(\"no app-bound key present in profile: %v; skipping\", err)\n\t\treturn nil\n\t}\n\treturn err\n}","preventionTips":["Treat a missing/short key as 'browser never used' and skip gracefully rather than erroring hard.","Launch the target browser once under the target user before extraction so the key gets written.","Validate the raw field length in Local State before base64 decoding."],"tags":["windows","chrome","key-extraction","validation"],"backgroundTag":"value-out-of-range","analyzedSha":"0503d04d7a8d0379d060268a74f1b149e5a0aad5","analyzedAt":"2026-09-06T13:38:28.707Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-09-06T13:38:28.707Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-14T00:17:10.932Z"}