Which file stores cracked passwords and hashes for John the Ripper?

• A. john.pot
• B. john.rec
• C. john.conf
• D. john.ini

Answer: (A)

In John the Ripper, cracked credentials are saved in the pot file. This file, typically named john.pot, stores lines in the form hash:plaintext, acting as a persistent cache of all hashes that have been successfully cracked. It lets John skip hashes it’s already cracked in future sessions and provides a record of the results you’ve obtained. The other files serve different roles: the configuration file (john.conf or john.ini) holds user options and settings; the recovery/session file (john.rec) stores session state used to resume work, not the actual cracked results; and the config variant on Windows is just another form of the configuration file.