MD5CryptoServiceProvider Class (System.Security.Cryptography)

.NET Framework Class Library

MD5CryptoServiceProvider Class

Updated: February 2009

Computes the MD5 hash value for the input data using the implementation provided by the cryptographic service provider (CSP). This class cannot be inherited.

Namespace: System.Security.Cryptography
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public NotInheritable Class MD5CryptoServiceProvider _
    Inherits MD5

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As MD5CryptoServiceProvider

[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public sealed class MD5CryptoServiceProvider : MD5

Visual C++

[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public ref class MD5CryptoServiceProvider sealed : public MD5

JScript

public final class MD5CryptoServiceProvider extends MD5

Remarks

Hash functions map binary strings of an arbitrary length to small binary strings of a fixed length. A cryptographic hash function has the property that it is computationally infeasible to find two distinct inputs that hash to the same value; that is, hashes of two sets of data should match if the corresponding data also matches. Small changes to the data result in large, unpredictable changes in the hash.

The hash size for the MD5CryptoServiceProvider class is 128 bits.

The ComputeHash methods of the MD5CryptoServiceProvider class return the hash as an array of 16 bytes. Note that some MD5 implementations produce a 32-character, hexadecimal-formatted hash. To interoperate with such implementations, format the return value of the ComputeHash methods as a hexadecimal value.

Note:
Newer hash functions, such as the Secure Hash Algorithms SHA-256 and SHA-512, are available. Consider using the SHA256CryptoServiceProvider class or the SHA512CryptoServiceProvider class instead of the MD5CryptoServiceProvider class.

Examples

The following code example computes the MD5 hash value for data and returns it.

Visual Basic

Function MD5hash(data() As Byte) As Byte()
    ' This is one implementation of the abstract class MD5.
    Dim md5 As New MD5CryptoServiceProvider()

    Dim result As Byte() = md5.ComputeHash(data)

    Return result
End Function

byte[] MD5hash (byte[] data)
 {
    // This is one implementation of the abstract class MD5.
    MD5 md5 = new MD5CryptoServiceProvider();

    byte[] result = md5.ComputeHash(data);

    return result;
 }

Visual C++

private:
   array<Byte>^ MD5hash( array<Byte>^data )
   {
      // This is one implementation of the abstract class MD5.
      MD5^ md5 = gcnew MD5CryptoServiceProvider;

      array<Byte>^ result = md5->ComputeHash( data );

      return result;
   }

The following code example computes the MD5 hash value of a string and returns the hash as a 32-character, hexadecimal-formatted string. The hash string created by this code example is compatible with any MD5 hash function (on any platform) that creates a 32-character, hexadecimal-formatted hash string.

Visual Basic

Imports System
Imports System.Security.Cryptography
Imports System.Text

Module Example

    ' Hash an input string and return the hash as
    ' a 32 character hexadecimal string.
    Function getMd5Hash(ByVal input As String) As String
        ' Create a new instance of the MD5CryptoServiceProvider object.
        Dim md5Hasher As New MD5CryptoServiceProvider()

        ' Convert the input string to a byte array and compute the hash.
        Dim data As Byte() = md5Hasher.ComputeHash(Encoding.Default.GetBytes(input))

        ' Create a new Stringbuilder to collect the bytes
        ' and create a string.
        Dim sBuilder As New StringBuilder()

        ' Loop through each byte of the hashed data 
        ' and format each one as a hexadecimal string.
        Dim i As Integer
        For i = 0 To data.Length - 1
            sBuilder.Append(data(i).ToString("x2"))
        Next i

        ' Return the hexadecimal string.
        Return sBuilder.ToString()

    End Function


    ' Verify a hash against a string.
    Function verifyMd5Hash(ByVal input As String, ByVal hash As String) As Boolean
        ' Hash the input.
        Dim hashOfInput As String = getMd5Hash(input)

        ' Create a StringComparer an compare the hashes.
        Dim comparer As StringComparer = StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase

        If 0 = comparer.Compare(hashOfInput, hash) Then
            Return True
        Else
            Return False
        End If

    End Function



    Sub Main()
        Dim source As String = "Hello World!"

        Dim hash As String = getMd5Hash(source)

        Console.WriteLine("The MD5 hash of " + source + " is: " + hash + ".")

        Console.WriteLine("Verifying the hash...")

        If verifyMd5Hash(source, hash) Then
            Console.WriteLine("The hashes are the same.")
        Else
            Console.WriteLine("The hashes are not same.")
        End If

    End Sub
End Module
' This code example produces the following output:
'
' The MD5 hash of Hello World! is: ed076287532e86365e841e92bfc50d8c.
' Verifying the hash...
' The hashes are the same.

using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;

class Example
{
    // Hash an input string and return the hash as
    // a 32 character hexadecimal string.
    static string getMd5Hash(string input)
    {
        // Create a new instance of the MD5CryptoServiceProvider object.
        MD5CryptoServiceProvider md5Hasher = new MD5CryptoServiceProvider();

        // Convert the input string to a byte array and compute the hash.
        byte[] data = md5Hasher.ComputeHash(Encoding.Default.GetBytes(input));

        // Create a new Stringbuilder to collect the bytes
        // and create a string.
        StringBuilder sBuilder = new StringBuilder();

        // Loop through each byte of the hashed data 
        // and format each one as a hexadecimal string.
        for (int i = 0; i < data.Length; i++)
        {
            sBuilder.Append(data[i].ToString("x2"));
        }

        // Return the hexadecimal string.
        return sBuilder.ToString();
    }

    // Verify a hash against a string.
    static bool verifyMd5Hash(string input, string hash)
    {
        // Hash the input.
        string hashOfInput = getMd5Hash(input);

        // Create a StringComparer an compare the hashes.
        StringComparer comparer = StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase;

        if (0 == comparer.Compare(hashOfInput, hash))
        {
            return true;
        }
        else
        {
            return false;
        }
    }


    static void Main()
    {
        string source = "Hello World!";

        string hash = getMd5Hash(source);

        Console.WriteLine("The MD5 hash of " + source + " is: " + hash + ".");

        Console.WriteLine("Verifying the hash...");

        if (verifyMd5Hash(source, hash))
        {
            Console.WriteLine("The hashes are the same.");
        }
        else
        {
            Console.WriteLine("The hashes are not same.");
        }

    }
}
// This code example produces the following output:
//
// The MD5 hash of Hello World! is: ed076287532e86365e841e92bfc50d8c.
// Verifying the hash...
// The hashes are the same.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System..::.Object
  System.Security.Cryptography..::.HashAlgorithm
    System.Security.Cryptography..::.MD5
      System.Security.Cryptography..::.MD5CryptoServiceProvider

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information