CODEWITHSUNDEEP
base64decode
Kamran Hashmi
Kamran Hashmi

Reputation: 61

issue decoding base64 text: prefix "77u_" causes junk output

I'm currently trying to decode my base64 encoded string. The issue I'm facing is it gives me junk decoded result but when I remove 77u_ in front from it, the decode result will get fine. My question is that, is there any other way to decode it?

Following is my encoded string:

77u_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

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1463

Answers (1)

jps
jps

Reputation: 22465

It's the _ that messes up the result. Everything else is perfectly fine base64 encoded. The base64 code table doesn't contain a _, it is a substitiution character for / in base64url encoding.

When you replace _ with / the decoding works fine. When I tested it on https://www.base64decode.org/ and chose ASCII as the source character set, I got  in front of the text, which is the byte order mark for UTF-8. When I changed to utf-8, there was nothing visible in front of the text.

A short test in node.js also proves that '77u/' is indeed the base64 code of the BOM:

var messageB64 ='77u/'
var buf = Buffer.from(messageB64, 'base64'); 
console.log(buf) // output: <Buffer ef bb bf>

Conclusion:

  • your data is base64url decoded

  • you should change it back to base64 code before you decode

  • the extra characters are a harmless byte order marker which is invisible if you use utf-8 encoding.

Upvotes: 1

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