by dxler:

This challenge consists finding a collision for the target string "AdM1nP@assW0rd!" by matching both its CRC16 and CRC8 checksums.

This script calculates these checksums via two distinct means: one calculates CRC16 by working on characters with bitwise operations; and the second one uses a precomputed look-up table for CRC8. Then bruteforce loop that continuously generates random strings of the same length using printable characters. Each candidate is evaluated, and if its checksums match the target string. It will print the string!

```python
import random
import string

def crc16(s):
crc = 0xFFFF
for ch in s:
crc ^= ord(ch)
for _ in range(8):
if crc & 1:
crc = (crc >> 1) ^ 0xA001
else:
crc >>= 1
return crc

CRC8_TABLE = [
0x00, 0x07, 0x0E, 0x09, 0x1C, 0x1B, 0x12, 0x15,
0x38, 0x3F, 0x36, 0x31, 0x24, 0x23, 0x2A, 0x2D,
0x70, 0x77, 0x7E, 0x79, 0x6C, 0x6B, 0x62, 0x65,
0x48, 0x4F, 0x46, 0x41, 0x54, 0x53, 0x5A, 0x5D,
0xE0, 0xE7, 0xEE, 0xE9, 0xFC, 0xFB, 0xF2, 0xF5,
0xD8, 0xDF, 0xD6, 0xD1, 0xC4, 0xC3, 0xCA, 0xCD,
0x90, 0x97, 0x9E, 0x99, 0x8C, 0x8B, 0x82, 0x85,
0xA8, 0xAF, 0xA6, 0xA1, 0xB4, 0xB3, 0xBA, 0xBD,
0xC7, 0xC0, 0xC9, 0xCE, 0xDB, 0xDC, 0xD5, 0xD2,
0xFF, 0xF8, 0xF1, 0xF6, 0xE3, 0xE4, 0xED, 0xEA,
0xB7, 0xB0, 0xB9, 0xBE, 0xAB, 0xAC, 0xA5, 0xA2,
0x8F, 0x88, 0x81, 0x86, 0x93, 0x94, 0x9D, 0x9A,
0x27, 0x20, 0x29, 0x2E, 0x3B, 0x3C, 0x35, 0x32,
0x1F, 0x18, 0x11, 0x16, 0x03, 0x04, 0x0D, 0x0A,
0x57, 0x50, 0x59, 0x5E, 0x4B, 0x4C, 0x45, 0x42,
0x6F, 0x68, 0x61, 0x66, 0x73, 0x74, 0x7D, 0x7A,
0x89, 0x8E, 0x87, 0x80, 0x95, 0x92, 0x9B, 0x9C,
0xB1, 0xB6, 0xBF, 0xB8, 0xAD, 0xAA, 0xA3, 0xA4,
0xF9, 0xFE, 0xF7, 0xF0, 0xE5, 0xE2, 0xEB, 0xEC,
0xC1, 0xC6, 0xCF, 0xC8, 0xDD, 0xDA, 0xD3, 0xD4,
0x69, 0x6E, 0x67, 0x60, 0x75, 0x72, 0x7B, 0x7C,
0x51, 0x56, 0x5F, 0x58, 0x4D, 0x4A, 0x43, 0x44,
0x19, 0x1E, 0x17, 0x10, 0x05, 0x02, 0x0B, 0x0C,
0x21, 0x26, 0x2F, 0x28, 0x3D, 0x3A, 0x33, 0x34,
0x4E, 0x49, 0x40, 0x47, 0x52, 0x55, 0x5C, 0x5B,
0x76, 0x71, 0x78, 0x7F, 0x6A, 0x6D, 0x64, 0x63,
0x3E, 0x39, 0x30, 0x37, 0x22, 0x25, 0x2C, 0x2B,
0x06, 0x01, 0x08, 0x0F, 0x1A, 0x1D, 0x14, 0x13,
0xAE, 0xA9, 0xA0, 0xA7, 0xB2, 0xB5, 0xBC, 0xBB,
0x96, 0x91, 0x98, 0x9F, 0x8A, 0x8D, 0x84, 0x83,
0xDE, 0xD9, 0xD0, 0xD7, 0xC2, 0xC5, 0xCC, 0xCB,
0xE6, 0xE1, 0xE8, 0xEF, 0xFA, 0xFD, 0xF4, 0xF3,
]

def crc8(s):
crc = 0
for ch in s:
crc = CRC8_TABLE[(crc ^ ord(ch)) & 0xff]
return crc

TARGET = "AdM1nP@assW0rd!"
target_crc16 = crc16(TARGET)
target_crc8 = crc8(TARGET)

charset = string.printable.strip()

def random_candidate(length):
return ''.join(random.choice(charset) for _ in range(length))

attempts = 0
while True:
candidate = random_candidate(len(TARGET))
if candidate == TARGET:
continue
if crc16(candidate) == target_crc16 and crc8(candidate) == target_crc8:
print("Found collision:", candidate)
break
attempts += 1
if attempts % 1000000 == 0:
print(f"{attempts} attempts so far...")
```