ColorNote V8 Backup Decryptor

Decrypts the password-protected backup format tested with ColorNote 4.8.8 (backup format version 8).

This is a small, community-built tool for exporting a compatible ColorNote backup locally. It runs in Docker, so Java and Python do not need to be installed on the host computer.

Prerequisites and limitations

• Currently tested with password-protected ColorNote V8 backups from ColorNote 4.8.8.
• Password-less V8 backups have not yet been tested.
• Docker is the only host requirement.
• A copy of the backup is recommended. Your notes stay in the folder you mount into Docker; as with any personal export, keep the resulting JSON somewhere you are comfortable storing it.

What it implements

The V8 backup has a 28-byte header followed by encrypted data. The established decryption path is:

• skip the 28-byte header;
• construct a Bouncy Castle PBEKeySpec using the password, the fixed salt ColorNote Fixed Salt, and 20 iterations;
• derive a 128-bit AES key with Bouncy Castle's PBEWITHMD5AND128BITAES-CBC-OPENSSL scheme;
• decrypt with AES/CBC/PKCS5Padding using that key and an explicit all-zero 16-byte IV; and
• PKCS5/PKCS7 padding removal.

The tool writes active note records to a valid JSON array and leaves out backup metadata, keeping the export focused on your notes.

Usage

Build the isolated image once and run it from the directory containing your backup. Replace the placeholder values with your own filename and password:

docker build -t colornote-v8-decryptor .

On Bash

docker run --rm -it -v "$(pwd):/data" colornote-v8-decryptor /data/backup-copy.backup "your-backup-password" /data/decrypted-output.json

On Powershell

docker run --rm -it -v "${PWD}:/data" colornote-v8-decryptor /data/backup-copy.backup "your-backup-password" /data/decrypted-output.json

Exit codes

0 means decryption completed. 2 indicates invalid arguments; 3 indicates an invalid/unsupported backup or an output-file problem; 4 indicates an incorrect password or corrupted ciphertext.