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VBK Decrypt - A Python Script to Fully Remove VitalSource DRM
The script is located here: https://privatebin.net/?a75e7f7c55d929d0#xXw0X2QvZOdWxndj3/BhgSCghLsG3gGSX6RHit0AL6Q=
Please read the whole post before replying with issues.
Screenshot of Successful Output
So in the past few months, I've had my eye on a book that I could only find (in digital format, at least) on VitalSource. After doing some research on the DRM, I noticed that there's not any tools to strip the books of their DRM directly -- rather just images and such. After doing a bit of research on their DRM with some free books, I was able to figure out their DRM and crack it almost completely. The script I wrote will decrypt MOST VBK books, but it does not support the oldest algorithm "aes" (yet).
Please note this only works on paid-for books!
Prerequisites
This script is made for Python 3 and is not yet backwards-compatible with Python 2, so please make sure you're using the right Python version before posting any issues.
The libraries required are"PyCryptodome" and"img2pdf". They can be had by running"pip3 install pycryptodomex img2pdf" in an admin command prompt; please make sure you're using Python 3's pip.
The files required for decryption can be found in:"%PUBLIC%\Documents\Shared Books\VitalSource Bookshelf" and/or"%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Books\VitalSource Bookshelf"
The files required for decryption are:
Your "license.vbk" file (usually found in "%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Books\VitalSource Bookshelf\User Data")
The book(s) you want to decrypt & extract.
This script was written by a Windows user with Windows in mind, but it should work for Mac OS/X (and others, if I have the private key for the license).
Using the Script
To use the script, I'd recommend you create its own folder and inside that folder, create a folder named Books for your actual VBK books.
In the first folder you made, place the script and license.vbk file inside.
To run the script, open command prompt and jump to the created directory or, while in the directory in your file explorer, simply hold shift, right-click, and click on "Open Powershell Here" or "Open Command Prompt Here".
Enter "python vbk_decrypt.py" (or "py -3 vbk_decrypt.py", if Python 3 is not your default Python).
After several seconds, it should be done extracting books to a folder called "Output"!
The way I name the output files is by their decryption key, so please make sure to title your books yourselves.
If your book is an ePub book, I recommend converting it to an ePub again using Calibre as to fix any mistakes that will likely occur.
If your book is a PDF book, all of the work is done for you!
If your book is picture book, all of the work is done for you except adding a table of contents to the PDF.
If your book has an unknown format, the extracted files should be in the Output folder in its own folder -- let me know if you have an unknown format that you want supported by messaging me.
Wanna Help Improve the Script?
The code is pretty bad as I'm somewhat new to Python and it's a custom format -- if you feel there's something you want to add or improve, feel free to reply or message me.
Change Log
EDIT0: Fixed an issue with key parsing in some cases.
EDIT1: Fixed an issue with copying extracted files from an unknown book format, added support for the "picturebook" format, and (attempted) to make paths compatible for most platforms.
EDIT2: Added support for older Windows licenses; still looking into other platforms!
EDIT3: Added support for Mac OS/X licenses.
EDIT4: Came up with a less "hacky" method of parsing the filemap. Removed support for "picturebooks" as the library I used is incompatible with some Mac OS/X installs. I also now parse "bookInfo" in the footer's "metadata" element, so output files and folders are named after their book titles.
EDIT5: Fixed an issue where the script would read the .DS_store file in the Books directory and assert an invalid header error. (Thanks, SPG!)
EDIT6: Added support for Android licenses.
EDIT7: Fixed an issue where "item" would show up as a result of decryption even if the key was invalid - allowing for an invalid key to be associated with a book.
EDIT8: Fixed an issue with the "win2" private key not importing correctly (due to being encoded incorrectly).
EDIT9: Now GDPR compliant!
The script is located here: https://privatebin.net/?a75e7f7c55d929d0#xXw0X2QvZOdWxndj3/BhgSCghLsG3gGSX6RHit0AL6Q=
Please read the whole post before replying with issues.
Screenshot of Successful Output
So in the past few months, I've had my eye on a book that I could only find (in digital format, at least) on VitalSource. After doing some research on the DRM, I noticed that there's not any tools to strip the books of their DRM directly -- rather just images and such. After doing a bit of research on their DRM with some free books, I was able to figure out their DRM and crack it almost completely. The script I wrote will decrypt MOST VBK books, but it does not support the oldest algorithm "aes" (yet).
Please note this only works on paid-for books!
Prerequisites
This script is made for Python 3 and is not yet backwards-compatible with Python 2, so please make sure you're using the right Python version before posting any issues.
The libraries required are"PyCryptodome" and"img2pdf". They can be had by running"pip3 install pycryptodomex img2pdf" in an admin command prompt; please make sure you're using Python 3's pip.
The files required for decryption can be found in:"%PUBLIC%\Documents\Shared Books\VitalSource Bookshelf" and/or"%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Books\VitalSource Bookshelf"
The files required for decryption are:
Your "license.vbk" file (usually found in "%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Books\VitalSource Bookshelf\User Data")
The book(s) you want to decrypt & extract.
This script was written by a Windows user with Windows in mind, but it should work for Mac OS/X (and others, if I have the private key for the license).
Using the Script
To use the script, I'd recommend you create its own folder and inside that folder, create a folder named Books for your actual VBK books.
In the first folder you made, place the script and license.vbk file inside.
To run the script, open command prompt and jump to the created directory or, while in the directory in your file explorer, simply hold shift, right-click, and click on "Open Powershell Here" or "Open Command Prompt Here".
Enter "python vbk_decrypt.py" (or "py -3 vbk_decrypt.py", if Python 3 is not your default Python).
After several seconds, it should be done extracting books to a folder called "Output"!
The way I name the output files is by their decryption key, so please make sure to title your books yourselves.
If your book is an ePub book, I recommend converting it to an ePub again using Calibre as to fix any mistakes that will likely occur.
If your book is a PDF book, all of the work is done for you!
If your book is picture book, all of the work is done for you except adding a table of contents to the PDF.
If your book has an unknown format, the extracted files should be in the Output folder in its own folder -- let me know if you have an unknown format that you want supported by messaging me.
Wanna Help Improve the Script?
The code is pretty bad as I'm somewhat new to Python and it's a custom format -- if you feel there's something you want to add or improve, feel free to reply or message me.
Change Log
EDIT0: Fixed an issue with key parsing in some cases.
EDIT1: Fixed an issue with copying extracted files from an unknown book format, added support for the "picturebook" format, and (attempted) to make paths compatible for most platforms.
EDIT2: Added support for older Windows licenses; still looking into other platforms!
EDIT3: Added support for Mac OS/X licenses.
EDIT4: Came up with a less "hacky" method of parsing the filemap. Removed support for "picturebooks" as the library I used is incompatible with some Mac OS/X installs. I also now parse "bookInfo" in the footer's "metadata" element, so output files and folders are named after their book titles.
EDIT5: Fixed an issue where the script would read the .DS_store file in the Books directory and assert an invalid header error. (Thanks, SPG!)
EDIT6: Added support for Android licenses.
EDIT7: Fixed an issue where "item" would show up as a result of decryption even if the key was invalid - allowing for an invalid key to be associated with a book.
EDIT8: Fixed an issue with the "win2" private key not importing correctly (due to being encoded incorrectly).
EDIT9: Now GDPR compliant!
