What does base-64 mean? (2024)

What does base-64 mean? (1)

Description

Base64 is a method of encoding binary data as ASCII text. This is necessary for sending files via Internet email, which can only handle 7-bit ASCII text.

Base64 is the industry standard format for SSL certificate content. The most common web servers will generate a certificate signing requests as well as accept SSL certificates in base-64 format.

The size of the certificate content will depend on the encryption strength of the certificate.

Here is an example of a base64-encoded certificate.

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
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
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

The base64 alphabet

The base64 alphabet is shown in the below table. Whenever the value of a six-bit group matches one of the values in the Value columns, that value is replaced by the seven-bit ASCII value of the corresponding character shown in the Char column to the right of the Value column.

ValueCharValueCharValueCharValueChar
0A17R34i51z
1B18S35j520
2C19T36k531
3D20U37l542
4E21V38m553
5F22W39n564
6G23X40o575
7H24Y41p586
8I25Z42q597
9J26a43r608
10K27b44s619
11L28c45t62+
12M29d46u63/
13N30e47vpad=
14O31f48w
15P32g49x
16Q33h50y
What does base-64 mean? (2024)

FAQs

What does base-64 mean? ›

base-64. Meaning that there are 64 digit values, vs. 10 for decimal, 16 for hex, and 2 for binary. Using binary directly in a string would have the worst space efficiency. Then an integer, then hex, then base64 in terms of length of the result when encoding binary data into a text representation.

What is the base of 64? ›

Description. Base64 is a method of encoding binary data as ASCII text. This is necessary for sending files via Internet email, which can only handle 7-bit ASCII text. Base64 is the industry standard format for SSL certificate content.

What is Base64 example? ›

Base64 uses 6-bit characters grouped into 24-bit sequences. For example, consider the sentence Hi\n, where the \n represents a newline. The first step in the encoding process is to obtain the binary representation of each ASCII character.

What is the purpose of Base64? ›

Base64 is used because some systems are restricted to ASCII characters but are actually used for all kinds of data. Base64 can "camouflage" this data as ASCII and thus help this data pass validation. Because some older systems think that data consists of 7-bit chunks (bytes), whereas modern ones use 8-bit bytes.

How do you recognize Base64? ›

The length of a Base64-encoded string is always a multiple of 4. Only these characters are used by the encryption: “A” to “Z”, “a” to “z”, “0” to “9”, “+” and “/” The end of a string can be padded up to two times using the “=”-character (this character is allowed in the end only)

How many digits are in Base64? ›

The particular set of 64 characters chosen to represent the 64-digit values for the base varies between implementations. The general strategy is to choose 64 characters that are common to most encodings and that are also printable.

What is the answer to 64 base 4? ›

The base 4 logarithm of 64 is 3.

What does Base64 text look like? ›

Base-64 maps 3 bytes (8 x 3 = 24 bits) in 4 characters that span 6-bits (6 x 4 = 24 bits). The result looks something like "TWFuIGlzIGRpc3Rpb...". Therefore the bloating is only a mere 4/3 = 1.3333333 times the original.

What is the Base64 format of text? ›

Base64 is a group of similar binary-to-text encoding schemes that represent binary data in an ASCII string format by transforming it into a radix-64 representation. The term Base64 originates from a specific MIME content transfer encoding.

What is Base64 secret? ›

Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme. It is mainly used to send binary data across channels that only reliably support text content. Base64 is also applied on text, for example in JSON Web Token or to obfuscate it.

Why do hackers use Base64? ›

Why Might Attackers Use Base64? Base64 is often used to hide the plaintext elements of an attack that can't be concealed under the veil of encryption. Look for Base64 use in early stages of attacks, when the breach is narrow.

Is Base64 useful? ›

Encoding and Decoding: base64 is frequently used to encode and decode data. It is particularly helpful when there is a need to store intricate information in formats that only support basic data, like when storing complex string data in cookies or URLs.

What is a Base64 image? ›

Base64 is an encoding algorithm that converts any characters, binary data, and even images or sound files into a readable string, which can be saved or transported over the network without data loss. The characters generated from Base64 encoding consist of Latin letters, digits, plus, and slash.

Can you decode Base64? ›

In other words, any base-64 string can be decoded, as long as the string was encoded using a standard set of characters (which the decoder can also understand).

What characters are allowed in Base64? ›

Base64 is a scheme for converting binary data to printable ASCII characters, namely the upper- and lower-case Roman alphabet characters (A–Z, a–z), the numerals (0–9), and the "+" and "/" symbols, with the "=" symbol as a special suffix code. The data's original length must be a multiple of eight bits.

Is Base64 URL safe? ›

By consisting only of ASCII characters, base64 strings are generally url-safe, and that's why they can be used to encode data in Data URLs.

What is the base root of 64? ›

The square root of 64 is 8, i.e. √64 = 8. The radical representation of the square root of 64 is √64. Also, we know that the square of 8 is 64, i.e. 82 = 8 × 8 = 64. Thus, the square root of 64 can also be expressed as √64 = √(8)2 = √(8 × 8) = 8.

What is the name of Base64? ›

Base64 is a group of similar binary-to-text encoding schemes that represent binary data in an ASCII string format by transforming it into a radix-64 representation. The term Base64 originates from a specific MIME content transfer encoding.

What is 64 as base 2? ›

What is 64 in Binary? 64 in binary is 1000000.

What is our number base? ›

Base numbers are the number of units, or numbers, we use in our counting system, also called a number system. The most common base number is ten because the digits 0-9 are used in the number system. In other words, whenever we want to tell a number to someone we don't use any numbers besides 0-9.

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