diff --git a/lib/src/crypto.dart b/lib/src/crypto.dart
index c599dad..7666faa 100644
--- a/lib/src/crypto.dart
+++ b/lib/src/crypto.dart
@@ -32,6 +32,19 @@ class HkdfKeyResult {
   final List<int> iv;
 }
 
+/// cryptography _really_ wants to check the MAC output from AES-256-CBC. Since
+/// we don't have it, we need the MAC check to always "pass".
+class NoMacSecretBox extends SecretBox {
+  NoMacSecretBox(super.cipherText, { required super.nonce }) : super(mac: Mac.empty);
+
+  @override
+  Future<void> checkMac({
+    required MacAlgorithm macAlgorithm,
+    required SecretKey secretKey,
+    required List<int> aad,
+  }) async {}
+}
+
 /// OMEMO 0.8.3 often derives the three keys for encryption, authentication and the IV from
 /// some input using HKDF-SHA-256. As such, this is a helper function that already provides
 /// those three keys from [input] and the info string [info].
@@ -65,6 +78,21 @@ Future<List<int>> aes256CbcEncrypt(List<int> plaintext, List<int> key, List<int>
   return result.cipherText;
 }
 
+/// A small helper function to make AES-256-CBC easier. Decrypt [ciphertext] using [key] as
+/// the encryption key and [iv] as the IV. Returns the ciphertext.
+Future<List<int>> aes256CbcDecrypt(List<int> ciphertext, List<int> key, List<int> iv) async {
+  final algorithm = AesCbc.with256bits(
+    macAlgorithm: MacAlgorithm.empty,
+  );
+  return algorithm.decrypt(
+    NoMacSecretBox(
+      ciphertext,
+      nonce: iv,
+    ),
+    secretKey: SecretKey(key),
+  );
+}
+
 /// OMEMO often uses the output of a HMAC-SHA-256 truncated to its first 16 bytes.
 /// Calculate the HMAC-SHA-256 of [input] using the authentication key [key] and
 /// truncate the output to 16 bytes.
diff --git a/lib/src/errors.dart b/lib/src/errors.dart
index 801f264..8398381 100644
--- a/lib/src/errors.dart
+++ b/lib/src/errors.dart
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ class InvalidSignatureException implements Exception {
   String errMsg() => 'The signature of the SPK does not match the provided signature';
 }
 
-/// Triggered by the Double Ratchet if the computet HMAC does not match the attached HMAC.
+/// Triggered by the Double Ratchet if the computed HMAC does not match the attached HMAC.
+/// Triggered by the Session Manager if the computed HMAC does not match the attached HMAC.
 class InvalidMessageHMACException implements Exception {
   String errMsg() => 'The computed HMAC does not match the provided HMAC';
 }
@@ -13,3 +14,13 @@ class InvalidMessageHMACException implements Exception {
 class SkippingTooManyMessagesException implements Exception {
   String errMsg() => 'Skipping messages would cause a skip bigger than MAXSKIP';
 }
+
+/// Triggered by the Session Manager if the message key is not encrypted for the device.
+class NotEncryptedForDeviceException implements Exception {
+  String errMsg() => 'Not encrypted for this device';
+}
+
+/// Triggered by the Session Manager when there is no key for decrypting the message.
+class NoDecryptionKeyException implements Exception {
+  String errMsg() => 'No key available for decrypting the message';
+}
diff --git a/lib/src/omemo/sessionmanager.dart b/lib/src/omemo/sessionmanager.dart
index 866b72e..c83c5d7 100644
--- a/lib/src/omemo/sessionmanager.dart
+++ b/lib/src/omemo/sessionmanager.dart
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 import 'dart:convert';
+import 'package:collection/collection.dart';
+import 'package:omemo_dart/protobuf/schema.pb.dart';
 import 'package:omemo_dart/src/crypto.dart';
 import 'package:omemo_dart/src/double_ratchet/double_ratchet.dart';
+import 'package:omemo_dart/src/errors.dart';
 import 'package:omemo_dart/src/helpers.dart';
 import 'package:omemo_dart/src/omemo/device.dart';
 import 'package:synchronized/synchronized.dart';
@@ -20,6 +23,13 @@ class EncryptionResult {
   final Map<String, List<int>> encryptedKeys;
 }
 
+class EncryptedKey {
+
+  const EncryptedKey(this.rid, this.value);
+  final String rid;
+  final String value;
+}
+
 class OmemoSessionManager {
 
   OmemoSessionManager(this.device) : _ratchetMap = {}, _deviceMap = {}, _lock = Lock();
@@ -92,4 +102,42 @@ class OmemoSessionManager {
       encryptedKeys,
     );
   }
+
+  /// Attempt to decrypt [ciphertext]. [keys] refers to the <key /> elements inside the
+  /// <keys /> element with a "jid" attribute matching our own. [senderJid] refers to the
+  /// bare Jid of the sender. [senderDeviceId] refers to the "sid" attribute of the
+  /// <encrypted /> element.
+  Future<String> decryptMessage(List<int> ciphertext, String senderJid, String senderDeviceId, List<EncryptedKey> keys) async {
+    // Try to find a session we can decrypt with.
+    final rawKey = keys.firstWhereOrNull((key) => key.rid == device.id);
+    if (rawKey == null) {
+      throw NotEncryptedForDeviceException();
+    }
+
+    final devices = _deviceMap[senderJid];
+    if (devices == null) {
+      throw NoDecryptionKeyException();
+    }
+    if (!devices.contains(senderDeviceId)) {
+      throw NoDecryptionKeyException();
+    }
+
+    final decodedRawKey = base64.decode(rawKey.value);
+    final authMessage = OMEMOAuthenticatedMessage.fromBuffer(decodedRawKey);
+    final message = OMEMOMessage.fromBuffer(authMessage.message);
+    
+    final ratchet = _ratchetMap[senderDeviceId]!;
+    final keyAndHmac = await ratchet.ratchetDecrypt(message, message.ciphertext);
+    final key = keyAndHmac.sublist(0, 32);
+    final hmac = keyAndHmac.sublist(32, 48);
+    final derivedKeys = await deriveEncryptionKeys(key, omemoPayloadInfoString);
+
+    final computedHmac = await truncatedHmac(ciphertext, derivedKeys.authenticationKey);
+    if (!listsEqual(hmac, computedHmac)) {
+      throw InvalidMessageHMACException();
+    }
+
+    final plaintext = await aes256CbcDecrypt(ciphertext, derivedKeys.encryptionKey, derivedKeys.iv);
+    return utf8.decode(plaintext);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/pubspec.yaml b/pubspec.yaml
index 09f2b5e..88f1f10 100644
--- a/pubspec.yaml
+++ b/pubspec.yaml
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ environment:
   sdk: '>=2.17.0 <3.0.0'
 
 dependencies:
+  collection: ^1.16.0
   cryptography: ^2.0.5
   pinenacl: ^0.5.1
   protobuf: ^2.1.0