Awesome Malware Analysis

A curated list of awesome malware analysis tools and resources. Inspired by awesome-python and awesome-php.

• Awesome Malware Analysis
  • Malware Collection
    • Anonymizers
    • Honeypots
    • Malware Corpora
  • Open Source Threat Intelligence
    • Tools
    • Other Resources
  • Detection and Classification
  • Online Scanners and Sandboxes
  • Domain Analysis
  • Browser Malware
  • Documents and Shellcode
  • File Carving
  • Deobfuscation
  • Debugging and Reverse Engineering
  • Network
  • Memory Forensics
  • Windows Artifacts
  • Storage and Workflow
  • Miscellaneous
• Resources
  • Books
  • Twitter
  • Other
• Related Awesome Lists
• Contributing
• Thanks

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Malware Collection

Anonymizers

Web traffic anonymizers for analysts.

• Anonymouse.org - A free, web based anonymizer.
• OpenVPN - VPN software and hosting solutions.
• Privoxy - An open source proxy server with some privacy features.
• Tor - The Onion Router, for browsing the web without leaving traces of the client IP.

Honeypots

Trap and collect your own samples.

• Conpot - ICS/SCADA honeypot.
• Cowrie - SSH honeypot, based on Kippo.
• Dionaea - Honeypot designed to trap malware.
• Glastopf - Web application honeypot.
• Honeyd - Create a virtual honeynet.
• HoneyDrive - Honeypot bundle Linux distro.
• Mnemosyne - A normalizer for honeypot data; supports Dionaea.
• Thug - Low interaction honeyclient, for investigating malicious websites.

Malware Corpora

Malware samples collected for analysis.

• Clean MX - Realtime database of malware and malicious domains.
• Contagio - A collection of recent malware samples and analyses.
• Exploit Database - Exploit and shellcode samples.
• Malshare - Large repository of malware actively scrapped from malicious sites.
• maltrieve - Retrieve malware samples directly from a number of online sources.
• MalwareDB - Malware samples repository.
• theZoo - Live malware samples for analysts.
• ViruSign - Malware database that detected by many anti malware programs except ClamAV.
• VirusShare - Malware repository, registration
• Zeltser's Sources - A list of malware sample sources put together by Lenny Zeltser.
• Zeus Source Code - Source for the Zeus trojan leaked in 2011. required.

Open Source Threat Intelligence

Tools

Harvest and analyze IOCs.

• AbuseHelper - An open-source framework for receiving and redistributing abuse feeds and threat intel.
• Combine - Tool to gather Threat Intelligence indicators from publicly available sources.
• IntelMQ - A tool for CERTs for processing incident data using a message queue.
• IOC Editor - A free editor for XML IOC files.
• ioc_writer - Python library for working with OpenIOC objects, from Mandiant.
• Massive Octo Spice - Previously known as CIF (Collective Intelligence Framework). Aggregates IOCs from various lists. Curated by the CSIRT Gadgets Foundation.
• MISP - Malware Information Sharing Platform curated by The MISP Project.
• PassiveTotal - Research, connect, tag and share IPs and domains.
• PyIOCe - A Python OpenIOC editor.
• threataggregator - Aggregates security threats from a number of sources, including some of those listed below in other resources.
• ThreatCrowd - A search engine for threats, with graphical visualization.
• ThreatTracker - A Python script to monitor and generate alerts based on IOCs indexed by a set of Google Custom Search Engines.
• TIQ-test - Data visualization and statistical analysis of Threat Intelligence feeds.

Other Resources

Threat intelligence and IOC resources.

• Autoshun (list) - Snort plugin and blocklist.
• CI Army (list) - Network security blocklists.
• Critical Stack- Free Intel Market - Free intel aggregator with deduplication featuring 90+ feeds and over 1.2M indicators.
• CRDF ThreatCenter - List of new threats detected by CRDF anti-malware.
• FireEye IOCs - Indicators of Compromise shared publicly by FireEye.
• hpfeeds - Honeypot feed protocol.
• Internet Storm Center (DShield) - Diary and searchable incident database, with a web API (unofficial Python library).
• malc0de - Searchable incident database.
• Malware Domain List - Search and share malicious URLs.
• OpenIOC - Framework for sharing threat intelligence.
• Palevo Blocklists - Botnet C&C blocklists.
• PREDICT - Protected Repository for the Defense of Infrastructure Against Cyber Threats (PREDICT) can quickly and easily provide qualified developers and evaluators with regularly updated network operations data they can use in their cyber security research.
• Proofpoint Threat Intelligence (formerly Emerging Threats) - Rulesets and more.
• STIX - Structured Threat Information eXpression - Standardized language to represent and share cyber threat information. Related efforts from MITRE:
  • CAPEC - Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
  • CybOX - Cyber Observables eXpression
  • MAEC - Malware Attribute Enumeration and Characterization
  • TAXII - Trusted Automated eXchange of Indicator Information
• threatRECON - Search for indicators, up to 1000 free per month.
• Yara rules - Yara rules repository.
• ZeuS Tracker - ZeuS blocklists.

Detection and Classification

Antivirus and other malware identification tools

• AnalyzePE - Wrapper for a variety of tools for reporting on Windows PE files.
• chkrootkit - Local Linux rootkit detection.
• ClamAV - Open source antivirus engine.
• ExifTool - Read, write and edit file metadata.
• hashdeep - Compute digest hashes with a variety of algorithms.
• Loki - Host based scanner for IOCs.
• Malfunction - Catalog and compare malware at a function level.
• MASTIFF - Static analysis framework.
• MultiScanner - Modular file scanning/analysis framework
• nsrllookup - A tool for looking up hashes in NIST's National Software Reference Library database.
• packerid - A cross-platform Python alternative to PEiD.
• PEiD - Packer identifier for Windows binaries.
• PEV - A multiplatform toolkit to work with PE files, providing feature-rich tools for proper analysis of suspicious binaries.
• Rootkit Hunter - Detect Linux rootkits.
• ssdeep - Compute fuzzy hashes.
• totalhash.py - Python script for easy searching of the TotalHash.com database.
• TrID - File identifier.
• YARA - Pattern matching tool for analysts.
• Yara rules generator - Generate yara rules based on a set of malware samples. Also contains a good strings DB to avoid false positives.

Online Scanners and Sandboxes

Web-based multi-AV scanners, and malware sandboxes for automated analysis.

• AndroTotal - free online analysis of APKs against multiple mobile antivirus apps.
• Anubis - Malware Analysis for Unknown Binaries and Site Check.
• AVCaesar - Malware.lu online scanner and malware repository.
• Cryptam - Analyze suspicious office documents.
• Cuckoo Sandbox - Open source, self hosted sandbox and automated analysis system.
• cuckoo-modified - Modified version of Cuckoo Sandbox released under the GPL. Not merged upstream due to legal concerns by the author.
• DeepViz - Multi-format file analyzer with machine-learning classification.
• DRAKVUF - Dynamic malware analysis system.
• Hybrid Analysis - Online malware analysis tool, powered by VxSandbox.
• IRMA - An asynchronous and customizable analysis platform for suspicious files.
• Jotti - Free online multi-AV scanner.
• Malheur - Automatic sandboxed analysis of malware behavior.
• Malwr - Free analysis with an online Cuckoo Sandbox instance.
• MASTIFF Online - Online static analysis of malware.
• Noriben - Uses Sysinternals Procmon to collect information about malware in a sandboxed environment.
• PDF Examiner - Analyse suspicious PDF files.
• Recomposer - A helper script for safely uploading binaries to sandbox sites.
• SEE - Sandboxed Execution Environment (SEE) is a framework for building test automation in secured Environments.
• VirusTotal - Free online analysis of malware samples and URLs
• Zeltser's List - Free automated sandboxes and services, compiled by Lenny Zeltser.

Domain Analysis

Inspect domains and IP addresses.

• Desenmascara.me - One click tool to retrieve as much metadata as possible for a website and to assess its good standing.
• Dig - Free online dig and other network tools.
• IPinfo - Gather information about an IP or domain by searching online resources.
• Machinae - OSINT tool for gathering information about URLs, IPs, or hashes. Similar to Automator.
• MaltegoVT - Maltego transform for the VirusTotal API. Allows domain/IP research, and searching for file hashes and scan reports.
• SenderBase - Search for IP, domain or network owner.
• SpamCop - IP based spam block list.
• SpamHaus - Block list based on domains and IPs.
• Sucuri SiteCheck - Free Website Malware and Security Scanner.
• TekDefense Automator - OSINT tool for gathering information about URLs, IPs, or hashes.
• URLQuery - Free URL Scanner.
• Whois - DomainTools free online whois search.
• Zeltser's List - Free online tools for researching malicious websites, compiled by Lenny Zeltser.
• ZScalar Zulu - Zulu URL Risk Analyzer.

Browser Malware

Analyze malicious URLs. See also the domain analysis and documents and shellcode sections.

• Firebug - Firefox extension for web development.
• Java Decompiler - Decompile and inspect Java apps.
• Java IDX Parser - Parses Java IDX cache files.
• JSDetox - JavaScript malware analysis tool.
• jsunpack-n - A javascript unpacker that emulates browser functionality.
• Malzilla - Analyze malicious web pages.
• RABCDAsm - A "Robust ActionScript Bytecode Disassembler."
• swftools - Tools for working with Adobe Flash files.
• xxxswf - A Python script for analyzing Flash files.

Documents and Shellcode

Analyze malicious JS and shellcode from PDFs and Office documents. See also the browser malware section.

• AnalyzePDF - A tool for analyzing PDFs and attempting to determine whether they are malicious.
• diStorm - Disassembler for analyzing malicious shellcode.
• JS Beautifier - JavaScript unpacking and deobfuscation.
• JS Deobfuscator - Deobfuscate simple Javascript that use eval or document.write to conceal its code.
• libemu - Library and tools for x86 shellcode emulation.
• malpdfobj - Deconstruct malicious PDFs into a JSON representation.
• OfficeMalScanner - Scan for malicious traces in MS Office documents.
• olevba - A script for parsing OLE and OpenXML documents and extracting useful information.
• Origami PDF - A tool for analyzing malicious PDFs, and more.
• PDF Tools - pdfid, pdf-parser, and more from Didier Stevens.
• PDF X-Ray Lite - A PDF analysis tool, the backend-free version of PDF X-RAY.
• peepdf - Python tool for exploring possibly malicious PDFs.
• Spidermonkey - Mozilla's JavaScript engine, for debugging malicious JS.

File Carving

For extracting files from inside disk and memory images.

• bulk_extractor - Fast file carving tool.
• EVTXtract - Carve Windows Event Log files from raw binary data.
• Foremost - File carving tool designed by the US Air Force.
• Hachoir - A collection of Python libraries for dealing with binary files.
• Scalpel - Another data carving tool.

Deobfuscation

Reverse XOR and other code obfuscation methods.

• Balbuzard - A malware analysis tool for reversing obfuscation (XOR, ROL, etc) and more.
• de4dot - .NET deobfuscator and unpacker.
• ex_pe_xor & iheartxor - Two tools from Alexander Hanel for working with single-byte XOR encoded files.
• NoMoreXOR - Guess a 256 byte XOR key using frequency analysis.
• PackerAttacker - A generic hidden code extractor for Windows malware.
• unxor - Guess XOR keys using known-plaintext attacks.
• VirtualDeobfuscator - Reverse engineering tool for virtualization wrappers.
• XORBruteForcer - A Python script for brute forcing single-byte XOR keys.
• XORSearch & XORStrings - A couple programs from Didier Stevens for finding XORed data.
• xortool - Guess XOR key length, as well as the key itself.

Debugging and Reverse Engineering

Disassemblers, debuggers, and other static and dynamic analysis tools.

• angr - Platform-agnostic binary analysis framework developed at UCSB's Seclab.
• BARF - Multiplatform, open source Binary Analysis and Reverse engineering Framework.
• binnavi - Binary analysis IDE for reverse engineering based on graph visualization.
• Bokken - GUI for Pyew and Radare.
• Capstone - Disassembly framework for binary analysis and reversing, with support for many architectures and bindings in several languages.
• codebro - Web based code browser using clang to provide basic code analysis.
• dnSpy - .NET assembly editor, decompiler and debugger.
• Evan's Debugger (EDB) - A modular debugger with a Qt GUI.
• GDB - The GNU debugger.
• GEF - GDB Enhanced Features, for exploiters and reverse engineers.
• hackers-grep - A utility to search for strings in PE executables including imports, exports, and debug symbols.
• IDA Pro - Windows disassembler and debugger, with a free evaluation version.
• Immunity Debugger - Debugger for malware analysis and more, with a Python API.
• ltrace - Dynamic analysis for Linux executables.
• objdump - Part of GNU binutils, for static analysis of Linux binaries.
• OllyDbg - An assembly-level debugger for Windows executables.
• PANDA - Platform for Architecture-Neutral Dynamic Analysis
• PEDA - Python Exploit Development Assistance for GDB, an enhanced display with added commands.
• pestudio - Perform static analysis of Windows executables.
• Process Monitor - Advanced monitoring tool for Windows programs.
• Pyew - Python tool for malware analysis.
• Radare2 - Reverse engineering framework, with debugger support.
• SMRT - Sublime Malware Research Tool, a plugin for Sublime 3 to aid with malware analyis.
• strace - Dynamic analysis for Linux executables.
• Udis86 - Disassembler library and tool for x86 and x86_64.
• Vivisect - Python tool for malware analysis.
• X64dbg - An open-source x64/x32 debugger for windows.

Network

Analyze network interactions.

• Bro - Protocol analyzer that operates at incredible scale; both file and network protocols.
• BroYara - Use Yara rules from Bro.
• CapTipper - Malicious HTTP traffic explorer.
• chopshop - Protocol analysis and decoding framework.
• Fiddler - Intercepting web proxy designed for "web debugging."
• Hale - Botnet C&C monitor.
• INetSim - Network service emulation, useful when building a malware lab.
• Malcom - Malware Communications Analyzer.
• Maltrail - A malicious traffic detection system, utilizing publicly available (black)lists containing malicious and/or generally suspicious trails and featuring an reporting and analysis interface.
• mitmproxy - Intercept network traffic on the fly.
• Moloch - IPv4 traffic capturing, indexing and database system.
• NetworkMiner - Network forensic analysis tool, with a free version.
• ngrep - Search through network traffic like grep.
• PcapViz - Network topology and traffic visualizer.
• Tcpdump - Collect network traffic.
• tcpick - Trach and reassemble TCP streams from network traffic.
• tcpxtract - Extract files from network traffic.
• Wireshark - The network traffic analysis tool.

Memory Forensics

Tools for dissecting malware in memory images or running systems.

• DAMM - Differential Analysis of Malware in Memory, built on Volatility
• FindAES - Find AES encryption keys in memory.
• Muninn - A script to automate portions of analysis using Volatility, and create a readable report.
• Rekall - Memory analysis framework, forked from Volatility in 2013.
• TotalRecall - Script based on Volatility for automating various malware analysis tasks.
• VolDiff - Run Volatility on memory images before and after malware execution, and report changes.
• Volatility - Advanced memory forensics framework.
• WinDbg - Live memory inspection and kernel debugging for Windows systems.

Windows Artifacts

• AChoir - A live incident response script for gathering Windows artifacts.
• python-evt - Python library for parsing Windows Event Logs.
• python-registry - Python library for parsing registry files.
• RegRipper (GitHub) - Plugin-based registry analysis tool.

Storage and Workflow

• Aleph - OpenSource Malware Analysis Pipeline System.
• CRITs - Collaborative Research Into Threats, a malware and threat repository.
• Malwarehouse - Store, tag, and search malware.
• Viper - A binary management and analysis framework for analysts and researchers.

Miscellaneous

• DC3-MWCP - The Defense Cyber Crime Center's Malware Configuration Parser framework.
• Pafish - Paranoid Fish, a demonstration tool that employs several techniques to detect sandboxes and analysis environments in the same way as malware families do.
• REMnux - Linux distribution and docker images for malware reverse engineering and analysis.
• Santoku Linux - Linux distribution for mobile forensics, malware analysis, and security.

Resources

Books

Essential malware analysis reading material.

• Malware Analyst's Cookbook and DVD - Tools and Techniques for Fighting Malicious Code.
• Practical Malware Analysis - The Hands-On Guide to Dissecting Malicious Software.
• The Art of Memory Forensics - Detecting Malware and Threats in Windows, Linux, and Mac Memory.
• The IDA Pro Book - The Unofficial Guide to the World's Most Popular Disassembler.

Twitter

Some relevant Twitter accounts.

• Adamb @Hexacorn
• Andrew Case @attrc
• Claudio @botherder
• Dustin Webber @mephux
• Glenn @hiddenillusion
• jekil @jekil
• Jurriaan Bremer @skier_t
• Lenny Zeltser @lennyzeltser
• Liam Randall @hectaman
• Mark Schloesser @repmovsb
• Michael Ligh (MHL) @iMHLv2
• Open Malware @OpenMalware
• Richard Bejtlich @taosecurity
• Volatility @volatility

Other

• APT Notes - A collection of papers and notes related to Advanced Persistent Threats.
• Honeynet Project - Honeypot tools, papers, and other resources.
• Malicious Software - Malware blog and resources by Lenny Zeltser.
• Malware Analysis Search - Custom Google search engine from Corey Harrell.
• Malware Analysis Tutorials - The Malware Analysis Tutorials by Dr. Xiang Fu are a great resource for learning practical malware analysis.
• Malware Samples and Traffic - This blog focuses on network traffic related to malware infections.
• RPISEC Malware Analysis - These are the course materials used in the Malware Analysis course at at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute during Fall 2015.
• WindowsIR: Malware - Harlan Carvey's page on Malware.
• /r/csirt_tools - Subreddit for CSIRT tools and resources, with a malware analysis flair.
• /r/Malware - The malware subreddit.
• /r/ReverseEngineering - Reverse engineering subreddit, not limited to just malware.

Related Awesome Lists

• Android Security
• AppSec
• CTFs
• "Hacking"
• Honeypots
• Incident-Response
• Infosec
• PCAP Tools
• Pentesting
• Security

Contributing

Pull requests and issues with suggestions are welcome!

Thanks

This list was made possible by:

• Lenny Zeltser and other contributors for developing REMnux, where I found many of the tools in this list;
• Michail Hale Ligh, Steven Adair, Blake Hartstein, and Mather Richard for writing the Malware Analyst's Cookbook, which was a big inspiration for creating the list;
• And everyone else who has sent pull requests or suggested links to add here!

Thanks!