forensics

CTF Forensics

Analyze and solve forensics challenges.

When to Use

Use this command for challenges involving:

• Memory dumps (.vmem, .raw, .dmp)
• Network captures (.pcap, .pcapng)
• Disk images (.dd, .E01, .raw)
• Embedded/hidden files
• File carving
• Timeline analysis

Bundled Scripts

• check-tools.sh — Verify required forensics tools are installed
• run-binwalk.sh — Scan and extract embedded files. Outputs JSON with signatures, file types, and extraction suggestions.
• run-volatility.sh — Run volatility3 plugins on memory dumps. Outputs JSON with parsed table data and suspicious process detection.
• run-tshark.sh — Analyze PCAP files with protocol statistics. Outputs JSON with protocols, conversations, and HTTP/DNS/FTP suggestions.
• extract-and-analyze.sh — Multi-step pipeline: binwalk extract → file type each → strings on interesting files → flag search. Chains extraction with analysis automatically.

Instructions

1. First check tool availability: bash scripts/check-tools.sh

2. For quick embedded file detection:

   bash scripts/run-binwalk.sh $ARGUMENTS
   bash scripts/run-binwalk.sh <file> --extract    # also extract
   

   Read the JSON next_steps object to decide what to do:

   • has_archives: true → extract with binwalk -e
   • has_executables: true → analyze with strings/disassembler
   • has_images: true → check with /ctf-kit:stego

3. For full extract-and-analyze pipeline (chains binwalk → file → strings):

   bash scripts/extract-and-analyze.sh <file>
   

   This automatically extracts embedded files, identifies their types, searches for flags and secrets, and suggests next skills to use.

4. For memory dumps:

   bash scripts/run-volatility.sh <dump>                    # system info
   bash scripts/run-volatility.sh <dump> windows.pslist     # processes
   bash scripts/run-volatility.sh <dump> windows.netscan    # network
   bash scripts/run-volatility.sh <dump> windows.cmdline    # commands
   

   The JSON output includes parsed table data and flags suspicious processes.

5. For network captures:

   bash scripts/run-tshark.sh <pcap>
   bash scripts/run-tshark.sh <pcap> "http.request"    # with filter
   

   The JSON includes protocol detection (has_http, has_dns, has_tls) with specific extraction commands.

Multi-Step Workflow

The scripts are designed to chain. A typical forensics workflow:

1. run-binwalk.sh challenge.bin → JSON shows archives inside
2. extract-and-analyze.sh challenge.bin → extracts and analyzes each file
3. Based on JSON suggestions, follow up with specific tools

Output Format

All scripts produce === PARSED RESULTS (JSON) === sections. Key fields:

Field	Description
signatures	Embedded file signatures found
file_types	Types of embedded files
next_steps	Boolean flags for what was found
suggestions	Actionable next commands

Team Roles

When using /ctf-kit:team-solve with a forensics challenge, the lead spawns 3 specialists:

Role	Teammate Name	Focus	Tools	First Action
File & Disk	file-carver	File carving, embedded data extraction, disk image mounting, deleted file recovery, filesystem analysis	binwalk, foremost, scripts/run-binwalk.sh, scripts/extract-and-analyze.sh	Run extract-and-analyze pipeline on all challenge files
Memory	memory-analyst	Volatility3 plugins, process trees, registry hives, command history, DLL injection, malware indicators	volatility3, scripts/run-volatility.sh	Run pslist, netscan, cmdline, filescan on memory dump
Network	network-analyst	Protocol analysis, stream reconstruction, credential extraction, DNS exfiltration, HTTP object carving	tshark, scripts/run-tshark.sh	Run tshark stats, extract HTTP objects, check DNS queries

When to broadcast

• File carver: "Extracted N files, found image/pcap/binary inside" — other specialists claim the extracted file
• Memory: "Found suspicious process PID with network connection to X" — network analyst filters for that IP
• Network: "HTTP POST contains credentials / encoded data" — file carver or memory analyst cross-references
• Any: "Found the flag" — immediate broadcast, all stop

Example Usage

/ctf-kit:forensics memory.raw
/ctf-kit:forensics capture.pcap
/ctf-kit:forensics disk.img