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Merge pull request #1235 from HackTricks-wiki/research_update_src_generic-methodologies-and-resources_basic-forensic-methodology_partitions-file-systems-carving_file-data-carving-recovery-tools_20250804_014946
Research Update Enhanced src/generic-methodologies-and-resou...
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@ -10,6 +10,15 @@ More tools in [https://github.com/Claudio-C/awesome-datarecovery](https://github
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The most common tool used in forensics to extract files from images is [**Autopsy**](https://www.autopsy.com/download/). Download it, install it and make it ingest the file to find "hidden" files. Note that Autopsy is built to support disk images and other kinds of images, but not simple files.
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> **2024-2025 update** – Version **4.21** (released February 2025) added a rebuilt **carving module based on SleuthKit v4.13** that is noticeably quicker when dealing with multi-terabyte images and supports parallel extraction on multi-core systems.¹ A small CLI wrapper (`autopsycli ingest <case> <image>`) was also introduced, making it possible to script carving inside CI/CD or large-scale lab environments.
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```bash
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# Create a case and ingest an evidence image from the CLI (Autopsy ≥4.21)
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autopsycli case --create MyCase --base /cases
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# ingest with the default ingest profile (includes data-carve module)
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autopsycli ingest MyCase /evidence/disk01.E01 --threads 8
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```
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### Binwalk <a href="#binwalk" id="binwalk"></a>
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**Binwalk** is a tool for analyzing binary files to find embedded content. It's installable via `apt` and its source is on [GitHub](https://github.com/ReFirmLabs/binwalk).
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@ -17,12 +26,14 @@ The most common tool used in forensics to extract files from images is [**Autops
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**Useful commands**:
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```bash
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sudo apt install binwalk #Insllation
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binwalk file #Displays the embedded data in the given file
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binwalk -e file #Displays and extracts some files from the given file
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binwalk --dd ".*" file #Displays and extracts all files from the given file
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sudo apt install binwalk # Installation
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binwalk firmware.bin # Display embedded data
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binwalk -e firmware.bin # Extract recognised objects (safe-default)
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binwalk --dd " .* " firmware.bin # Extract *everything* (use with care)
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```
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⚠️ **Security note** – Versions **≤2.3.3** are affected by a **Path Traversal** vulnerability (CVE-2022-4510). Upgrade (or isolate with a container/non-privileged UID) before carving untrusted samples.
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### Foremost
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Another common tool to find hidden files is **foremost**. You can find the configuration file of foremost in `/etc/foremost.conf`. If you just want to search for some specific files uncomment them. If you don't uncomment anything foremost will search for its default configured file types.
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@ -30,7 +41,7 @@ Another common tool to find hidden files is **foremost**. You can find the confi
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```bash
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sudo apt-get install foremost
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foremost -v -i file.img -o output
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#Discovered files will appear inside the folder "output"
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# Discovered files will appear inside the folder "output"
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```
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### **Scalpel**
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@ -42,26 +53,62 @@ sudo apt-get install scalpel
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scalpel file.img -o output
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```
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### Bulk Extractor
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### Bulk Extractor 2.x
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This tool comes inside kali but you can find it here: [https://github.com/simsong/bulk_extractor](https://github.com/simsong/bulk_extractor)
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This tool comes inside kali but you can find it here: <https://github.com/simsong/bulk_extractor>
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This tool can scan an image and will **extract pcaps** inside it, **network information (URLs, domains, IPs, MACs, mails)** and more **files**. You only have to do:
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Bulk Extractor can scan an evidence image and carve **pcap fragments**, **network artefacts (URLs, domains, IPs, MACs, e-mails)** and many other objects **in parallel using multiple scanners**.
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```
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bulk_extractor memory.img -o out_folder
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```bash
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# Build from source – v2.1.1 (April 2024) requires cmake ≥3.16
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git clone https://github.com/simsong/bulk_extractor.git && cd bulk_extractor
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mkdir build && cd build && cmake .. && make -j$(nproc) && sudo make install
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# Run every scanner, carve JPEGs aggressively and generate a bodyfile
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bulk_extractor -o out_folder -S jpeg_carve_mode=2 -S write_bodyfile=y /evidence/disk.img
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```
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Navigate through **all the information** that the tool has gathered (passwords?), **analyse** the **packets** (read[ **Pcaps analysis**](../pcap-inspection/index.html)), search for **weird domains** (domains related to **malware** or **non-existent**).
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Useful post-processing scripts (`bulk_diff`, `bulk_extractor_reader.py`) can de-duplicate artefacts between two images or convert results to JSON for SIEM ingestion.
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### PhotoRec
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You can find it in [https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download](https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download)
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You can find it in <https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download>
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It comes with GUI and CLI versions. You can select the **file-types** you want PhotoRec to search for.
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.png>)
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### ddrescue + ddrescueview (imaging failing drives)
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When a physical drive is unstable, it is best practice to **image it first** and only run carving tools against the image. `ddrescue` (GNU project) focuses on reliably copying bad disks while keeping a log of unreadable sectors.
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```bash
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sudo apt install gddrescue ddrescueview # On Debian-based systems
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# First pass – try to get as much data as possible without retries
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sudo ddrescue -f -n /dev/sdX suspect.img suspect.log
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# Second pass – aggressive, 3 retries on the remaining bad areas
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sudo ddrescue -d -r3 /dev/sdX suspect.img suspect.log
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# Visualise the status map (green=good, red=bad)
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ddrescueview suspect.log
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```
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Version **1.28** (December 2024) introduced **`--cluster-size`** which can speed up imaging of high-capacity SSDs where traditional sector sizes no longer align with flash blocks.
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### Extundelete / Ext4magic (EXT 3/4 undelete)
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If the source file system is Linux EXT-based you may be able to recover recently deleted files **without full carving**. Both tools work directly on a read-only image:
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```bash
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# Attempt journal-based undelete (metadata must still be present)
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extundelete disk.img --restore-all
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# Fallback to full directory scan; supports extents and inline data
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ext4magic disk.img -M -f '*.jpg' -d ./recovered
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```
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> 🛈 If the file system was mounted after deletion, the data blocks may have already been reused – in that case proper carving (Foremost/Scalpel) is still required.
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### binvis
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Check the [code](https://code.google.com/archive/p/binvis/) and the [web page tool](https://binvis.io/#/).
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@ -87,12 +134,25 @@ Searches for AES keys by searching for their key schedules. Able to find 128. 19
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Download [here](https://sourceforge.net/projects/findaes/).
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### YARA-X (triaging carved artefacts)
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[YARA-X](https://github.com/VirusTotal/yara-x) is a Rust rewrite of YARA released in 2024. It is **10-30× faster** than classic YARA and can be used to classify thousands of carved objects very quickly:
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```bash
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# Scan every carved object produced by bulk_extractor
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yarax -r rules/index.yar out_folder/ --threads 8 --print-meta
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```
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The speed‐up makes it realistic to **auto-tag** all carved files in large-scale investigations.
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## Complementary tools
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You can use [**viu** ](https://github.com/atanunq/viu)to see images from the terminal.\
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You can use [**viu** ](https://github.com/atanunq/viu)to see images from the terminal. \
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You can use the linux command line tool **pdftotext** to transform a pdf into text and read it.
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## References
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1. Autopsy 4.21 release notes – <https://github.com/sleuthkit/autopsy/releases/tag/autopsy-4.21>
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{{#include ../../../banners/hacktricks-training.md}}
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