Open-source alternatives to Metasploit Framework

Empire is a post-exploitation command-and-control (C2) framework designed for red team operations. It deploys and manages agents written in PowerShell, Python, C#, Go, and C across Windows, Linux, and macOS, using encrypted communication channels over HTTP, HTTPS, and SMB. The framework executes over 400 built-in modules for reconnaissance, privilege escalation, credential theft, and lateral movement, and provides a modular engine for authoring custom attack modules. What sets Empire apart is its multi-language agent deployment system, which allows operators to choose implants that suit each

Empire is a command and control framework and post-exploitation toolkit used for network penetration testing. It serves as a centralized platform for coordinating remote agent communication and automating the delivery of security testing payloads to target systems. The project provides a suite of modules for host reconnaissance, lateral movement, and credential harvesting across corporate environments. It functions as a remote administration tool to maintain persistence and execute commands on compromised hosts. The framework incorporates capabilities for agent orchestration and the executio

Havoc is a post-exploitation framework used for red team operations. It provides a centralized command and control system for managing remote agents through persistent network connections and customizable communication profiles. The framework focuses on security evasion and stealth, utilizing indirect syscall execution, return address spoofing, and hardware-breakpoint patching to bypass endpoint detection and response tools. It includes a payload generation workflow to create executable shellcode or DLLs for initial remote access. The system covers a broad range of operational capabilities,

Sliver is a command and control framework designed for adversary emulation and security assessment operations. It provides a centralized platform for managing remote systems, enabling security professionals to coordinate multi-operator sessions and maintain persistent, secure communication channels across diverse network environments. The framework distinguishes itself through its focus on stealth and infrastructure flexibility. It utilizes dynamic payload obfuscation to generate unique binaries and supports in-memory execution to minimize disk artifacts. Communication is secured through mutu

Pupy is a command and control framework and post-exploitation suite used for remote administration and system management. It functions as a cross-platform tool for deploying payloads and controlling multiple remote agents through encrypted communication channels. The framework features a multi-platform payload generator that creates custom executable files using configurable network launchers. It employs a network traffic obfuscator that stacks encryption and obfuscation protocols to hide communication from observation. The system provides capabilities for in-memory code execution, remote pr

This project is an automated security testing suite designed to detect and exploit database vulnerabilities. It functions as a command-line utility that streamlines the identification, verification, and exploitation of web application flaws by automating the injection of malicious payloads into input parameters. The tool provides a comprehensive framework for database enumeration, allowing users to extract schema information, user data, and system configurations from identified injection points. What distinguishes this tool is its sophisticated engine for dynamic payload adaptation and heuris

Pacu is an exploitation framework designed for auditing and testing the security of Amazon Web Services environments. It serves as a cloud penetration testing tool and resource enumerator used to identify misconfigurations, map attack surfaces, and execute privilege escalation paths. The framework provides specialized capabilities for post-exploitation and red team operations, including establishing persistence through identity and access management backdooring. It distinguishes itself with a plugin-based module system that allows for the development of custom tasks and the orchestration of A

jexboss is a Java deserialization exploit framework and network vulnerability scanner designed to identify and exploit deserialization flaws to achieve remote code execution on target servers. It functions as a suite of tools for delivering payloads and executing system commands on vulnerable remote applications. The project includes a reverse shell orchestrator to establish and maintain persistent remote command connections from exploited targets back to a listener. It also provides post-exploitation automation for managing remote access and updating software on compromised systems. The fra

RouterSploit is an embedded device exploitation framework and vulnerability scanner designed to identify and exploit security flaws in networked embedded hardware and firmware. It provides a centralized toolkit for scanning for known weaknesses and common misconfigurations to gain unauthorized system access. The framework includes an architecture-specific payload generator to create custom binary payloads tailored to the target hardware. It also features an automated brute force tool that uses dictionary-based credential guessing to bypass authentication on hardware devices. The tool covers

Stitch is a command and control framework and post-exploitation toolkit designed for managing multiple remote systems from a central server. It functions as a remote administration tool and payload builder, enabling the execution of commands and the deployment of agents across different operating systems. The project features a cross-platform builder for generating custom executable agents with configurable network bindings and boot behaviors. It utilizes encrypted communication channels to secure traffic between the controller and remote clients, and it supports the execution of dynamic scri

Maskphish is a comprehensive security toolkit that integrates capabilities for digital forensics, network vulnerability scanning, open-source intelligence, penetration testing, and social engineering. It functions as a multi-purpose framework for automating reconnaissance and executing security audits across diverse network environments. The project features a specialized phishing and social engineering toolkit used for cloning websites, masking URLs, and deploying deceptive pages to capture user credentials. It also includes a remote access Trojan builder for generating platform-specific exe

fsociety is a penetration testing framework and security tool orchestrator designed to conduct full security audits. It functions as a wrapper that integrates external security binaries into a unified, menu-driven interface, providing a centralized system for command-line parameter mapping and execution. The project distinguishes itself by organizing specialized utilities into domain-specific collections for structured navigation. It automates the transition between different phases of an audit by chaining reconnaissance and exploitation tools through sequential workflow automation. The fram

TheFatRat is a security exploitation framework designed to automate the creation, obfuscation, and deployment of payloads for penetration testing. It functions as a comprehensive toolkit that streamlines the exploitation lifecycle, enabling users to generate malicious executables, manage network listeners, and execute post-exploitation tasks through a unified command-line interface. The framework distinguishes itself by integrating various third-party exploitation utilities into a single, orchestrated workflow. It provides specialized capabilities for embedding code into legitimate binaries a

BeEF is a modular security testing environment designed for browser exploitation and web application auditing. It functions as a platform for security professionals to evaluate client-side defenses by injecting persistent scripts into web browsers, establishing a bidirectional communication channel for remote command execution and data exfiltration. The framework distinguishes itself through its ability to use compromised browser sessions as proxies to conduct internal network reconnaissance, effectively bypassing perimeter security controls. It utilizes an event-driven control interface and

Pwntools is a Python-based framework designed for rapid prototyping and automation in binary exploitation, reverse engineering, and security research. It serves as a comprehensive toolkit for interacting with local and remote processes, providing the primitives necessary to manage complex exploit workflows and streamline security analysis tasks. The framework distinguishes itself through its specialized capabilities for binary manipulation and automated exploit construction. It includes dedicated utilities for parsing executable file formats, assembling and disassembling machine code, and gen

Ladon is an internal network penetration scanner and vulnerability assessment tool designed to identify high-risk security flaws and assets across network segments. It operates as a fileless security scanner, executing its engine and modules directly in memory to avoid leaving a disk footprint on target systems. The project is distinguished by its integration as a plugin for command beacons, specifically within the Cobalt Strike framework. This allows for memory-resident network discovery and vulnerability detection. It further supports stealth operations through payload and script obfuscatio

This project is a curated collection of tools, scripts, and technical guides designed to enhance offensive security operations using Cobalt Strike. It serves as a resource hub for managing command and control infrastructure and deploying security engagements. The collection includes toolkits for evading endpoint detection and response systems, alongside libraries for automating red team tasks such as reconnaissance and host enumeration. It provides resources for developing post-exploitation frameworks, specifically focusing on the creation of reflective libraries and memory-resident code. Th

The Swiss Army knife for automated Web Application Testing

PowerSploit is a collection of PowerShell modules designed for security assessment, penetration testing, and red team operations. It provides a framework for auditing Windows system configurations and evaluating the effectiveness of security defenses within an enterprise environment. The framework focuses on techniques that leverage native system administration tools and scripting environments to perform operations. It includes capabilities for executing arbitrary commands, escalating user privileges, and maintaining system persistence through event subscriptions. By utilizing in-memory execu

Lonkero - Wraps around your attack surface. Professional-grade scanner for real penetration testing. Fast. Modular. Rust.

SecLists is a centralized library of security assessment data designed to support vulnerability discovery and penetration testing. It functions as a comprehensive repository of wordlists, payloads, and testing methodologies used to audit software, firmware, and internet-connected hardware for technical vulnerabilities. The project distinguishes itself through a standardized taxonomy and a language-agnostic data format, which allows security tools to predictably ingest and utilize its assets regardless of the underlying programming environment. By decoupling raw testing data from execution log

This project is a comprehensive directory of software utilities, frameworks, and educational resources designed for cybersecurity competitions and offensive security research. It serves as a centralized index for tools used in cryptography, forensics, reverse engineering, and web exploitation, while providing structured materials for training and skill development. The repository distinguishes itself through a community-driven maintenance model that aggregates and organizes technical resources into a searchable, hierarchical structure. It facilitates knowledge transfer by cataloging expert pr

Impacket is a collection of Python classes designed for the construction, manipulation, and analysis of low-level network packets and services. It functions as a framework for building custom network tools, providing a programmatic interface to interact with communication protocols and service architectures. The library provides primitives for managing authentication, session state, and remote procedure calls within network environments. By offering a modular class hierarchy, it allows for the assembly of network packets and the implementation of specialized communication stacks. The project

PentestGPT is an autonomous security testing framework that leverages large language models to plan, execute, and coordinate end-to-end penetration testing engagements. By functioning as an autonomous agent, the system automates the entire testing lifecycle, from initial reconnaissance and vulnerability analysis to the generation of custom exploits and the execution of post-exploitation tasks. The platform distinguishes itself through a multi-agent orchestration system that coordinates specialized AI agents to collaborate on complex, multi-stage attack chains. It integrates multimodal context

OffensiveNim is a red teaming framework and post-exploitation toolkit developed in Nim. It provides a collection of low-level primitives and a Windows API wrapper designed for offensive security operations, including malware development and shellcode loading. The project focuses on evasion and obfuscation through techniques such as API unhooking, direct system calls, and anti-debugging mechanisms. It features diverse payload delivery methods, including reflective binary loading, the execution of .NET assemblies via CLR hosting, and various shellcode injection techniques using fibers, COM obje

This project is a technical guide and reference for internal network penetration testing. It serves as a collection of procedures for exploiting and navigating private corporate networks during security assessments. The repository provides specialized manuals and cheat sheets focused on active directory attacks, lateral movement, and privilege escalation. It includes a post-exploitation playbook for maintaining system persistence and clearing forensic traces. The documentation covers a broad range of security capabilities, including initial access, network pivoting and tunneling, and interna

This project consists of PHP-based payloads and scripts designed to establish reverse network connections for remote shell access. It functions as a remote command execution tool used during security auditing to gain an interactive shell on a web server. The scripts utilize PHP network sockets to redirect system shell input and output to a remote TCP connection. This allows for the establishment of a network connection from a target server back to a controlled machine to execute remote commands. These capabilities support penetration testing workflows, PHP server auditing, and post-exploitat