The Binary String Toolkit or BST for short is a rather simple utility to convert binary strings to various formats suitable for later inclusions in source codes, such as those used to develop exploits in the security field.
- Dump files content to standard output in a binary string format.
- Convert a plain hexadecimal input to an escaped binary string.
- Output a sequence of bad characters for testing proof of concept code.
- Limit the width of binary strings for better readability in source codes.
- Format output in your favorite programming language's syntax.
- Perform binary variable block indentation.
- POSIX C Library
- C Compiler
- GCC
- LLVM Clang
- GNU Make
- Git
To build and install the 'bstrings' binary, simply do:
$ git clone https://github.com/e3prom/bst
$ cd bst
$ make
# by default, bstrings is installed in /usr/local/bin.
$ make install
The below example show how an assembled shellcode can be quickly dumped (-D) to standard output in a hexadecimal escaped (-x) binary string of 16 hexadecimal digits width (or 8 bytes), with Python syntax formatting and an indentation of 4 space characters:
$ bstrings --verbose -x -D lnx-execve-setreuid-x86_64 -w8 -i 4 --syntax=python
[*] Convert hexadecimal input to an escaped binary string.
[+] Binary string width is limited to 8 bytes.
[+] Output binary string using python language syntax.
[+] Indentation level set to 4 space character(s).
shellcode = ""
shellcode += "\x31\xc0\x48\x89\xc7\x48\x89\xc6"
shellcode += "\x48\x89\xc2\xb0\x71\x0f\x05\x31"
shellcode += "\xc0\x50\x48\xbb\x2f\x62\x69\x6e"
shellcode += "\x2f\x2f\x73\x68\x53\x48\x89\xe7"
shellcode += "\x50\x48\x89\xe6\x57\x48\x89\xe2"
shellcode += "\xb0\x3b\x0f\x05"
You can also use bstrings to output an automatically indented bad character sequence, and thus in your favorite programming language:
$ bstrings --verbose -b -w12 -i 4 --syntax=c -n badchar
[*] Generating bad character binary string.
[+] Binary string width is limited to 12 bytes.
unsigned char badchar[] =
"\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x06\x07\x08\x09\x0a\x0b\x0c"
"\x0d\x0e\x0f\x10\x11\x12\x13\x14\x15\x16\x17\x18"
"\x19\x1a\x1b\x1c\x1d\x1e\x1f\x20\x21\x22\x23\x24"
"\x25\x26\x27\x28\x29\x2a\x2b\x2c\x2d\x2e\x2f\x30"
"\x31\x32\x33\x34\x35\x36\x37\x38\x39\x3a\x3b\x3c"
"\x3d\x3e\x3f\x40\x41\x42\x43\x44\x45\x46\x47\x48"
"\x49\x4a\x4b\x4c\x4d\x4e\x4f\x50\x51\x52\x53\x54"
"\x55\x56\x57\x58\x59\x5a\x5b\x5c\x5d\x5e\x5f\x60"
"\x61\x62\x63\x64\x65\x66\x67\x68\x69\x6a\x6b\x6c"
"\x6d\x6e\x6f\x70\x71\x72\x73\x74\x75\x76\x77\x78"
"\x79\x7a\x7b\x7c\x7d\x7e\x7f\x80\x81\x82\x83\x84"
"\x85\x86\x87\x88\x89\x8a\x8b\x8c\x8d\x8e\x8f\x90"
"\x91\x92\x93\x94\x95\x96\x97\x98\x99\x9a\x9b\x9c"
"\x9d\x9e\x9f\xa0\xa1\xa2\xa3\xa4\xa5\xa6\xa7\xa8"
"\xa9\xaa\xab\xac\xad\xae\xaf\xb0\xb1\xb2\xb3\xb4"
"\xb5\xb6\xb7\xb8\xb9\xba\xbb\xbc\xbd\xbe\xbf\xc0"
"\xc1\xc2\xc3\xc4\xc5\xc6\xc7\xc8\xc9\xca\xcb\xcc"
"\xcd\xce\xcf\xd0\xd1\xd2\xd3\xd4\xd5\xd6\xd7\xd8"
"\xd9\xda\xdb\xdc\xdd\xde\xdf\xe0\xe1\xe2\xe3\xe4"
"\xe5\xe6\xe7\xe8\xe9\xea\xeb\xec\xed\xee\xef\xf0"
"\xf1\xf2\xf3\xf4\xf5\xf6\xf7\xf8\xf9\xfa\xfb\xfc"
"\xfd\xfe\xff"
For a list of supported command-line options, simply execute bstrings with the '--help' switch:
$ bstrings --help
Usage: ./bstrings [OPTION]...
Convert input to specified binary string format.
At least one of the below options must be given:
-D, --dump-file=FILE Dump content of file FILE in hexadecimal format
-x, --hex-escape Escape input hexadecimal string
-b, --gen-badchar Generate a bad character sequence string
The below switches are optional:
-f, --file=FILE Read input from file FILE instead of stdin
-w, --width=BYTES Break binary strings to specified length in bytes
-s, --syntax=LANG Output variable using language syntax of LANG
-i, --indent=LENGTH Perform indentation for given character length
-n, --var-name=VAR Specify binary string variable name (verbose)
-h, --help Display this help
--interactive Enter interactive mode
--verbose Enable verbose output
--version Print version information
The below languages are supported (case-sensitive):
C C Programming language
python Python Programming language
Feel free to contribute to this project by submitting your codes and by reporting issues or bugs.
This software is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.