# Yaxser/Backstab

A tool to kill antimalware protected processes

Repository: https://github.com/Yaxser/Backstab
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/backstab
Language: C
License Family: other
Last push: 2021-06-19T20:01:52+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1905, "days_push": 1901, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1527, forks 251 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:58.489179+00:00)

## What it is
Backstab is a Windows command-line tool that kills antimalware/EDR-protected processes by abusing the Microsoft-signed Sysinternals Process Explorer kernel driver. It loads the driver via NtLoadDriver and uses it to close protected process handles.

## Use cases
- kill EDR protected processes from an admin shell
- close handles of a protected process by PID or name
- list open handles of antimalware processes
- red team evasion of endpoint protection
- unload the ProcExp driver after use

## When to choose
- you have local admin on a Windows host and need to terminate an EDR-protected process
- you want a ProcExp-driver-based handle-killing tool with OpSec-conscious behavior
- you need to enumerate or close specific handles of protected processes

## When to avoid
- you need a supported, licensed tool - the repo has no license
- you are on non-Windows platforms
- you want stealth from EDRs that detect ProcExp driver loading
- you need a maintained tool - last release was 2021

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: security, penetration-testing, cli
- domain: security, penetration-testing, windows
- platform: windows, cli
- tags: edr-evasion, process-killing, kernel-driver, red-team, handle-manipulation, procexp-driver

## Member repositories
- Yaxser/Backstab (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:58.489179+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:31:33.104995+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/Yaxser/Backstab (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:58.489179+00:00, sha b2635bac9746)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.