# cytopia/pwncat

pwncat - netcat on steroids with Firewall, IDS/IPS evasion, bind and reverse shell, self-injecting shell and port forwarding magic - and its fully scriptable with Python (PSE)

Repository: https://github.com/cytopia/pwncat
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cytopia-pwncat
Homepage: https://pwncat.org
Language: Shell
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: netcat, ncat, nc, port-forwarding, portforward, remote-shell, bind-shell, reverse-shell, remote-port-forward, remote-port-forwarding, local-port-forward, local-port-forwarding, pentesting, penetration-testing, pentest, pentest-tool, pentesting-tool, pivoting, pwncat, cytopia-sec
Last push: 2022-09-23T17:14:02+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": 2338, "days_push": 1440, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1954, forks 213 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:58.855875+00:00)

## What it is
pwncat is a Python-based netcat replacement and reverse/bind shell handler with firewall and IDS/IPS evasion, self-injecting shells, and port forwarding. It is fully scriptable via the Pwncat Scripting Engine (PSE) and works as a drop-in complement to netcat, ncat, or socat.

## Use cases
- catch and manage reverse shells during pentests
- set up local and remote port forwarding
- evade firewalls and IDS/IPS when connecting back
- automatically deploy unbreakable reconnecting reverse shells to a target
- script send/receive network actions with Python
- pivot through compromised hosts
- replace netcat or ncat with a more featureful tool

## When to choose
- you need a scriptable netcat with reverse shell handling and self-injection for penetration testing
- you want reconnecting 'unbreakable' reverse shells or IDS evasion features
- you need port forwarding and pivoting from a single CLI tool

## When to avoid
- you only need basic netcat functionality on a minimal system
- you need an actively developed tool - the last release was 2022
- you want an interactive post-exploitation shell framework rather than a netcat-style utility

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: security, networking, cli, proxy
- domain: security, penetration-testing, networking
- platform: cli, python
- tags: netcat, reverse-shell, bind-shell, port-forwarding, ids-evasion, pivoting, pentesting, pse, self-injecting-shell, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- cytopia/pwncat (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:58.855875+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 2026-08-30T03:06:32.414647+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cytopia/pwncat (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:58.855875+00:00, sha b91c6412f68d)
  - homepage: https://pwncat.org (fetched 2026-08-29T10:46:40.691888+00:00, sha 9fdd40975050)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.