# nccgroup/demiguise

HTA encryption tool for RedTeams

Repository: https://github.com/nccgroup/demiguise
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/demiguise
Homepage: https://www.nccgroup.trust/uk/about-us/newsroom-and-events/blogs/2017/august/smuggling-hta-files-in-internet-exploreredge/
Language: Python
License: AGPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2022-11-09T08:12:25+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3325, "days_push": 1393, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1429, forks 245 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:42.151373+00:00)

## What it is
Demiguise is a Python CLI tool from NCC Group that generates HTML files containing RC4-encrypted HTA payloads, which are decrypted dynamically in the browser at runtime. It is designed for red team operations to bypass content/file-type inspection by security appliances and evade sandboxing via environmental keying.

## Use cases
- encrypt an HTA payload inside an HTML page to evade proxy inspection
- generate HTA files for red team phishing simulations
- bypass security appliance file-type filtering
- use environmental keying to avoid sandbox detonation
- deliver payloads without plaintext HTA over HTTP
- test detection of encrypted HTA delivery techniques

## When to choose
- you are a red teamer needing to deliver HTA payloads past content inspection
- you want encrypted, browser-decrypted payload delivery with environmental keying
- you need a lightweight Python tool for offensive HTA generation

## When to avoid
- you need to author sophisticated HTA payload content itself
- you are building defensive tooling rather than offensive simulations
- you need a maintained tool with recent updates or broad platform support

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: security, cryptography, cli
- domain: security, penetration-testing
- platform: python, cli, windows
- tags: red-team, hta, evasion, offensive-security, rc4, environmental-keying

## Member repositories
- nccgroup/demiguise (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:42.151373+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 2026-08-30T04:37:16.187867+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/nccgroup/demiguise (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:42.151373+00:00, sha 19372fb12b5c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.