# corkami/mitra

A generator of weird files (binary polyglots, near polyglots, polymocks...)

Repository: https://github.com/corkami/mitra
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/mitra
Language: Python
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: binary-polyglots, polyglots
Last push: 2024-12-22T20:29:32+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2171, "days_push": 619, "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 1286, forks 83 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:14.855841+00:00)

## What it is
Mitra is a Python CLI tool that generates weird files such as binary polyglots, near-polyglots, polymocks, parasites, and zippers across many file formats. It is aimed at security research and demonstrating risks of poorly designed file formats.

## Use cases
- generate a polyglot file that is valid as two formats at once
- append arbitrary data to a PDF while keeping it valid
- create a PNG/DICOM polyglot for parser testing
- demonstrate security risks of a badly designed file format
- extract the two payloads from a polyglot file separately
- test whether a file parser can be tricked by overlapping bytes

## When to choose
- you are doing security research on file format parsers
- you need to quickly generate polyglot or near-polyglot test files
- you want to explore which format features enable format abuses
- you need proof-of-concept files for a format design review

## When to avoid
- you need a general-purpose file format converter
- you want production tooling that fixes checksums or validates outputs
- you need a GUI or non-technical workflow
- your target format is not among the supported layouts

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: security, developer-tools, file-system
- domain: security, files, developer-tools
- platform: python, cli, cross-platform
- tags: binary-polyglots, file-format-abuse, security-research, file-parsing

## Member repositories
- corkami/mitra (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:14.855841+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 2026-08-30T04:56:08.719220+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/corkami/mitra (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:14.855841+00:00, sha 5b243e6e1096)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.