# cmu-sei/pharos

Automated static analysis tools for binary programs

Repository: https://github.com/cmu-sei/pharos
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/pharos
Language: C++
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: binary-analysis, reverse-engineering
Last push: 2026-08-03T13:09:04+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 75/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 95, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4100, "days_push": 30, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1723, forks 214 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:27.935534+00:00)

## What it is
Pharos is a static binary analysis framework from Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute built on the ROSE compiler infrastructure. It provides tools for automated analysis of binary programs, including API call pattern detection and C++ object-oriented construct recovery.

## Use cases
- recover C++ classes and methods from compiled executables
- detect API call sequences like file open/write/close in binaries
- disassemble and analyze control flow of binary programs
- analyze malware without executing it
- import recovered object information into reverse engineering tools
- research automated static analysis of binaries

## When to choose
- you need automated static analysis of x86 binaries without running them
- you want to recover object-oriented structure from C++ executables
- you're doing binary analysis research and want a semantic analysis framework
- you need to identify OS interaction patterns in unknown binaries

## When to avoid
- you need a polished production reverse engineering tool with GUI support
- you need to analyze non-x86 or non-MSVC-compiled binaries for OO recovery
- you want a simple disassembler rather than a research framework
- you need guaranteed stability or extensive portability across build configurations

## Facets
- artifact type: framework
- maturity: active
- function: reverse-engineering, parser, security, developer-tools
- domain: reverse-engineering, security, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cpp, cli
- tags: binary-analysis, static-analysis, disassembly, c++-recovery, rose, malware-analysis, linux

## Member repositories
- cmu-sei/pharos (main) score 75

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:27.935534+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 2026-08-30T03:33:57.445614+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cmu-sei/pharos (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:27.935534+00:00, sha 4fff2c7194e8)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.