# io12/pwninit

pwninit - automate starting binary exploit challenges

Repository: https://github.com/io12/pwninit
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/pwninit
Language: Rust
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: pwn, init, binary, elf, exploit
Last push: 2026-07-27T20:54:16+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 84/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 94, release rhythm 63, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2495, "days_push": 37, "days_rel": 37, "gap_med": 232, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1115, forks 79 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:38.376977+00:00)

## What it is
pwninit is a Rust CLI tool that automates the setup of binary exploitation challenges, typically for CTF competitions. It detects the challenge binary, libc, and linker files, then patches the binary, fetches matching debug symbols, and generates a pwntools solve script template.

## Use cases
- set up a ctf pwn challenge with a provided libc
- patch a binary to use the correct libc interpreter and rpath
- download debug symbols and unstrip a libc for gdb debugging
- generate a pwntools solve.py template for a binary exploit
- find a matching ld-linux linker for a given libc version

## When to choose
- you regularly solve CTF binary exploitation challenges and want to skip manual patchelf setup
- you need a quickly runnable, debuggable local copy of a challenge binary with its libc
- you want a reproducible pwntools script scaffold for each challenge

## When to avoid
- you need a general-purpose binary analysis or reverse engineering suite
- you work on non-ELF binaries such as Windows PE or macOS Mach-O
- you want a GUI-based exploitation framework

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: security, developer-tools, cli
- domain: security, developer-tools
- platform: cli, rust
- tags: ctf, binary-exploitation, pwn, elf-patching, libc, pwntools, command-line, linux

## Member repositories
- io12/pwninit (main) score 84

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:38.376977+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 2026-08-30T06:42:10.888325+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/io12/pwninit (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:38.376977+00:00, sha d9779afbc378)
  - registry_crates: https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/pwninit (fetched 2026-08-29T12:45:56.344543+00:00, sha 55d68d318f75)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.