pwntools

Health v2 · maintenance only

Flags: no_license

Adoption not part of the score

13660 stars · 1854 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded

Pwntools is a Python CTF framework and exploit development library designed for rapid prototyping of binary exploits. It provides utilities for shellcode assembly, ROP chain building, process and network I/O, and interaction with vulnerable binaries.

Use cases

• write binary exploits for ctf challenges
• generate shellcode for a target architecture
• build rop chains to bypass nx
• connect to a remote service and send a payload
• debug a local vulnerable binary with gdb
• solve pwnable wargame challenges
• assemble and disassemble instructions for foreign architectures

When to choose

• you are playing CTFs or wargames and need to write binary exploits quickly
• you need a batteries-included Python toolkit for shellcode, ROP, and process interaction
• you want rapid prototyping of memory-corruption exploits on Linux/BSD targets

When to avoid

• you need a general-purpose penetration testing framework rather than exploit development
• you require first-class Windows exploit development support
• you want a GUI-based reverse engineering tool

Facets

library · maturity active

security developer-tools cli sdk security developer-tools bsd python cli ctf exploit-development binary-exploitation shellcode rop wargames capture-the-flag reverse-engineering command-line linux macos

Member repositories

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="Gallopsled/pwntools")