Volatility
Memory Forensics and Analysis Framework
Introduction
Volatility is an open-source memory forensics tool used to extract and analyze information from RAM dumps. It is widely employed by cybersecurity professionals, incident responders, and forensic analysts to investigate malware, detect compromises, and recover artifacts from memory.
Features
- Memory Analysis: Extract processes, network connections, and registry keys from memory dumps.
- Cross-Platform Support: Analyze memory images from Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android.
- Plugin Ecosystem: Extend functionality with custom plugins for malware analysis.
- Forensic Artifacts: Recover passwords, encryption keys, and hidden processes.
- Scripting Support: Automate workflows with Python.
Installation
- Install Volatility via pacman:
sudo pacman -S volatility
Install Verification
Check the version to confirm installation:
volatility --version
Uninstall
sudo pacman -Rns volatility
Usage
Basic Commands
List Processes in a Memory Dump
volatility -f memory.dump --profile=Win7SP1x64 pslist
Scan for Network Connections
volatility -f memory.dump --profile=Win7SP1x64 netscan
List Open Files
volatility -f memory.dump --profile=Win7SP1x64 filescan
Dump Process Memory to Disk
volatility -f memory.dump --profile=Win7SP1x64 procdump -D ./output/
Example Workflow
Identify Suspicious Processes
volatility -f memory.dump --profile=Win7SP1x64 pslist | grep "suspicious_process"
Extract Malware Artifacts
volatility -f memory.dump --profile=Win7SP1x64 malfind -D ./malware_dumps/
Official Documentation & More Info
Contributing
- Contribute plugins or report issues via GitHub.
- Follow the contribution guidelines.
Support
- Join the Volatility Community Slack.
- Ask questions on the Volatility Mailing List.
License
Volatility is released under the GNU General Public License v2 (GPLv2).