chkrootkit alternatives

Looking for an alternative tool to replace chkrootkit? During the review of chkrootkit we looked at other open source tools. Based on their category, tags, and text, these are the ones that have the best match.

Top 3

  1. Rootkit Hunter (malware scanner)
  2. ClamAV (malware scanner)
  3. LMD (malware detection tool)

These tools are ranked as the best alternatives to chkrootkit.

Alternatives (by score)

59

Rootkit Hunter (rkhunter)

Introduction

Rootkit Hunter is a small utility to find suspicious rootkit components. Other known backdoors or malicious software can also be discovered, especially if it has the goal to hide.

The tool uses different ways to hunt, like using predefined directory locations and comparing the output of system utilities. Another method is by requesting a specific output and see if this output is altered, therefore tricking rootkits to reveal themselves.

Project details

Rootkit Hunter is written in shell script.

Strengths and weaknesses

  • + Used language is shell script
  • + Project is mature (10+ years)
  • + The source code of this software is available

    Typical usage

    • Malware detection
    • Malware scanning

    Rootkit Hunter review

    100

    ClamAV

    Introduction

    ClamAV is a popular tool to detect malicious software or malware. While it calls itself an antivirus engine, it probably won't encounter many viruses, as they have become rare. It is more likely to find other forms of malware like worms, backdoors, and ransomware. ClamAV can be used in a few ways, from doing an occasional scan up to scanning in batch. ClamAV does not do on-access scanning but can be combined with other tools to obtain similar functionality. ClamAV is often used to support scanning incoming emails for malicious content.

    Project details

    ClamAV is written in C.

    Strengths and weaknesses

    • + Many maintainers
    • + The source code of this software is available

      Typical usage

      • Malware analysis
      • Malware detection
      • Malware scanning

      ClamAV review

      74

      LMD

      Introduction

      LMD uses MD5 file hashes and HEX pattern matches to define the malware signatures. These are used to detect malware.

      Project details

      LMD is written in shell script.

      Strengths and weaknesses

      • + The source code of this software is available

        Typical usage

        • Malware scanning

        LMD review

        60

        Malice

        Introduction

        Malice is a malware analysis that wants to provide a free and open source version of VirusTotal. The goal of Malice is to make it usable by both independent researchers up to fortune 500 companies.

        Malice is useful for those that do malware analysis or deal with user-generated files that may contain malware. The framework allows scanning files and directories to see if they are infected.

        Project details

        Malice is written in Golang.

        Strengths and weaknesses

        • + More than 500 GitHub stars
        • + The source code of this software is available

          Typical usage

          • Malware analysis
          • Malware detection
          • Malware research
          • Malware scanning

          Malice review

          74

          Malscan

          Introduction

          Malscan is a tool to scan for malicious software (malware) such as viruses, worms, and backdoors. Its goal is to extend ClamAV with more scanning modes and signatures. It targets web servers running Linux, but can also be used on mail servers and desktops.

          Project details

          Malscan is written in shell script.

          Strengths and weaknesses

          • + Used language is shell script
          • + The source code of this software is available

            Typical usage

            • Malware protection
            • Malware scanning

            Malscan review

            60

            MultiScanner

            Introduction

            MultiScanner helps malware analysts by providing a toolkit to perform both automated and manual analysis. The data extracted from the analysis can be easily stored together, including the relevant metadata and samples. It allows enriching the data further by retrieving information from external resources.

            Project details

            Strengths and weaknesses

            • + More than 10 contributors
            • + The source code of this software is available

              Typical usage

              • Malware analysis
              • Malware detection
              • Malware scanning

              MultiScanner review

              70

              Loki

              Introduction

              Loki is security tool to find so-called indicators of compromise (IOC). It does this by scanning files and then uses pattern matching.

              Project details

              Loki is written in Python.

              Strengths and weaknesses

              • + More than 10 contributors
              • + Commercial support available
              • + More than 500 GitHub stars
              • + The source code of this software is available

                Typical usage

                • Digital forensics
                • Intrusion detection
                • Security monitoring

                Loki review

                60

                Dagda

                Introduction

                The main reasons to use Dagda is the detection of vulnerable or malicious components within your containerized environment.

                Project details

                Dagda is written in Python.

                Strengths and weaknesses

                • + The source code of this software is available

                  Typical usage

                  • Malware detection
                  • Malware scanning
                  • Vulnerability management
                  • Vulnerability scanning

                  Dagda review

                  85

                  Maltrail

                  Introduction

                  Maltrail monitors for traffic on the network that might indicate system compromise or other bad behavior. It is great for intrusion detection and monitoring.

                  Project details

                  Maltrail is written in Python.

                  Strengths and weaknesses

                  • + More than 10 contributors
                  • + More than 3000 GitHub stars
                  • + The source code of this software is available

                    Typical usage

                    • Intrusion detection
                    • Network analysis
                    • Security monitoring

                    Maltrail review

                    97

                    YARA

                    Introduction

                    YARA is a tool to identify and classify malware samples. It uses textual or binary patterns to match data, combined with a boolean expression to define a match. YARA is multi-platform, can be used via a command-line interface or via Python scripts using the yara-python extension.

                    Project details

                    YARA is written in C.

                    Strengths and weaknesses

                    • + More than 50 contributors
                    • + More than 2000 GitHub stars
                    • + The source code of this software is available

                      Typical usage

                      • Malware analysis
                      • Malware detection
                      • Malware scanning

                      YARA review

                      64

                      Diamorphine

                      Introduction

                      Rootkits are typically considered to be malware, or malicious software. With the intent to hide, this type of software is often used after a breach. Learning about how it works can be useful for security researchers and security professionals.

                      Project details

                      Diamorphine is written in C.

                      Strengths and weaknesses

                      • + The source code of this software is available

                        Typical usage

                        • Learning

                        Diamorphine review

                        78

                        SSMA

                        Introduction

                        SSMA is short for Simple Static Malware Analyzer. The tool can perform a set of tests against a malware sample and retrieve metadata from it. SSMA can analyze ELF and PE and analyze its structure. For example, it can retrieve the PE file header information and its sections. Other pieces it can analyze is the usage of packers, anti-debugging techniques, cryptographic algorithms, domains, email addresses, and IP addresses. It can also check if the sample is already detected or blocked by using VirusTotal and the blocklist of malwaredomains.com.

                        Project details

                        SSMA is written in Python.

                        Strengths and weaknesses

                        • + The source code of this software is available
                        • - No releases on GitHub available

                        Typical usage

                        • Malware analysis
                        • Malware detection
                        • Malware scanning
                        • Reverse engineering

                        SSMA review

                        64

                        EvilAbigail

                        Introduction

                        This tool is used to perform an attack that is known as "evil maid".

                        Project details

                        60

                        WeBaCoo

                        Introduction

                        WeBaCoo could be useful for penetration tests and security assessments, to test the effectiveness of security monitoring solutions.

                        Project details

                        WeBaCoo is written in Perl, Ruby.

                        Strengths and weaknesses

                        • + The source code of this software is available

                          Typical usage

                          • Application testing
                          • Penetration testing

                          WeBaCoo review

                          56

                          sshLooter

                          Introduction

                          The most likely use for tools like this is backdoor a system after root permissions were gained. By planting it into the PAM stack, it allows for password sniffing.

                          Project details

                          sshLooter is written in Python, shell script.

                          Strengths and weaknesses

                          • + The source code is easy to read and understand
                          • - Unknown project license

                          Typical usage

                          • Information snooping
                          • Password discovery
                          • Password sniffing

                          sshLooter review

                          64

                          Binary Analysis Next Generation (BANG)

                          Introduction

                          BANG is a framework to unpack files recursively and scan them. The files can be firmware, binaries, or malware. The main goal is to scan all files and perform classification and labeling. This way each file can be further analyzed based on the characteristics.

                          Project details

                          Binary Analysis Next Generation is written in Python.

                          Strengths and weaknesses

                          • + The source code of this software is available
                          • - No releases on GitHub available

                          Typical usage

                          • Binary analysis
                          • Malware analysis
                          • Malware scanning

                          Binary Analysis Next Generation review

                          74

                          Cuckoo Sandbox (cuckoo)

                          Introduction

                          In a matter of seconds, Cuckoo Sandbox provides detailed results on what a file does within an isolated environment. This helps with malware analysis and understanding what it exactly tries to achieve. Further analysis can be done, based on the previous actions that were done.

                          Cuckoo Sandbox was created by Claudio Guarnieri as part of the Google Summer of Code project in 2010.

                          Project details

                          Cuckoo Sandbox is written in Python.

                          Strengths and weaknesses

                          • + More than 2000 GitHub stars
                          • + The source code of this software is available
                          • - Many provided pull requests are still open
                          • - Many reported issues are still open

                          Typical usage

                          • Digital forensics
                          • Malware analysis

                          Cuckoo Sandbox review

                          64

                          Mal Tindex

                          Introduction

                          Mal Tindex is a tool that performs binary analysis on malware samples. It analyzes the binaries it is provided to learn about the specifics of each malware sample that makes them unique. This way data can be gathered that may provide background information. For example, it could provide the attribution of a particular actor or malware campaign.

                          Project details

                          Mal Tindex is written in Python.

                          Strengths and weaknesses

                          • + The source code of this software is available

                            Typical usage

                            • Malware analysis
                            • Malware research

                            Mal Tindex review

                            70

                            Viper

                            Introduction

                            Viper organizes the malware samples and exploits you found over time. It calls itself "Metasploit for malware researchers". Viper has a terminal interface to store, search and analyze files. As it is a framework, is also allows you to create your plugins.

                            Project details

                            60

                            YaraGuardian

                            Introduction

                            YaraGuardian provides a web-based interface that helps to manage Yara rules. It can be used to search, organize, and bulk-edit rules. The tool also prevents creating duplicate entries, which is a nice additional benefit of this management utility.

                            Project details

                            YaraGuardian is written in Python.

                            Strengths and weaknesses

                            • + The source code of this software is available

                              Typical usage

                              • Malware analysis

                              YaraGuardian review

                              52

                              bingrep

                              Introduction

                              Searches through binaries and highlights the most important areas with colors.

                              Supported binary formats:

                              • ELF 32/64, arm, x86, openrisc
                              • Mach 32/64, arm, x86
                              • PE

                              Project details

                              97

                              hBlock

                              Introduction

                              For the privacy-aware users, tools like hBlock can be helpful to block malicious domains, malware, advertisements, and trackers. Trackers could be pixels added to websites to track which pages you visited, which might invade your privacy.

                              Project details

                              hBlock is written in shell script.

                              Strengths and weaknesses

                              • + Used language is shell script
                              • + The source code of this software is available

                                Typical usage

                                • Malware protection
                                • Privacy enhancement
                                • Provide anonymity

                                hBlock review

                                60

                                yarGen

                                Introduction

                                The yarGen utility helps with creating YARA rules for malware detection. It can combine both 'goodware' and 'malware', to properly craft the right rules.

                                Project details

                                60

                                PHP Malware Finder

                                Introduction

                                PHP Malware Finder is a tool to find malicious PHP scripts. This threat is common for most web hosters and websites of their customers.

                                Project details

                                PHP Malware Finder is written in shell script.

                                Strengths and weaknesses

                                • + More than 500 GitHub stars
                                • + The source code of this software is available

                                  Typical usage

                                  • Malware scanning

                                  PHP Malware Finder review

                                  60

                                  uitkyk

                                  Introduction

                                  Uitkyk is a security framework to identify Android malware by investigation memory. It detects suspicious processes by looking at the so-called memory heap.

                                  Project details

                                  uitkyk is written in JavaScript.

                                  Strengths and weaknesses

                                  • + The source code of this software is available

                                    uitkyk review

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