✅ What is Volatility?
Volatility is the most widely used memory forensics framework, capable of analyzing RAM dumps from Windows, Linux, and macOS systems.
In CTF forensics challenges, you often receive a file like:
memory.raw memdump.bin win10.dmp
These RAM images may contain:
- Hidden flags
- Running processes
- Passwords
- Browser history
- Network connections
- Malware behavior
- Command history
Volatility helps extract all these artifacts.
🛠️ Volatility Versions
There are two major branches:
Volatility 2
- Python 2 based
- Uses
--profile(e.g.,Win7SP1x64) - Still widely used in CTFs
Volatility 3
- Python 3 based
- No profile needed (auto-detects structures)
- Modern OS support
- Different plugin names
Most CTF writeups still rely on Volatility 2, so we will cover both.
🧰 Basic Volatility Commands (Volatility 2)
Assume:
volatility -f memory.raw --profile=Win7SP1x64 <plugin>
1. Identify the OS profile
volatility imageinfo -f memory.raw
You’ll see suggestions like:
Suggested Profile(s): Win7SP1x64, Win7SP0x64
Pick the best match.
2. List running processes
volatility pslist
Or detect hidden/rootkit processes:
volatility psscan
3. Dump a process
volatility memdump -p <PID> -D dumps/
Useful for malware, binary flags, or decoding strings.
4. List open network connections
volatility netscan
Find URLs, IP addresses, ports.
5. Check command history
volatility cmdscan volatility consoles
Flags often appear in command prompts.
6. Recover browser data
volatility iehistory volatility chromehistory
(If applicable to OS.)
7. Extract strings from memory
volatility strings | grep -i flag
8. Dump registry hives
volatility hivelist volatility printkey -K "Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run"
Registry often hides credentials or malware persistence.
🧰 Basic Volatility Commands (Volatility 3)
Example:
vol -f memory.raw windows.pslist
Common plugins:
| Volatility 2 | Volatility 3 |
|---|---|
| pslist | windows.pslist |
| psscan | windows.psscan |
| netscan | windows.netscan |
| cmdscan | windows.cmdline |
| consoles | windows.consoles |
| hivelist | windows.registry.hivelist |
🎯 How Volatility Is Used in CTF Challenges
1. Finding the flag in process memory
A common trick is hiding a flag inside a running process.
You use:
volatility pslist volatility memdump strings dump.bin | grep FLAG
2. Recovering command-line arguments
Flags may appear inside executed commands:
volatility cmdscan volatility consoles
3. Browser artifacts
Flags sometimes appear in:
- Typed URLs
- Cookies
- Page content
Use:
volatility iehistory volatility chromehistory volatility filescan | grep sqlite
4. Extracting malicious binaries
You often find malware in RAM:
volatility malfind -D malware/
Then reverse engineer it to uncover the flag.
5. Network connections
Challenges may hide flags in a server name or URL:
volatility netscan
6. Registry persistence
Sometimes registry keys contain a flag or encoded value:
volatility printkey -K <registry path>
7. Hidden/rootkit processes
Flags might be in processes not shown by pslist.
Check with:
volatility psscan
🔍 Common CTF Patterns Using Volatility
| Pattern | Description | How to Solve |
|---|---|---|
| Flag in strings | Simple RAM dumps contain flags in plaintext | strings memory.raw or Volatility strings |
| Flag inside process memory | Malware or suspicious process contains the flag | pslist → memdump → strings |
| Hidden process | Malware hides from standard process lists | psscan |
| Command prompt flag | User typed the flag earlier | cmdscan, consoles |
| Browser history flag | Flag is in history, cookies, or HTML | iehistory, chromehistory |
| Registry flag | Flag stored as a registry value | hivelist → printkey |
| Network-based clue | URL/IP contains flag or file | netscan |
| Extracting DLL/executable | Binary inside RAM contains encoded flag | malfind → analyze |
🚀 Recommended Workflow for Volatility in CTF
- Identify OS profile (Vol2 only)
volatility imageinfo - List processes
pslist psscan - Check consoles and commands
cmdscan consoles - Inspect network connections
netscan - Dump suspicious processes
memdump -p <PID> - Search for strings
strings > strings.txt - Investigate registry
hivelist printkey - Extract malware or binaries
malfind
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