Athena Wiki

CTF Tools

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Index of all tool pages - essential toolkit, debugging, reversing, web testing, and cryptography tools.

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CTF Tools

This section documents the most important tools for CTF competition, how to install them, and how to use them effectively.

Tool Selection by Challenge Type

Mermaid diagram

Pages in This Section

PageCategoryDescription
Essential ToolkitAllMaster list of tools by category
CyberChefAllBrowser-based encoding/decoding Swiss Army knife
NmapNetwork/ReconHost discovery, port scanning, and NSE enumeration
pwntoolsPwnPython framework for exploit development
GhidraReversingNSA decompiler and RE framework
GDB + GEF / PEDAPwn/REDynamic debugger with CTF extensions
Burp SuiteWebHTTP proxy and web testing platform
WiresharkForensicsNetwork packet capture analysis
binwalkForensics/StegFirmware and file format analysis
Radare2 / CutterReversingAlternative RE framework

Tool Selection Guide

Quick Install

# All major CTF tools
pip3 install pwntools pycryptodome gmpy2 z3-solver randcrack flask requests
gem install zsteg one_gadget
sudo apt install -y gdb wireshark tshark binwalk exiftool steghide \
  foremost scalpel sleuthkit testdisk radare2 sqlmap ffuf gobuster
bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://gef.blah.cat/sh)"   # GEF for GDB

# Ghidra: download separately from ghidra-sre.org

Kali Linux

Kali ships with most tools pre-installed. Run sudo apt install kali-linux-large to get the extended toolset.


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