About this project

ctf-tools is a Nix flake that packages and manages a large catalog of security research tools commonly used in Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions and security research. The repository provides a single, easily deployable source for tools spanning binary analysis (angr, Ghidra, radare2, IDA, pwndbg, ropper), forensics (Volatility, Autopsy, binwalk, SleuthKit, YARA), cryptography (hashcat, John the Ripper, RsaCtfTool, Z3, Sage), web exploitation (Burp Suite, sqlmap, ffuf, mitmproxy, XSStrike), steganography (stegsolve, zsteg, steganabara), mobile (Frida, apktool, jadx), networking (nmap, bettercap, tshark), and OSINT (Sherlock). Tools are split into two groups: those packaged directly in the repository under nix/pkgs/ and those forwarded from nixpkgs. Every tool is exposed as a Nix flake output, installable via nix profile install, runnable without installation via nix run, or usable in a shell via nix shell. A manage-tools wrapper script provides a familiar CLI for listing, installing, uninstalling, and searching tools, including aggregate installs for all catalogued tools or all generated cross-toolchains. CI evaluates the catalog and builds x86_64 tools daily, catching breakage quickly. Package inputs are downloaded by Nix and pinned by SHA-256, ensuring supply-chain integrity. The ordinary package set supports both x86_64-linux and aarch64-linux, with unsupported packages omitted on ARM rather than failing the entire profile. Generated cross-compiler toolchains (cross2 and crosstool-ng) are x86_64-only, with 77 of crosstool-NG's 146 samples prebuilt as independent installable outputs. The repository also includes a Docker-based build system (evidenced by Docker badge URLs) and supports offline operation for most tools, with documented exceptions for libc-database corpus downloads, IDA Pro (user-provided), and crosstool-ng source downloads when using the ct-ng driver directly. Nix installs alongside the host OS package manager with zero interference, and tools install into the user's Nix profile for clean uninstallation.