analyzing-memory-dumps-with-volatility

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• LICENSE
• SKILL.md
• api-reference.md · references/
• agent.py · scripts/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Analyzing Memory Dumps with Volatility

## When to Use

- A compromised system's RAM has been captured and needs forensic analysis for malware artifacts
- Detecting fileless malware that exists only in memory without persistent disk artifacts
- Extracting encryption keys, passwords, or decrypted configuration from process memory
- Identifying process injection, DLL injection, or process hollowing in a compromised system
- Analyzing rootkit activity that hides from standard disk-based forensic tools

**Do not use** for disk image analysis; use Autopsy, FTK, or Sleuth Kit for disk forensics.

## Prerequisites

- Volatility 3 installed (`pip install volatility3`) with symbol tables for target OS
- Memory dump file acquired from the target system (using WinPmem, LiME, or DumpIt)
- Knowledge of the source OS version for correct profile/symbol selection
- Sufficient disk space (memory dumps can be 4-64 GB)
- YARA rules for scanning memory for known malware signatures
- Strings utility for extracting readable strings from memory regions

## Workflow

### Step 1: Identify the Memory Dump Profile

Determine the operating system and version from the memory dump:

```bash
# Volatility 3: Automatic OS detection
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.info

# List available plugins
vol3 -f memory.dmp --help

# If symbols are needed, download from:
# https://downloads.volatilityfoundation.org/volatility3/symbols/

# For Volatility 2 (legacy):
vol2 -f memory.dmp imageinfo
vol2 -f memory.dmp kdbgscan
```

### Step 2: Enumerate Running Processes

List all processes and identify suspicious entries:

```bash
# List all processes
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.pslist

# Process tree (parent-child relationships)
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.pstree

# Scan for hidden/unlinked processes (rootkit detection)
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.psscan

# Compare pslist vs psscan to find hidden processes
# Processes in psscan but not pslist are potentially hidden by rootkits

# Check for process hollowing
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.pslist --dump
# Then verify the dumped EXE matches the expected binary on disk
```

```
Suspicious Process Indicators:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
- svchost.exe not spawned by services.exe (wrong parent)
- csrss.exe/lsass.exe with unusual parent process
- Multiple instances of lsass.exe (should be only one)
- Processes with misspelled names (scvhost.exe, lssas.exe)
- cmd.exe or powershell.exe spawned by WINWORD.EXE or browser
- Processes running from unusual paths (%TEMP%, %APPDATA%)
- Processes with no parent (orphaned - parent terminated)
```

### Step 3: Detect Malicious Code Injection

Scan for injected code and process hollowing:

```bash
# Detect injected code in processes (malfind)
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.malfind

# Malfind looks for:
# - Memory regions with PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE protection
# - Memory regions containing PE headers (MZ/PE signature)
# - VAD (Virtual Address Descriptor) anomalies

# Dump injected memory regions for analysis
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.malfind --dump --pid 2184

# List loaded DLLs per process
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.dlllist --pid 2184

# Detect hollowed processes by comparing mapped image to disk
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.hollowfind

# Scan for loaded drivers (potential rootkit drivers)
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.driverscan

# List kernel modules
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.modules
```

### Step 4: Analyze Network Connections

Extract active and closed network connections:

```bash
# List all network connections (active and listening)
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.netscan

# Output columns: Offset, Protocol, LocalAddr, LocalPort, ForeignAddr, ForeignPort, State, PID, Owner

# Filter for established connections to external IPs
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.netscan | grep ESTABLISHED

# For older Windows (XP/2003):

From mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills, Apache-2.0.

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