Install this skill

npx skills add mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills

Framework mappings

MITRE ATT&CK

NIST CSF 2.0

Overview

Go (Golang) has become a popular language for malware authors due to its cross-compilation capabilities, static linking that produces self-contained binaries, and the complexity it introduces for reverse engineering. Go binaries contain the entire runtime, standard library, and all dependencies statically linked, resulting in large binaries (often 5-15MB) with thousands of functions. Ghidra struggles with Go-specific string formats (non-null-terminated), stripped function names, and goroutine concurrency patterns. Specialized tools like GoResolver (Volexity, 2025) use control-flow graph similarity to automatically deobfuscate and recover function names in stripped or obfuscated Go binaries.

When to Use

When investigating security incidents that require analyzing golang malware with ghidra
When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques

Prerequisites

Ghidra 11.0+ with JDK 17+
GoResolver plugin (for function name recovery)
Go Reverse Engineering Tool Kit (go-re.tk)
Python 3.9+ for helper scripts
Understanding of Go runtime internals (goroutines, channels, interfaces)
Familiarity with Go binary structure (pclntab, moduledata, itab)

Key Concepts

Go Binary Structure

Go binaries embed rich metadata in the pclntab (PC Line Table) structure, which maps program counters to function names, source files, and line numbers. Even stripped binaries retain this metadata. The moduledata structure contains pointers to type information, itabs (interface tables), and the pclntab itself. Go strings are stored as a pointer-length pair rather than null-terminated C strings.

Function Recovery in Stripped Binaries

Despite stripping symbol tables, Go binaries retain function names within the pclntab. However, obfuscation tools like garble rename functions to random strings. GoResolver addresses this by computing control-flow graph signatures of obfuscated functions and matching them against a database of known Go standard library and third-party package functions.

Crate/Dependency Extraction

Go's dependency management embeds module paths and version strings in the binary. Extracting these reveals the malware's third-party dependencies (HTTP libraries, encryption packages, C2 frameworks), which provides insight into capabilities without full reverse engineering.

Workflow

Step 1: Initial Binary Analysis

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Analyze Go binary metadata for malware analysis."""
import struct
import sys
import re
 
 
def find_go_build_info(data):
    """Extract Go build information from binary."""
    # Go buildinfo magic: \xff Go buildinf:
    magic = b'\xff Go buildinf:'
    offset = data.find(magic)
    if offset == -1:
        return None
 
    print(f"[+] Go build info at offset 0x{offset:x}")
 
    # Extract Go version string nearby
    go_version = re.search(rb'go\d+\.\d+(?:\.\d+)?', data[offset:offset+256])
    if go_version:
        print(f"  Go Version: {go_version.group().decode()}")
 
    return offset
 
 
def find_pclntab(data):
    """Locate the pclntab (PC Line Table) structure."""
    # pclntab magic bytes vary by Go version
    magics = {
        b'\xfb\xff\xff\xff\x00\x00': "Go 1.2-1.15",
        b'\xfa\xff\xff\xff\x00\x00': "Go 1.16-1.17",
        b'\xf1\xff\xff\xff\x00\x00': "Go 1.18-1.19",
        b'\xf0\xff\xff\xff\x00\x00': "Go 1.20+",
    }
 
    for magic, version in magics.items():
        offset = data.find(magic)
        if offset != -1:
            print(f"[+] pclntab found at 0x{offset:x} ({version})")
            return offset, version
 
    return None, None
 
 
def extract_function_names(data, pclntab_offset):
    """Extract function names from pclntab."""
    if pclntab_offset is None:
        return []
 
    functions = []
    # Function name strings follow specific patterns
    func_pattern = re.compile(
        rb'(?:main|runtime|fmt|net|os|crypto|encoding|io|sync|'
        rb'syscall|reflect|strings|bytes|path|time|math|sort|'
        rb'github\.com|golang\.org)[/\.][\w/.]+',
    )
 
    for match in func_pattern.finditer(data):
        name = match.group().decode('utf-8', errors='replace')
        if len(name) > 4 and len(name) < 200:
            functions.append(name)
 
    return sorted(set(functions))
 
 
def extract_go_strings(data):
    """Extract Go-style strings (pointer+length pairs)."""
    # Go strings are not null-terminated; extract readable sequences
    strings = []
    ascii_pattern = re.compile(rb'[\x20-\x7e]{10,}')
 
    for match in ascii_pattern.finditer(data):
        s = match.group().decode('ascii')
        # Filter for interesting malware strings
        interesting = [
            'http', 'https', 'tcp', 'udp', 'dns',
            'cmd', 'shell', 'exec', 'upload', 'download',
            'encrypt', 'decrypt', 'key', 'token', 'password',
            'c2', 'beacon', 'agent', 'implant', 'bot',
            'mutex', 'persist', 'registry', 'scheduled',
        ]
        if any(kw in s.lower() for kw in interesting):
            strings.append(s)
 
    return strings
 
 
def extract_dependencies(data):
    """Extract Go module dependencies from binary."""
    deps = []
    # Module paths follow pattern: github.com/user/repo
    dep_pattern = re.compile(
        rb'((?:github\.com|gitlab\.com|golang\.org|gopkg\.in|'
        rb'go\.etcd\.io|google\.golang\.org)/[^\x00\s]{5,80})'
    )
 
    for match in dep_pattern.finditer(data):
        dep = match.group().decode('utf-8', errors='replace')
        deps.append(dep)
 
    unique_deps = sorted(set(deps))
    return unique_deps
 
 
def analyze_go_binary(filepath):
    """Full analysis of Go malware binary."""
    with open(filepath, 'rb') as f:
        data = f.read()
 
    print(f"[+] Analyzing Go binary: {filepath}")
    print(f"  File size: {len(data):,} bytes")
    print("=" * 60)
 
    # Build info
    find_go_build_info(data)
 
    # pclntab
    pclntab_offset, go_version = find_pclntab(data)
 
    # Functions
    functions = extract_function_names(data, pclntab_offset)
    print(f"\n[+] Recovered {len(functions)} function names")
 
    # Categorize functions
    categories = {
        "network": [], "crypto": [], "os_exec": [],
        "file_io": [], "main": [], "third_party": [],
    }
    for f in functions:
        if 'net/' in f or 'http' in f.lower():
            categories["network"].append(f)
        elif 'crypto' in f:
            categories["crypto"].append(f)
        elif 'os/exec' in f or 'syscall' in f:
            categories["os_exec"].append(f)
        elif 'os.' in f or 'io/' in f:
            categories["file_io"].append(f)
        elif f.startswith('main.'):
            categories["main"].append(f)
        elif 'github.com' in f or 'golang.org' in f:
            categories["third_party"].append(f)
 
    for cat, funcs in categories.items():
        if funcs:
            print(f"\n  [{cat}] ({len(funcs)} functions):")
            for fn in funcs[:10]:
                print(f"    {fn}")
 
    # Dependencies
    deps = extract_dependencies(data)
    print(f"\n[+] Dependencies ({len(deps)}):")
    for dep in deps[:20]:
        print(f"    {dep}")
 
    # Suspicious strings
    sus_strings = extract_go_strings(data)
    print(f"\n[+] Suspicious strings ({len(sus_strings)}):")
    for s in sus_strings[:20]:
        print(f"    {s}")
 
 
if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(sys.argv) < 2:
        print(f"Usage: {sys.argv[0]} <go_binary>")
        sys.exit(1)
    analyze_go_binary(sys.argv[1])

Step 2: Ghidra Analysis Script

# Ghidra script (run within Ghidra's script manager)
# Save as AnalyzeGoBinary.py in Ghidra scripts directory
 
# @category MalwareAnalysis
# @description Analyze Go binary structure and recover metadata
 
def analyze_go_binary_ghidra():
    """Ghidra script for Go binary analysis."""
    from ghidra.program.model.mem import MemoryAccessException
 
    program = getCurrentProgram()
    memory = program.getMemory()
    listing = program.getListing()
 
    print("[+] Go Binary Analysis Script")
    print(f"  Program: {program.getName()}")
 
    # Find pclntab
    pclntab_magics = [
        bytes([0xf0, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff]),  # Go 1.20+
        bytes([0xf1, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff]),  # Go 1.18-1.19
        bytes([0xfa, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff]),  # Go 1.16-1.17
        bytes([0xfb, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff]),  # Go 1.2-1.15
    ]
 
    for magic in pclntab_magics:
        addr = memory.findBytes(
            program.getMinAddress(), magic, None, True, None
        )
        if addr:
            print(f"[+] pclntab found at {addr}")
            # Create label
            program.getSymbolTable().createLabel(
                addr, "go_pclntab", None,
                ghidra.program.model.symbol.SourceType.ANALYSIS
            )
            break
 
    # Fix Go string definitions
    # Go strings are ptr+len, not null terminated
    print("[+] Fixing Go string references...")
 
    # Search for function names containing package paths
    symbol_table = program.getSymbolTable()
    func_count = 0
    for symbol in symbol_table.getAllSymbols(True):
        name = symbol.getName()
        if ('.' in name and
            any(pkg in name for pkg in
                ['main.', 'runtime.', 'net.', 'crypto.', 'os.'])):
            func_count += 1
 
    print(f"[+] Found {func_count} Go function symbols")
 
 
# Execute
analyze_go_binary_ghidra()

Validation Criteria

Go version and build information extracted from binary
pclntab located and parsed for function name recovery
Third-party dependencies identified revealing malware capabilities
Main package functions enumerated for targeted analysis
Network, crypto, and OS exec functions categorized
Ghidra analysis correctly labels Go runtime structures

References

Source materials

References and resources

Everything below is rendered for inspection. Script files are read-only and never run.

References 3

api-reference.md2.5 KB

API Reference: Go Malware Analysis with Ghidra

Ghidra Go Analysis Setup

GoResolver Script (Volexity)

# Install GoResolver for stripped Go binary function recovery
git clone https://github.com/volexity/GoResolver
# Run against Ghidra project
analyzeHeadless /ghidra_projects MyProject -process go_malware.exe \
  -postScript GoResolver.java

Ghidra Built-in Go Support (10.3+)

File > Import > Select Go binary
Analysis > Auto Analyze (includes GolangAnalyzer)
Window > Function Tags > Filter "go."

Go Binary Characteristics

Build Info Magic

Offset in .go.buildinfo section: "\xff Go buildinf:"

gopclntab Magic Bytes

Go Version	Magic
1.2-1.15	`FB FF FF FF 00 00`
1.16-1.17	`FA FF FF FF 00 00`
1.18-1.19	`F0 FF FF FF 00 00`
1.20+	`F1 FF FF FF 00 00`

String Format

Go strings are length-prefixed (not null-terminated):

struct GoString {
    char *ptr;      // pointer to string data
    int64 length;   // string length
};

Go-Specific Ghidra Scripts

GoReSym (Mandiant)

GoReSym -t -d -p /path/to/binary
# -t: Recover type information
# -d: Dump function metadata
# -p: Print package listing

redress (Go Reverse Engineering)

redress -src binary.exe           # Reconstruct source tree
redress -pkg binary.exe           # List packages
redress -type binary.exe          # Type information
redress -string binary.exe        # Go string extraction
redress -interface binary.exe     # Interface types

Go Obfuscation Tools

Tool	Technique	Detection
garble	Function name hashing, literal obfuscation	Hash-like symbols, missing debug info
gobfuscate	Package/function renaming	Random 8-char names
go-strip	Symbol table removal	Missing gopclntab entries

Common Go Malware Families

Family	Type	Notable Packages
Sliver	C2 implant	protobuf, grpc, mtls
Merlin	C2 agent	http2, jose, websocket
Sunlogin/Cobalt	RAT	screenshot, clipboard, keylog
BianLian	Ransomware	crypto/aes, filepath.Walk
Royal	Ransomware	goroutine-based parallel encryption

Key Ghidra Analysis Steps

1. Search > For Strings > "go1." (version identification)
2. Search > For Bytes > FB FF FF FF (gopclntab)
3. Symbol Table > Filter "main." (entry points)
4. Navigation > Go To "runtime.main" (program start)
5. Decompiler > Check goroutine spawns (runtime.newproc)
6. Data Types > Apply GoString struct to string references

standards.md0.9 KB

Go Binary Analysis Standards

Go Binary Structure

Component	Description	Location
pclntab	PC-to-function mapping table	.gopclntab or .text
moduledata	Runtime metadata structure	.noptrdata
itab	Interface method tables	.rodata
buildinfo	Go version and module info	.go.buildinfo
typelinks	Type descriptor table	.rodata

pclntab Magic Bytes by Go Version

Magic	Go Version
0xFBFFFFFF	1.2 - 1.15
0xFAFFFFFF	1.16 - 1.17
0xF1FFFFFF	1.18 - 1.19
0xF0FFFFFF	1.20+

Common Go Malware Families

Sliver C2 implant
Geacon (Go Cobalt Strike beacon)
GoBruteforcer
Kaiji botnet
Chaos botnet (Go-based)

References

workflows.md1.6 KB

Go Malware Analysis Workflows

Workflow 1: Stripped Binary Recovery

[Stripped Go Binary] --> [Find pclntab] --> [Recover Function Names]
                                                    |
                                                    v
                                           [Apply GoResolver] --> [Deobfuscate Names]
                                                                        |
                                                                        v
                                                               [Categorize Functions]

Workflow 2: Full Ghidra Analysis

[Go Binary] --> [Import to Ghidra] --> [Run Go Analysis Scripts]
                                              |
                                              v
                                    [Fix String References]
                                              |
                                              v
                                    [Identify main Package]
                                              |
                                              v
                                    [Analyze C2/Network Logic]

Workflow 3: Dependency-Based Capability Assessment

[Go Binary] --> [Extract Module Info] --> [List Dependencies]
                                                |
                                                v
                                       [Map to Capabilities]
                                                |
                                                v
                                       [Prioritize Analysis]

Scripts 2

agent.py8.9 KB

Display-only source. This catalog never executes bundled scripts.

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Go malware analysis agent for Ghidra-assisted reverse engineering.

Analyzes Go binaries to extract function names, strings, build metadata,
package information, and detects common Go malware characteristics.
"""

import os
import sys
import json
import hashlib
import re
import math
from collections import Counter


def compute_hash(filepath):
    """Compute SHA-256 hash of file."""
    sha256 = hashlib.sha256()
    with open(filepath, "rb") as f:
        for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(65536), b""):
            sha256.update(chunk)
    return sha256.hexdigest()


def shannon_entropy(data):
    """Calculate Shannon entropy."""
    if not data:
        return 0.0
    freq = Counter(data)
    length = len(data)
    return -sum((c / length) * math.log2(c / length) for c in freq.values())


def detect_go_binary(filepath):
    """Detect if a binary is compiled with Go and extract version info."""
    with open(filepath, "rb") as f:
        data = f.read()

    indicators = {
        "is_go_binary": False,
        "go_version": None,
        "go_buildinfo": False,
        "gopclntab_found": False,
    }

    # Go build info magic
    buildinfo_magic = b"\xff Go buildinf:"
    offset = data.find(buildinfo_magic)
    if offset != -1:
        indicators["is_go_binary"] = True
        indicators["go_buildinfo"] = True

    # Go version string
    version_pattern = rb"go(\d+\.\d+(?:\.\d+)?)"
    matches = re.findall(version_pattern, data)
    if matches:
        indicators["is_go_binary"] = True
        versions = sorted(set(m.decode() for m in matches))
        indicators["go_version"] = versions[-1] if versions else None

    # gopclntab (Go PC line table) magic bytes
    gopclntab_magics = [
        b"\xfb\xff\xff\xff\x00\x00",  # Go 1.2-1.15
        b"\xfa\xff\xff\xff\x00\x00",  # Go 1.16-1.17
        b"\xf0\xff\xff\xff\x00\x00",  # Go 1.18+
        b"\xf1\xff\xff\xff\x00\x00",  # Go 1.20+
    ]
    for magic in gopclntab_magics:
        if magic in data:
            indicators["gopclntab_found"] = True
            indicators["is_go_binary"] = True
            break

    # Runtime strings
    go_strings = [b"runtime.main", b"runtime.goexit", b"runtime.gopanic",
                  b"runtime.newproc", b"GOROOT", b"GOPATH"]
    found_runtime = sum(1 for s in go_strings if s in data)
    if found_runtime >= 2:
        indicators["is_go_binary"] = True
    indicators["runtime_strings_found"] = found_runtime

    return indicators


def extract_go_strings(filepath, min_length=6):
    """Extract Go-style strings (length-prefixed, not null-terminated)."""
    with open(filepath, "rb") as f:
        data = f.read()

    # Standard ASCII string extraction
    ascii_pattern = re.compile(rb"[\x20-\x7e]{%d,}" % min_length)
    strings = [m.group().decode("ascii", errors="replace") for m in ascii_pattern.finditer(data)]
    return strings


def extract_go_packages(strings_list):
    """Identify Go packages from extracted strings."""
    packages = set()
    pkg_pattern = re.compile(r"^([a-zA-Z0-9_]+(?:/[a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+)+)\.")
    for s in strings_list:
        match = pkg_pattern.match(s)
        if match:
            packages.add(match.group(1))
    # Also look for known Go import paths
    for s in strings_list:
        if s.startswith("github.com/") or s.startswith("golang.org/"):
            parts = s.split("/")
            if len(parts) >= 3:
                packages.add("/".join(parts[:3]))
    return sorted(packages)


SUSPICIOUS_GO_PACKAGES = {
    "github.com/kbinani/screenshot": "Screen capture capability",
    "github.com/atotto/clipboard": "Clipboard access",
    "github.com/go-vgo/robotgo": "Desktop automation / keylogging",
    "github.com/miekg/dns": "Custom DNS resolution (C2/tunneling)",
    "golang.org/x/crypto/ssh": "SSH client (lateral movement)",
    "github.com/shirou/gopsutil": "System enumeration",
    "github.com/mitchellh/go-ps": "Process listing",
    "github.com/gobuffalo/packr": "Binary resource embedding",
    "github.com/Ne0nd0g/merlin": "Merlin C2 agent",
    "github.com/BishopFox/sliver": "Sliver C2 framework",
    "github.com/traefik/yaegi": "Go interpreter (dynamic execution)",
}


def detect_suspicious_packages(packages):
    """Flag suspicious Go packages commonly used in malware."""
    findings = []
    for pkg in packages:
        for sus_pkg, description in SUSPICIOUS_GO_PACKAGES.items():
            if sus_pkg in pkg:
                findings.append({"package": pkg, "concern": description})
    return findings


def analyze_sections(filepath):
    """Analyze PE/ELF sections for Go binary characteristics."""
    with open(filepath, "rb") as f:
        magic = f.read(4)
        f.seek(0)
        data = f.read()

    sections = []
    if magic[:2] == b"MZ":  # PE
        try:
            import pefile
            pe = pefile.PE(data=data)
            for section in pe.sections:
                name = section.Name.rstrip(b"\x00").decode("ascii", errors="replace")
                entropy = section.get_entropy()
                sections.append({
                    "name": name, "virtual_size": section.Misc_VirtualSize,
                    "raw_size": section.SizeOfRawData, "entropy": round(entropy, 3),
                })
            pe.close()
        except ImportError:
            sections.append({"note": "pefile not installed"})
    elif magic[:4] == b"\x7fELF":
        try:
            from elftools.elf.elffile import ELFFile
            from io import BytesIO
            elf = ELFFile(BytesIO(data))
            for section in elf.iter_sections():
                sec_data = section.data() if section.header.sh_size > 0 else b""
                entropy = shannon_entropy(sec_data) if sec_data else 0
                sections.append({
                    "name": section.name, "size": section.header.sh_size,
                    "entropy": round(entropy, 3), "type": section.header.sh_type,
                })
        except ImportError:
            sections.append({"note": "pyelftools not installed"})
    return sections


def detect_obfuscation(go_info, strings_list):
    """Detect Go binary obfuscation (garble, gobfuscate)."""
    indicators = {"obfuscated": False, "techniques": []}

    # Garble replaces function names with hashes
    hash_names = sum(1 for s in strings_list if re.match(r"^[a-f0-9]{16,}$", s))
    if hash_names > 20:
        indicators["obfuscated"] = True
        indicators["techniques"].append("Possible garble obfuscation (hash-like function names)")

    # Missing gopclntab suggests stripping
    if not go_info.get("gopclntab_found"):
        indicators["techniques"].append("gopclntab not found - may be stripped or modified")

    # Low runtime string count
    if go_info.get("runtime_strings_found", 0) < 2:
        indicators["obfuscated"] = True
        indicators["techniques"].append("Low Go runtime string count - possible obfuscation")

    return indicators


def generate_report(filepath):
    """Generate comprehensive Go malware analysis report."""
    report = {
        "file": filepath,
        "sha256": compute_hash(filepath),
        "size": os.path.getsize(filepath),
    }

    go_info = detect_go_binary(filepath)
    report["go_detection"] = go_info

    if not go_info["is_go_binary"]:
        report["conclusion"] = "Not identified as a Go binary"
        return report

    strings_list = extract_go_strings(filepath)
    report["total_strings"] = len(strings_list)

    packages = extract_go_packages(strings_list)
    report["packages"] = packages[:50]

    suspicious = detect_suspicious_packages(packages)
    report["suspicious_packages"] = suspicious

    sections = analyze_sections(filepath)
    report["sections"] = sections

    obfuscation = detect_obfuscation(go_info, strings_list)
    report["obfuscation"] = obfuscation

    return report


if __name__ == "__main__":
    print("=" * 60)
    print("Go Malware Analysis Agent (Ghidra-assisted)")
    print("Go binary detection, package extraction, obfuscation detection")
    print("=" * 60)

    target = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else None

    if not target or not os.path.exists(target):
        print("\n[DEMO] Usage: python agent.py <go_binary>")
        sys.exit(0)

    report = generate_report(target)
    go = report.get("go_detection", {})
    print(f"\n[*] File: {target}")
    print(f"[*] SHA-256: {report['sha256']}")
    print(f"[*] Go binary: {go.get('is_go_binary', False)}")
    print(f"[*] Go version: {go.get('go_version', 'unknown')}")
    print(f"[*] Strings: {report.get('total_strings', 0)}")

    print("\n--- Packages ---")
    for pkg in report.get("packages", [])[:15]:
        print(f"  {pkg}")

    print("\n--- Suspicious Packages ---")
    for s in report.get("suspicious_packages", []):
        print(f"  [!] {s['package']}: {s['concern']}")

    print("\n--- Obfuscation ---")
    obf = report.get("obfuscation", {})
    print(f"  Obfuscated: {obf.get('obfuscated', False)}")
    for t in obf.get("techniques", []):
        print(f"  {t}")

    print(f"\n{json.dumps(report, indent=2, default=str)}")

process.py4.6 KB

Display-only source. This catalog never executes bundled scripts.

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Go Malware Binary Analyzer

Extracts metadata, function names, dependencies, and suspicious
indicators from Go-compiled malware binaries.

Usage:
    python process.py --file malware.exe --output report.json
"""

import argparse
import json
import re
import struct
import sys
from pathlib import Path


PCLNTAB_MAGICS = {
    b'\xf0\xff\xff\xff': "Go 1.20+",
    b'\xf1\xff\xff\xff': "Go 1.18-1.19",
    b'\xfa\xff\xff\xff': "Go 1.16-1.17",
    b'\xfb\xff\xff\xff': "Go 1.2-1.15",
}


def find_pclntab(data):
    for magic, version in PCLNTAB_MAGICS.items():
        offset = data.find(magic)
        if offset != -1:
            return offset, version
    return None, None


def extract_go_version(data):
    match = re.search(rb'go(\d+\.\d+(?:\.\d+)?)', data)
    return match.group(1).decode() if match else "unknown"


def extract_functions(data):
    func_pattern = re.compile(
        rb'((?:main|runtime|fmt|net|os|crypto|encoding|io|sync|'
        rb'syscall|reflect|strings|bytes|path|time|math|sort|'
        rb'github\.com|golang\.org|gopkg\.in)[/\.][\w/.]+)'
    )
    functions = set()
    for match in func_pattern.finditer(data):
        name = match.group(1).decode('utf-8', errors='replace')
        if 4 < len(name) < 200:
            functions.add(name)
    return sorted(functions)


def extract_dependencies(data):
    dep_pattern = re.compile(
        rb'((?:github\.com|gitlab\.com|golang\.org|gopkg\.in|'
        rb'go\.etcd\.io|google\.golang\.org)/[\w./-]{5,80})'
    )
    deps = set()
    for match in dep_pattern.finditer(data):
        dep = match.group(1).decode('utf-8', errors='replace')
        # Clean up trailing artifacts
        dep = dep.rstrip('/.')
        deps.add(dep)
    return sorted(deps)


def extract_suspicious_strings(data):
    interesting_patterns = [
        rb'https?://[\w./:?&=-]+',
        rb'\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}(?::\d+)?',
        rb'(?:cmd|powershell|bash|sh)(?:\.exe)?',
        rb'(?:HKLM|HKCU)\\[^\x00]+',
        rb'/etc/(?:passwd|shadow|crontab)',
    ]

    results = {}
    for pattern in interesting_patterns:
        matches = re.findall(pattern, data)
        if matches:
            decoded = [m.decode('utf-8', errors='replace') for m in matches]
            results[pattern.decode('utf-8', errors='replace')] = list(set(decoded))

    return results


def categorize_functions(functions):
    categories = {
        "main_logic": [],
        "networking": [],
        "cryptography": [],
        "os_execution": [],
        "file_operations": [],
        "third_party": [],
        "runtime": [],
    }

    for func in functions:
        fl = func.lower()
        if func.startswith('main.'):
            categories["main_logic"].append(func)
        elif any(x in fl for x in ['net/', 'http', 'tcp', 'udp', 'dns']):
            categories["networking"].append(func)
        elif 'crypto' in fl:
            categories["cryptography"].append(func)
        elif any(x in fl for x in ['os/exec', 'syscall']):
            categories["os_execution"].append(func)
        elif any(x in fl for x in ['os.', 'io/', 'ioutil']):
            categories["file_operations"].append(func)
        elif any(x in fl for x in ['github.com', 'golang.org', 'gopkg.in']):
            categories["third_party"].append(func)
        elif func.startswith('runtime.'):
            categories["runtime"].append(func)

    return {k: v for k, v in categories.items() if v}


def analyze(filepath):
    with open(filepath, 'rb') as f:
        data = f.read()

    report = {
        "file": str(filepath),
        "size": len(data),
        "go_version": extract_go_version(data),
    }

    pclntab_offset, pclntab_version = find_pclntab(data)
    report["pclntab"] = {
        "offset": f"0x{pclntab_offset:x}" if pclntab_offset else None,
        "version": pclntab_version,
    }

    functions = extract_functions(data)
    report["total_functions"] = len(functions)
    report["function_categories"] = categorize_functions(functions)

    report["dependencies"] = extract_dependencies(data)
    report["suspicious_strings"] = extract_suspicious_strings(data)

    return report


def main():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Go Malware Analyzer")
    parser.add_argument("--file", required=True, help="Go binary to analyze")
    parser.add_argument("--output", help="Output JSON report")

    args = parser.parse_args()
    report = analyze(args.file)

    print(json.dumps(report, indent=2))

    if args.output:
        with open(args.output, 'w') as f:
            json.dump(report, f, indent=2)
        print(f"\n[+] Report saved to {args.output}")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Assets 1

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Keep exploring

MITRE ATT&CK

NIST CSF 2.0

Overview

When to Use

Prerequisites

Key Concepts

Go Binary Structure

Function Recovery in Stripped Binaries

Crate/Dependency Extraction

Workflow

Step 1: Initial Binary Analysis

Step 2: Ghidra Analysis Script

Validation Criteria

References

References and resources

References 3

API Reference: Go Malware Analysis with Ghidra

Ghidra Go Analysis Setup

GoResolver Script (Volexity)

Ghidra Built-in Go Support (10.3+)

Go Binary Characteristics

Build Info Magic

gopclntab Magic Bytes

String Format

Go-Specific Ghidra Scripts

GoReSym (Mandiant)

redress (Go Reverse Engineering)

Go Obfuscation Tools

Common Go Malware Families

Key Ghidra Analysis Steps

Go Binary Analysis Standards

Go Binary Structure

pclntab Magic Bytes by Go Version

Common Go Malware Families

References

Go Malware Analysis Workflows

Workflow 1: Stripped Binary Recovery

Workflow 2: Full Ghidra Analysis

Workflow 3: Dependency-Based Capability Assessment

Scripts 2

Assets 1

Related skills