Communitygithub.com

analyzing-malicious-pdf-with-peepdf

Perform static analysis of malicious PDF documents using peepdf, pdfid,

What is analyzing-malicious-pdf-with-peepdf?

analyzing-malicious-pdf-with-peepdf is a Claude Code agent skill that perform static analysis of malicious PDF documents using peepdf, pdfid,.

Works with~Claude Code~Codex CLI~Cursor
npx skills add https://github.com/mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills/tree/main/skills/analyzing-malicious-pdf-with-peepdf
View original→Browse all skills

Ask in your favorite AI

Open a new chat with this agent skill pre-loaded.

OpenAIChatGPTClaudeClaudeGeminiGeminiGrokGrokPerplexityPerplexityDeepSeekDeepSeek

Documentation

Analyzing Malicious PDF with peepdf

When to Use

  • When triaging suspicious PDF attachments from phishing emails
  • During malware analysis of PDF-based exploit documents
  • When extracting embedded JavaScript, shellcode, or executables from PDFs
  • For forensic examination of weaponized document artifacts
  • When building detection signatures for PDF-based threats

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.8+ with peepdf-3 installed (pip install peepdf-3)
  • pdfid.py and pdf-parser.py from Didier Stevens suite
  • Isolated analysis environment (VM or sandbox)
  • Optional: PyV8 for JavaScript emulation within peepdf
  • Optional: Pylibemu for shellcode analysis

Workflow

  1. Triage with pdfid: Scan PDF for suspicious keywords (/JS, /JavaScript, /OpenAction, /Launch, /EmbeddedFile).
  2. Interactive Analysis: Open PDF in peepdf interactive mode to explore object structure.
  3. Identify Suspicious Objects: Locate objects containing JavaScript, streams, or encoded data.
  4. Extract Content: Dump suspicious streams and decode filters (FlateDecode, ASCIIHexDecode).
  5. Deobfuscate JavaScript: Analyze extracted JS for shellcode, heap sprays, or exploit code.
  6. Check VirusTotal: Use peepdf vtcheck to cross-reference file hash with AV detections.
  7. Generate IOCs: Extract URLs, domains, hashes, and shellcode signatures.

Key Concepts

ConceptDescription
/OpenActionAutomatic action executed when PDF is opened
/JavaScript /JSEmbedded JavaScript code in PDF objects
/LaunchAction that launches external applications
/EmbeddedFileFile embedded within the PDF structure
FlateDecodezlib compression filter used to hide content
Object StreamsPDF objects stored in compressed streams

Tools & Systems

ToolPurpose
peepdf / peepdf-3Interactive PDF analysis with JS emulation
pdfid.pyQuick triage scanning for suspicious keywords
pdf-parser.pyDeep object-level PDF parsing
VirusTotalHash lookup and AV detection cross-reference
CyberChefDecode and transform extracted payloads

Output Format

Analysis Report: PDF-MAL-[DATE]-[SEQ]
File: [filename.pdf]
SHA-256: [hash]
Suspicious Keywords: [/JS, /OpenAction, etc.]
Objects with JavaScript: [Object IDs]
Extracted URLs: [List]
Shellcode Detected: [Yes/No]
Embedded Files: [Count and types]
VirusTotal Detections: [X/Y engines]
Risk Level: [Critical/High/Medium/Low]

Individual skills in this repo

This repo contains 20 individual skills — each has its own dedicated page.

abusing-dpapi-for-credential-access

Extract and decrypt Windows DPAPI-protected secrets (Credential Manager, browser logins/cookies, Wi-Fi credentials, KeePass keys) online or offline using SharpDPAPI, SharpChrome, Mimikatz, or Impacket

abusing-shadow-credentials-for-privesc

Take over Active Directory accounts by writing attacker-controlled public keys to msDS-KeyCredentialLink (Shadow Credentials) with pyWhisker, Whisker, or Certipy, then authenticate via PKINIT to recover the target

achieving-cmmc-level-2-compliance

>-

acquiring-disk-image-with-dd-and-dcfldd

Create forensically sound bit-for-bit disk images with dd or dcfldd on a Linux forensic workstation, preserving evidence integrity through hash verification (MD5/SHA) during acquisition. Use when imaging a suspect drive, USB device, or memory card for investigation, preserving volatile disk evidence during incident response, or producing a verified copy for legal or law-enforcement proceedings before any destructive analysis.

analyzing-active-directory-acl-abuse

Detect dangerous ACL misconfigurations in Active Directory using ldap3

analyzing-android-malware-with-apktool

Perform static analysis of Android APK malware using apktool for resource decompilation, jadx for Java source recovery, and androguard for manifest inspection, dangerous permission-combination detection, and identification of obfuscated code, dynamic code loading, and reflection-based API calls. Use to statically triage a suspicious APK without executing it or to build mobile malware detection rules.

analyzing-api-gateway-access-logs

Parses API Gateway access logs (AWS API Gateway, Kong, Nginx) to detect

analyzing-apt-group-with-mitre-navigator

Query ATT&CK data with attackcti, mitreattack-python, and stix2, then build MITRE ATT&CK Navigator layers and multi-layer heatmap overlays mapping one or more APT groups

analyzing-azure-activity-logs-for-threats

Queries Azure Monitor activity logs and sign-in logs via azure-monitor-query

analyzing-bootkit-and-rootkit-samples

Analyzes bootkit and advanced rootkit malware infecting the Master

analyzing-browser-forensics-with-hindsight

Parse Chromium-based browser databases with Hindsight to extract and correlate browsing history, downloads, cookies, cached content, autofill data, saved passwords, and extensions from Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi into a unified timeline (XLSX, JSON, or SQLite output). Use during incident response, insider-threat investigations, or criminal cases when you need to reconstruct a user

analyzing-campaign-attribution-evidence

Systematically evaluate cyber-campaign evidence to attribute an operation to a threat actor, using the Diamond Model and Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH) to weigh infrastructure overlaps, TTP consistency, malware code similarity, and timing/language artifacts into confidence-weighted attribution assessments. Use when an incident investigation needs a defensible attribution confidence level.

analyzing-certificate-transparency-for-phishing

Monitor Certificate Transparency logs using crt.sh and Certstream to

analyzing-cloud-storage-access-patterns

Detect abnormal access in AWS S3, GCS, and Azure Blob Storage by analyzing CloudTrail Data Events, GCS audit logs, and Azure Storage Analytics for after-hours bulk downloads, new-IP access, and API-call spikes (e.g. GetObject) via statistical baselines and time-series anomaly detection. Use when investigating suspected cloud data exfiltration or building related detection rules.

analyzing-cobalt-strike-beacon-configuration

Extract and analyze Cobalt Strike beacon configuration from PE files

analyzing-cobaltstrike-malleable-c2-profiles

Parse and analyze Cobalt Strike Malleable C2 profiles with dissect.cobaltstrike (profiles and beacon-payload configs) and pyMalleableC2 (AST parsing) to extract HTTP/DNS transforms, URIs, headers, sleep/jitter, and injection behavior, then generate network detection signatures. Use when reverse-engineering a captured malleable profile or building detections against Cobalt Strike Beacon traffic.

analyzing-command-and-control-communication

Analyzes malware C2 communication over HTTP, HTTPS, DNS, and custom

analyzing-cyber-kill-chain

Analyzes intrusion activity against the Lockheed Martin Cyber Kill Chain

analyzing-disk-image-with-autopsy

Perform comprehensive forensic analysis of raw (dd), E01, or AFF disk images with Autopsy and The Sleuth Kit, recovering deleted files, examining metadata and embedded artifacts, keyword searching, and building investigation timelines with visual reports. Use for structured analysis of a forensic disk image or when stakeholders need visual reports from evidence.

analyzing-dns-logs-for-exfiltration

Analyzes DNS query logs to detect data exfiltration via DNS tunneling,

Related Skills

steipete/video-frames

Extract frames or short clips from videos using ffmpeg.

community

steipete/summarize

Summarize or transcribe URLs, YouTube/videos, podcasts, articles, transcripts, PDFs, and local files.

community

writing-plans

Use when you have a spec or requirements for a multi-step task, before touching code

community

finishing-a-development-branch

Use when implementation is complete, all tests pass, and you need to decide how to integrate the work

community

subagent-driven-development

Use when executing implementation plans with independent tasks in the current session

community

executing-plans

Use when executing an implementation plan in the current session as the implementer yourself — your human partner chose inline execution, or no subagent tool is available

community