Performing Firmware Extraction With Binwalk

---
name: performing-firmware-extraction-with-binwalk
description: 'Performs firmware image extraction and analysis using binwalk to identify
  embedded filesystems, compressed archives, bootloaders, kernel images, and cryptographic
  material. Covers entropy analysis for detecting encrypted or compressed regions,
  recursive extraction of nested archives, SquashFS/CramFS/JFFS2 filesystem mounting,
  and string analysis for credential and configuration discovery. Activates for requests
  involving firmware reverse engineering, IoT device analysis, embedded system security
  assessment, or router/camera firmware extraction.

  '
domain: cybersecurity
subdomain: firmware-analysis
tags:
- firmware
- binwalk
- extraction
- entropy
- IoT-security
- reverse-engineering
version: 1.0.0
author: mukul975
license: Apache-2.0
nist_csf:
- ID.RA-01
- PR.PS-01
- DE.AE-02
mitre_attack:
- T1078
- T1190
- T1059
- T1003
- T1110
---

# Performing Firmware Extraction with Binwalk

## When to Use

- Analyzing IoT device firmware downloaded from vendor sites or extracted from flash chips
- Reverse engineering router, camera, or embedded device firmware for vulnerability research
- Identifying embedded filesystems (SquashFS, CramFS, JFFS2, UBIFS) within firmware blobs
- Detecting encrypted or compressed regions using entropy analysis
- Extracting hardcoded credentials, API keys, certificates, or configuration files from firmware
- Performing security assessments of embedded devices in authorized penetration tests

**Do not use** for analyzing standard desktop application binaries or malware samples that are not firmware images; use dedicated malware analysis tools instead.

## Prerequisites

- binwalk v3.x installed (`pip install binwalk3` or from system package manager)
- Python 3.8+ with standard libraries (struct, math, hashlib, subprocess)
- SquashFS tools (`unsquashfs`) for mounting extracted SquashFS filesystems
- Jefferson for JFFS2 filesystem extraction (`pip install jefferson`)
- Sasquatch for non-standard SquashFS variants used by vendors like TP-Link and D-Link
- `strings` utility (GNU binutils) for string extraction
- Optional: firmware-mod-kit for repacking modified firmware images

## Workflow

### Step 1: Initial Firmware Reconnaissance

Perform a signature scan to identify embedded file types and their offsets:

```bash
# Basic signature scan - identify all recognized file types
binwalk firmware.bin

# Scan with verbose output showing confidence levels
binwalk -v firmware.bin

# Scan for specific file types only
binwalk -y "squashfs" firmware.bin
binwalk -y "gzip\|lzma\|xz" firmware.bin

# Opcode scan to identify CPU architecture
binwalk -A firmware.bin

# Scan for raw strings to find version info, URLs, credentials
binwalk -R "password" firmware.bin
binwalk -R "http://" firmware.bin
```

### Step 2: Entropy Analysis

Analyze entropy to identify encrypted, compressed, and plaintext regions:

```bash
# Generate entropy plot
binwalk -E firmware.bin

# Entropy with specific block size for higher resolution
binwalk -E -K 256 firmware.bin

# Combined entropy and signature scan
binwalk -BE firmware.bin
```

Interpreting entropy values:
- **0.0 - 1.0**: Empty or padding regions (null bytes, 0xFF fill)
- **1.0 - 5.0**: Plaintext data, code, ASCII strings, configuration
- **5.0 - 7.0**: Compressed data (gzip, LZMA, zlib)
- **7.0 - 7.99**: Strongly compressed or encrypted data
- **~8.0**: Maximum entropy, likely encrypted or random data

### Step 3: Extract Embedded Files

Extract all identified components from the firmware image:

```bash
# Automatic extraction of known file types
binwalk -e firmware.bin

# Recursive extraction (matryoshka mode) for nested archives
binwalk -Me firmware.bin

# Recursive extraction with depth limit
binwalk -Me -d 5 firmware.bin

# Extract specific file type with custom handler
binwalk -D "squashfs filesystem:squashfs:unsquashfs %e" firmware.bin

# Manual extraction of data at a known offset
dd if=firmware.bin of=extracted.squashfs bs=1 skip=327680 count=4194304
```

### Step 4: Mount and Inspect Extracted Filesystems

Mount extracted filesystems for deep inspection:

```bash
# Mount SquashFS filesystem
mkdir /tmp/squashfs_root
unsquashfs -d /tmp/squashfs_root extracted.squashfs

# Mount CramFS filesystem
mkdir /tmp/cramfs_root
mount -t cramfs -o loop extracted.cramfs /tmp/cramfs_root

# Extract JFFS2 filesystem
jefferson extracted.jffs2 -d /tmp/jffs2_root

# Inspect the extracted filesystem
ls -la /tmp/squashfs_root/
find /tmp/squashfs_root -name "*.conf" -o -name "*.cfg" -o -name "*.key"
find /tmp/squashfs_root -name "passwd" -o -name "shadow"
```

### Step 5: String Analysis and Credential Discovery

Search extracted filesystem and raw firmware for sensitive data:

```bash
# Extract all printable strings
strings -a firmware.bin > all_strings.txt
strings -n 12 firmware.bin | sort -u > long_strings.txt

# Search for credentials and secrets
grep -rni "password\|passwd\|secret\|api_key\|token" /tmp/squashfs_root/etc/
grep -rni "BEGIN.*PRIVATE KEY" /tmp/squashfs_root/

# Find hardcoded URLs and endpoints
grep -rnoE "https?://[a-zA-Z0-9./?=_-]+" /tmp/squashfs_root/

# Search for certificate files
find /tmp/squashfs_root -name "*.pem" -o -name "*.crt" -o -name "*.key" -o -name "*.p12"

# Identify busybox and service versions
strings /tmp/squashfs_root/bin/busybox | grep "BusyBox v"
cat /tmp/squashfs_root/etc/banner 2>/dev/null
```

### Step 6: Generate Firmware Analysis Report

Compile comprehensive extraction and analysis findings:

```
Report should include:
- Firmware metadata (vendor, model, version, build date)
- Identified components with offsets and sizes (bootloader, kernel, filesystem, config)
- Entropy analysis summary with regions of interest
- Extracted filesystem structure and key contents
- Discovered credentials, keys, certificates
- Identified services, daemons, and their versions
- Known CVEs applicable to identified component versions
- Recommendations for hardening or vulnerability remediation
```

## Key Concepts

| Term | Definition |
|------|------------|
| **Firmware** | Software embedded in hardware devices providing low-level control; typically contains a bootloader, kernel, root filesystem, and configuration data |
| **Entropy Analysis** | Statistical measurement of randomness in binary data; high entropy indicates encryption or compression, low entropy indicates plaintext or structured data |
| **SquashFS** | Read-only compressed filesystem commonly used in embedded Linux devices; supports LZMA, gzip, LZO, and zstd compression |
| **Magic Bytes** | Known byte sequences at fixed offsets that identify file types; binwalk uses a database of magic signatures to detect embedded files |
| **Matryoshka Extraction** | Recursive extraction mode where binwalk re-scans extracted files for additional embedded content, handling deeply nested archives |
| **CramFS** | Compressed ROM filesystem designed for embedded systems with limited flash storage; supports only zlib compression |
| **JFFS2** | Journalling Flash File System version 2, designed for NOR and NAND flash memory in embedded devices |

## Tools & Systems

- **binwalk**: Primary firmware analysis tool for signature scanning, entropy analysis, and automated extraction of embedded files
- **unsquashfs**: SquashFS extraction utility for mounting read-only compressed filesystems found in router and IoT firmware
- **jefferson**: Python tool for extracting JFFS2 flash filesystem images commonly found in embedded devices
- **sasquatch**: Patched SquashFS utility supporting non-standard vendor-modified SquashFS variants
- **firmware-mod-kit**: Toolkit for extracting, modifying, and repacking firmware images for security testing

## Common Scenarios

### Scenario: Extracting and Auditing Router Firmware for Hardcoded Credentials

**Context**: A security researcher is performing an authorized assessment of a consumer router. The firmware update file was downloaded from the vendor's support page. The goal is to identify hardcoded credentials, insecure default configurations, and known vulnerable components.

**Approach**:
1. Run `binwalk -e firmware.bin` to perform initial extraction
2. Use `binwalk -E firmware.bin` to check entropy and identify encrypted regions
3. Locate the SquashFS root filesystem in the extracted output
4. Mount with `unsquashfs` and inspect `/etc/passwd`, `/etc/shadow`, and web server configs
5. Search for hardcoded credentials with `grep -rni "password" /tmp/root/etc/`
6. Identify service versions and cross-reference with CVE databases
7. Check for debug interfaces (telnet, UART, JTAG references) in startup scripts
8. Examine web application code for authentication bypass or command injection

**Pitfalls**:
- Some vendors use non-standard SquashFS with custom compression; use sasquatch instead of unsquashfs
- Encrypted firmware requires decryption keys often found in bootloader or previous unencrypted versions
- Firmware headers may need to be stripped before binwalk can identify the embedded filesystem
- Obfuscated strings may evade simple grep searches; use entropy analysis to locate data blobs

## Output Format

```
FIRMWARE EXTRACTION REPORT
====================================
Firmware:         TP-Link TL-WR841N v14
File:             wr841nv14_en_3_16_9_up.bin
Size:             3,932,160 bytes (3.75 MB)
SHA-256:          a1b2c3d4e5f6...

SIGNATURE SCAN RESULTS
Offset       Type                          Size
------       ----                          ----
0x00000000   U-Boot bootloader header      64 bytes
0x00020000   LZMA compressed data          1,048,576 bytes
0x00120000   SquashFS filesystem v4.0      2,752,512 bytes
0x003B0000   Configuration partition       131,072 bytes

ENTROPY ANALYSIS
Region 0x000000-0x020000: 4.21 (bootloader - plaintext code)
Region 0x020000-0x120000: 7.89 (kernel - LZMA compressed)
Region 0x120000-0x3B0000: 7.45 (filesystem - SquashFS compressed)
Region 0x3B0000-0x3C0000: 1.12 (config - mostly empty)

EXTRACTED FILESYSTEM
Root filesystem: SquashFS v4.0, LZMA compression
Total files: 847
Total dirs: 112
BusyBox version: 1.19.4

SECURITY FINDINGS
[CRITICAL] Hardcoded root password in /etc/shadow (hash: $1$...)
[HIGH]     Telnet daemon enabled by default in /etc/init.d/rcS
[HIGH]     Private RSA key at /etc/ssl/private/server.key
[MEDIUM]   BusyBox 1.19.4 (CVE-2021-42373, CVE-2021-42374)
[MEDIUM]   Dropbear SSH 2014.63 (CVE-2016-3116)
[LOW]      UPnP service enabled by default
```