extracting-encryption-keys-from-binaries

extracting-encryption-keys-from-binaries is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack. It costs 76 tokens per session (707 once invoked), scanned A, original, Apache-2.0.

A static-analysis workflow for finding possible encryption keys inside a binary file without running it. It looks for key-sized high-entropy data, nearby cryptography clues, and readable passwords or key strings.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to investigate hardcoded AES keys, initialization vectors, passphrases, or key material used to decrypt configuration, command-and-control traffic, or test ransomware data.
Why use it?
It narrows a large binary down to likely key material and separates possible keys from random data by checking surrounding evidence. Candidate keys still need confirmation, such as trying them against known encrypted data.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Written for no agent in particular: nothing here depends on one.

Good fit Use it to investigate hardcoded AES keys, initialization vectors, passphrases, or key material used to decrypt configuration, command-and-control traffic, or test ransomware data.

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Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack/extracting-encryption-keys-from-binaries
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack --skill extracting-encryption-keys-from-binaries
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

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README.md
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<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack/extracting-encryption-keys-from-binaries"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack/extracting-encryption-keys-from-binaries.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 76 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 707 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00076 $0.00707
Opus 5 $0.00038 $0.00353
Sonnet 5 $0.00015 $0.00141
Haiku 4.5 $0.00008 $0.00071

Measured 10d ago against content hash 95e911cdabf1, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-09, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

extracting-encryption-keys-from-binaries scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 10d ago.

The scan reads SKILL.md. This mod also ships 1 executable file (scripts/analyst.py), listed below but not scanned — reading those needs a real analyzer, not pattern matching.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

skills/extracting-encryption-keys-from-binaries/SKILL.md · 91 lines

What it actually says

Extracting Encryption Keys From Binaries

When to Use

  • You have a sample with hardcoded crypto and want to surface candidate keys/IVs (16/24/32-byte high-entropy blocks) and passphrase strings.
  • You are recovering material to decrypt config, C2 traffic, or ransomware test vectors.

Do not use entropy alone as proof a region is a key — corroborate with proximity to crypto constants/APIs and by attempting decryption. This skill reads the binary statically and executes nothing.

Prerequisites

  • The binary (read inertly). Pairs well with the crypto-constant scanner.

Safety & Handling

  • Read bytes statically; handle recovered keys as sensitive and store securely.

Workflow

Step 1: Find high-entropy key-sized regions

python scripts/analyst.py keys sample.bin

Slides a window of 16/24/32 bytes and reports regions whose entropy exceeds a threshold (likely random key material), with offsets.

Step 2: Surface printable secrets

Extract printable strings that look like passphrases/hex keys (e.g., 32/64-hex, base64 of 16/32 bytes).

Step 3: Corroborate

Rank candidates by proximity to crypto constants/API references and confirm by decrypting a known ciphertext.

Step 4: Document

Record candidate keys, sizes, offsets, and the corroborating evidence.

Validation

  • Candidate regions are exactly key-sized (16/24/32 bytes) and high-entropy.
  • Hex/base64 key strings are length-consistent with a real key size.
  • A candidate is confirmed only by successful decryption, not entropy alone.

Pitfalls

  • Compressed/packed data producing many false high-entropy regions — unpack first.
  • Keys derived at runtime (KDF) not present statically.
  • Endianness/encoding of the key (raw vs hex vs base64) before use.

References

Files

What ships with it

3 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 10d ago First seen · 91 lines · 76 tokens per session scan A 95e911cdabf1

Subscribe to this mod's changes

extracting-encryption-keys-from-binaries is a skill published in the GitHub repository meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack (22 stars, last pushed 2mo ago), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 76 tokens to every session and 707 once invoked, about $0.0004 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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