# dloss/python-pentest-tools: a curated Python tool index for pentesters > It is not a framework or a scanner. It is a single README that groups Python pentesting libraries and bindings by task, and the main judgement is about what that format does and does not give you. **dloss/python-pentest-tools** — Python tools for penetration testers - Repository: https://github.com/dloss/python-pentest-tools - Stars: 2,888 · Forks: 786 - Language: Unknown - License: MIT - Published: 2026-09-28 · Updated: 2026-09-28 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/dloss-python-pentest-tools ## What dloss/python-pentest-tools actually is The repository is an index, not a program. Its top level contains LICENSE and README.md, and nothing else. The README opens by recommending Python to people working in vulnerability research, reverse engineering or pentesting, and then lists libraries and programs by category: Network, Debugging and reverse engineering, Fuzzing, Web, and further sections that continue past the point where the file is truncated here. Most entries are Python projects; some are Python bindings for C libraries, which the README describes as making those libraries usable from Python programs. The audience is therefore an engineer who already knows they want to work in Python and needs to pick a component. If you want Scapy for packet crafting, pefile for parsing PE binaries, or Capstone for disassembly, this page is a menu. It is not a tutorial, it has no code samples of its own, and it does not tell you which of two similar entries is better. ## The exclusion policy, and why the list is shorter than you expect The most interesting design decision is what is missing. The README states that some of the more aggressive tools are left out, naming pentest frameworks, bluetooth smashers, web application vulnerability scanners and war-dialers, and cites an unclear legal situation in Germany even after a decision of the highest court. The author says the list is meant to help whitehats and that he prefers to err on the safe side. That is a real editorial position, and it has consequences for how you use the page. A reader looking for a full attack framework will not find one here. What remains skews toward primitives and bindings: packet construction, disassembly, emulation, fuzzing libraries, HTTP and XML handling. The list is closer to a component catalogue than to a toolset, and that is deliberate rather than an oversight. If your evaluation criteria include "does it cover exploitation frameworks", the README answers no before you start. ## How the entries are grouped, and what that tells you The categories map to phases of work rather than to products. Network holds Scapy, Impacket, dpkt, SMBMap, AutoRecon, Mitm6, Habu, Knock Subdomain Scan, SubBrute, the libpcap bindings (pypcap, Pcapy, Pcapy-NG, libpcap), libdnet, Mallory, Pytbull-NG, Spoodle and BloodHound.py. Debugging and reverse engineering holds Frida, Capstone, Unicorn Engine, Androguard, Paimei with PyDBG, IDAPython, PyEMU, pefile, pydasm, PyDbgEng, diStorm, python-ptrace, Keystone, PyBFD, CHIPSEC and Ghidatron. Fuzzing holds afl-python, Sulley, the Peach Fuzzing Platform, untidy, Powerfuzzer, Construct and Fusil. Web holds XSStrike, Requests, lxml, HTTPie, Twill and FunkLoad. The grouping is useful because it forces a choice at the right level. If you are building a subdomain enumeration step, seeing Knock Subdomain Scan and SubBrute next to each other tells you the category exists and that there is more than one implementation. The README does not compare them, so the grouping is a starting point for your own evaluation, not a verdict. ## Getting started with an entry: where to install from Nothing in this repository installs. There is no setup.py, no pyproject.toml, no requirements file, and no version pins. Installation means following the linked project's own instructions, and the version you get is whatever that project currently publishes. The README gives no commands of its own, so the only concrete instruction it offers is the link itself. Scapy is the first Network entry, described in the README as able to send, sniff, dissect and forge network packets, usable interactively or as a library. Its own documentation is where the install command and usage examples live, not this page. The same applies to every other entry: pefile for reading Portable Executable files, Capstone for disassembly, Requests for HTTP, and so on. Each is a separate dependency decision with its own install path, its own supported Python versions and its own licence. There is no wrapper in this repository that bundles these tools, and no configuration file to edit. If you want to evaluate one, go to the linked project, read its README, and follow its instructions. Treat the entry here as a pointer and nothing more. ## Limitations: no versions, no maintenance data, no comparisons The list carries no metadata beyond a name, a URL and a one-line description. It does not record licences per entry, even though licences vary across the list: the README notes diStorm is under the BSD licence and Darkmoon under GPL-3.0, which implies the others differ too and are not summarised. It does not record last-release dates, supported Python versions, or whether an entry is still maintained. Several links point at older hosting, including sourceforge.net and oss.coresecurity.com addresses, which is what you would expect from a list that has accumulated entries over years. There is also no ranking. Entries appear in the order the author added them, so position tells you nothing about quality or fitness. Two entries in the same category may overlap heavily; the README does not say which to prefer. And because the list is a README, there is no way to query it, filter it by language or licence, or receive updates other than by reading the file again. If your workflow needs a machine-readable dependency manifest, this is the wrong artefact and you will be transcribing by hand. ## Alternatives: a curated list versus a package index versus a framework The closest functional alternative is PyPI search or a general package index. The difference is editorial: PyPI returns everything matching a keyword with no judgement about whether a package is a pentesting tool, while this README has already made that call and grouped the result by task. The cost of the README's approach is staleness and no filtering; the cost of the index approach is that you must know the right keyword before you can search. A second alternative is a full pentesting distribution or framework that ships the tools preinstalled and wired together. That inverts the model completely. A framework gives you a runnable environment but decides which tools you get and how they are invoked. This repository gives you a reading list and leaves every integration decision to you. If your problem is "I need a working environment today", the framework wins. If your problem is "I am writing Python and need a library for this one step", the list is more useful because it does not force you into someone else's execution model. ## Maintenance, licence and upgrade cost The repository itself is MIT licensed, per the LICENSE file at the top level. That covers the README text and the selection, not the linked projects, each of which carries its own licence: the README explicitly identifies GPL-3.0 for Darkmoon and BSD for diStorm, and the rest must be checked at the source. Nothing here grants you rights to the listed tools, and nothing here is legal advice about using them. The last push to the repository was on 2026-07-22, and the repository is not archived. The upgrade cost is unusual for a software project: there is no version to bump and no API to break, because there is no code. The recurring cost is that every link can rot independently, and the only way to notice is to click through. Entries added recently, such as Ghidatron and BloodHound.py, sit alongside links to long-lived projects, so the list is a mix of ages rather than a snapshot of one moment. If you depend on it, depend on specific entries you have verified, not on the list as a whole. ## Conclusion Adopt this list if you are choosing a Python library for a specific task and want a starting point grouped by domain, or if you are new to Python pentesting and want to see what categories exist. Do not adopt it if you need a runnable toolkit, a pinned dependency set, or a maintained compatibility matrix: the repository contains only LICENSE and README.md, and every entry is an outbound link whose own maintenance is out of the author's hands. Before relying on any entry, open its repository and check its licence and last commit, because this list does not carry that information. ## FAQ ### Can Python be used in pentesting? Yes. The README recommends Python for vulnerability research, reverse engineering and pentesting, and its whole premise is that the language has a rich set of useful libraries and programs for that work. ### What are pentest tools? In this repository the term covers libraries and programs used across network work, debugging and reverse engineering, fuzzing and web tasks, such as Scapy for packet crafting, pefile for PE files and Requests for HTTP. ### What are the top 10 pentesting tools? This repository does not rank its entries, so it cannot answer that. It groups tools by category instead, and the README states that aggressive tools such as pentest frameworks, bluetooth smashers, web application vulnerability scanners and war-dialers are deliberately left out. ### Is pentesting illegal? The README does not address the legality of pentesting in general. It only notes that the author left out certain aggressive tools because the legal situation in Germany was unclear to him, and that the list is meant to help whitehats. ## Sources - [dloss/python-pentest-tools on GitHub](https://github.com/dloss/python-pentest-tools) - [Issues](https://github.com/dloss/python-pentest-tools/issues) - [License: MIT](https://github.com/dloss/python-pentest-tools/blob/master/LICENSE) - [README](https://github.com/dloss/python-pentest-tools/blob/master/README.md) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/dloss-python-pentest-tools