BST (Binary String Toolkit) - Quickly And Easily Convert Binary Strings For All Your Exploit Development Needs

• Dump files content to standard output in a binary string format.
• Convert a plain hexadecimal input to an escaped binary string.
• Output a sequence of bad characters for testing proof of concept code.
• Limit the width of binary strings for better readability in source codes.
• Format output in your favorite programming language's syntax.
• Perform binary variable block indentation.

Dependencies

• POSIX C Library
• C Compiler
  • GCC
  • LLVM Clang
• GNU Make
• Git

Building
To build and install the 'bstrings' binary, simply do:

$ git clone https://github.com/e3prom/bst
$ cd bst
$ make
# by default, bstrings is installed in /usr/local/bin.
$ make install

Usage
The below example show how an assembled shellcode can be quickly dumped (-D) to standard output in a hexadecimal escaped (-x) binary string of 16 hexadecimal digits width (or 8 bytes), with Python syntax formatting and an indentation of 4 space characters:

$ bstrings --verbose -x -D lnx-execve-setreuid-x86_64 -w8 -i 4 --syntax=python
[*] Convert hexadecimal input to an escaped binary string.
[+] Binary string width is limited to 8 bytes.
[+] Output binary string using python language syntax.
[+] Indentation level set to 4 space character(s).
    shellcode =  ""
    shellcode += "\x31\xc0\x48\x89\xc7\x48\x89\xc6"
    shellcode += "\x48\x89\xc2\xb0\x71\x0f\x05\x31"
    shellcode += "\xc0\x50\x48\xbb\x2f\x62\x69\x6e"
    shellcode += "\x2f\x2f\x73\x68\x53\x48\x89\xe7"
    shellcode += "\x50\x48\x89\xe6\x57\x48\x89\xe2"
    shellcode += "\xb0\x3b\x0f\x05"

You can also use bstrings to output an automatically indented bad character sequence, and thus in your favorite programming language:

$ bstrings --verbose -b -w12 -i 4 --syntax=c -n badchar
[*] Generating bad character binary string.
[+] Binary string width is limited to 12 bytes.
    unsigned char badchar[] =
        "\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x06\x07\x08\x09\x0a\x0b\x0c"
        "\x0d\x0e\x0f\x10\x11\x12\x13\x14\x15\x16\x17\x18"
        "\x19\x1a\x1b\x1c\x1d\x1e\x1f\x20\x21\x22\x23\x24"
        "\x25\x26\x27\x28\x29\x2a\x2b\x2c\x2d\x2e\x2f\x30"
        "\x31\x32\x33\x34\x35\x36\x37\x38\x39\x3a\x3b\x3c"
        "\x3d\x3e\x3f\x40\x41\x42\x43\x44\x45\x46\x47\x48"
        "\x49\x4a\x4b\x4c\x4d\x4e\x4f\x50\x51\x52\x53\x54"
        "\x55\x56\x57\x58\x59\x5a\x5b\x5c\x5d\x5e\x5f\x60"
        "\x61\x62\x63\x64\x65\x66\x67\x68\x69\x6a\x6b\x6c"
        "\x6d\x6e\x6f\x70\x71\x72\x73\x74\x75\x76\x77\x78"
        "\x79\x7a\x7b\x7c\x7d\x7e\x7f\x80\x81\x82\x83\x84"
        "\x85\x86\x87\x88\x89\x8a\x8b\x8c\x8d\x8e\x8f\x90"
        "\x91\x92\x93\x94\x95\x96\x97\x98\x99\x9a\x9b\x9c"
        "\x9d\x9e\x9f\xa0\xa1\xa2\xa3\xa4\xa5\xa6\xa7\xa8"
        "\xa9\xaa\xab\xac\xad\xae\xaf\xb0\xb1\xb2\xb3\xb4"
        "\xb5\xb6\xb7\xb8\xb9\xba\xbb\xbc\xbd\xbe\xbf\xc0"
        "\xc1\xc2\xc3\xc4\xc5\xc6\xc7\xc8\xc9\xca\xcb\xcc"
        "\xcd\xce\xcf\xd0\xd1\xd2\xd3\xd4\xd5\xd6\xd7\xd8"
        "\xd9\xda\xdb\xdc\xdd\xde\xdf\xe0\xe1\xe2\xe3\xe4"
        "\xe5\xe6\xe7\xe8\xe9\xea\xeb\xec\xed\xee\xef\xf0"
        "\xf1\xf2\xf3\xf4\xf5\xf6\xf7\xf8\xf9\xfa\xfb\xfc"
        "\xfd\xfe\xff"

For a list of supported command-line options, simply execute bstrings with the '--help' switch:

$ bstrings --help
Usage: ./bstrings [OPTION]...
 Convert input to specified binary string format.

 At least one of the below options must be given:
    -D, --dump-file=FILE    Dump content of file FILE in hexadecimal format
    -x, --hex-escape        Escape input hexadecimal string
    -b, --gen-badchar       Generate a bad character sequence string

 The below switches are optional:
    -f, --file=FILE         Read input from file FILE instead of stdin
    -w, --width=BYTES       Break binary strings to specified length in bytes
    -s, --syntax=LANG       Output variable using language syntax of LANG
    -i, --indent=LENGTH     Perform indentation for given character length
    -n, --var-name=VAR      Specify binary string variable name (verbose)
    -h, --help              Display this help
       --interactive        Enter interactive mode
       --verbose            Enable verbose output
       --version            Print version information

 The below languages are supported (case-sensitive):
    C                       C Programming language
    python                  Python Programming language