An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

News | March 5, 2019

Ghidra -- the Software Reverse Engineering Tool You’ve Been Waiting for -- is Here!

By Natalie Pittore and Liam Davitt, NSA/CSS Public Affairs Officers


Ghidra Logo with dragon
SLIDESHOW | 1 images | Ghidra Logo with dragon

The day has finally arrived! NSA is officially releasing Ghidra today at the 2019 RSA Conference and we are excited about folks using it to make the cybersecurity of our great nation BETTER.  

Why share such a valuable tool with the public instead of keeping it for classified work? We’re doing this because we firmly believe Ghidra is a great addition to a net defender’s toolbox. It will make the software reverse engineering process more efficient. It will help to level the playing field for cybersecurity professionals, especially those that are just starting out.  We expect the tool will enhance cybersecurity education from capture-the-flag competitions, to school curriculums and cybersecurity training. Releasing Ghidra also benefits NSA because we will be able to hire folks who know the tool. When they’re coming through our doors, they’ll be able to be impactful faster.

 

Ghidra is the product of years of research and development aimed at solving some of our agency’s most challenging mission problems. It was built to solve scaling and teaming problems and to provide a customizable and extensible software reverse engineering platform.

One of Ghidra’s most noteworthy features is a processor modeling language called Sleigh that specifies how machine language instructions are dissembled and transformed into the tool’s intermediate representation called P-code. Other significant functions are an undo/redo feature, multi-user collaboration repository, and scripting.

Did we mention that Ghidra is free? Simply go to NSA.gov/Ghidra to find out how to download your own copy and add it to your suite of cybersecurity tools. If you happen to be at the 2019 RSA Conference, stop by the booth #1753 in the South Hall for a demonstration.

 

 

For more NSA releases, check out CODE.NSA.GOV for open source, and NSA’s Technology Transfer Program for other technology.

 

For more information on NSA cybersecurity, check out NSA’s cybersecurity page.