NightMARE: A Python Library for Advanced Malware Analysis and Threat Intelligence Extraction

NightMARE is a Python library released by Elastic Security Labs, with version 0.16 described as a comprehensive toolkit to streamline malware analysis and reverse engineering workflows. According to Elastic Security Labs, the open‑source project consolidates multiple analysis capabilities into a single framework, reducing third‑party dependencies and enabling extraction of configuration data and intelligence indicators from widespread malware families.

The library is built on a Rizin‑powered backend, featuring the rz-pipe module for Python integration, and comprises three core modules: the analysis module for static binary analysis, the core module for utilities such as bitwise operations and configuration extraction, and the malware module with algorithms organised by family and version.

NightMARE also includes an emulation component using Unicorn to execute code snippets, and a WindowsEmulator class that focuses on targeted code blocks rather than full system emulation. To demonstrate its capabilities, the article notes that thirteen malware families are supported, including LUMMA Stealer, and that nine command-and-control URLs were recovered from a sample during a demonstration; the complete project is available on GitHub for researchers to build their own extractors.