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unpacking-protected-binaries

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Unpack and dump protected executables — UPX and commodity packers, custom crypters, commercial protectors like Themida and VMProtect, and .NET packers — by finding the original entry point, dumping from memory, and rebuilding the import table with Scylla, pe-sieve, or x64dbg. Use when a binary has high entropy, few imports, unnamed sections, or when analysis tools show almost no code.

secskills-core/skills/unpacking-protected-binaries/SKILL.md

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# Unpacking Protected Binaries

Static unpacking is a trap for anything beyond UPX. The reliable method is to
let the program unpack itself, then take the result out of memory. Almost every
protector, however sophisticated, must eventually produce executable code in a
readable page — that moment is what you are waiting for.

Run protected samples only in a contained environment; see `analyzing-malware`.

## When to Use

- `binwalk -E` shows uniformly high entropy across most of the file
- The import table has a handful of entries (`LoadLibrary`, `GetProcAddress`)
- Section names are absent, random, or `UPX0`/`.themida`/`.vmp0`
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