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Guide · Agent skill

How to use the Memory Dump Analysis with Volatility agent skill

Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data

This guide explains the analyzing-memory-dumps-with-volatility agent skill, which gives an AI agent a structured workflow for forensic analysis of a RAM (memory) dump using the open-source Volatility 3 framework. It is written for readers who have not used agent skills before. By the end you will know what the skill does, how to install it, how to trigger it with plain requests, and what you need in place before it is useful.

Memory Dump Analysis with Volatilitymukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills · Apache-2.0

Quick start

  1. 1Install Volatility 3. Install Volatility 3 with pip install volatility3 and confirm that the vol3 command runs from your terminal.
  2. 2Add symbol tables. Obtain Volatility symbol tables for the operating system of the captured machine so plugins can parse it.
  3. 3Install the skill. Unzip the downloaded skill into ~/.claude/skills/ or a project's .claude/skills/ folder, or upload it under Settings, Capabilities, Skills.
  4. 4Confirm your dump file. Make sure you have a memory dump captured with a tool such as WinPmem, LiME or DumpIt, and know the OS it came from.
  5. 5Ask for an analysis. Give the agent the dump path and your goal in plain language, for example asking it to look for injected code.
  6. 6Review each finding. Ask the agent to explain why each process, connection or memory region is suspicious before you act on it.

What the skill makes the agent do

The skill is a guide for an analyst or an agent, not a standalone product. Once installed, it teaches the agent a step-by-step method for examining a memory dump taken from a compromised system. The source describes the domain as malware analysis and covers Windows, Linux and macOS memory forensics.

The workflow covers identifying the operating system, listing and comparing processes to spot hidden or suspicious ones, detecting injected code and hollowed processes, reviewing network connections, extracting artifacts and credentials, scanning with YARA rules, and building a timeline for a report.

  • Identify the OS and version of the dump
  • Enumerate processes and compare process lists to find hidden ones
  • Detect injected code, hollowed processes, loaded DLLs and drivers
  • Review network connections and tie them to processes
  • Extract artifacts such as command lines, registry run keys and credentials
  • Scan memory with YARA rules and build a timeline

Install the skill in Claude

There are two ways to add the skill. You can download the ZIP file from this page and unzip it into your personal skills folder at ~/.claude/skills/. For a single project, unzip it into the .claude/skills/ folder inside that project instead.

If you use the Claude apps, you can instead upload the skill under Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills. Either way, the skill only does something once it is present where Claude can find it.

  • Personal install: unzip the downloaded skill into ~/.claude/skills/
  • Project install: unzip it into .claude/skills/ inside your project folder
  • Claude apps: Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills, then upload

Set up what the skill needs before you start

The skill assumes Volatility and a memory dump already exist. It does not acquire memory or install the framework for you. Check these requirements first.

Volatility 3 must be installed with the vol3 command available on your PATH. The source gives pip install volatility3 as the installation route. You also need symbol tables for the target operating system, and a memory dump captured with a tool such as WinPmem, LiME or DumpIt. Python 3 is required. A YARA rules file is optional and is only needed for YARA scanning. Memory dumps can be 4 to 64 GB, so check your disk space.

  • Python 3
  • Volatility 3 with the vol3 command on PATH (installed with pip install volatility3)
  • Volatility symbol tables for the target OS
  • A memory dump acquired with WinPmem, LiME or DumpIt
  • Optional: a YARA rules file
  • Enough free disk space for large dumps
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.info

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need to type a special command. The skill activates when your request involves memory forensics, RAM analysis, volatile data examination, process injection detection or memory-resident malware investigation. Describe the task and point the agent at your dump file.

Name the dump and the goal. A request that gives the operating system, if you know it, lets the agent choose the right plugins sooner.

  • Analyze memory.dmp from this Windows host and tell me which processes look injected.
  • This RAM capture is from a compromised Linux server. Find suspicious network connections.
  • Check the memory dump for fileless malware and summarize what you find.
  • Build a timeline from this memory image for my incident report.
  • Scan this dump with my YARA rules file for known malware strings.

Example of a typical analysis

A common first pass is to confirm the OS, list processes, and run the injection checks. The skill's workflow starts with OS identification using windows.info, then process listing with windows.pslist and windows.pstree. It compares those with windows.psscan, since a process that appears in the scan but not in the list may be hidden by a rootkit.

Next the agent runs malfind to look for memory regions with executable permissions and PE headers, and netscan to review connections. Each step produces output the agent should explain, not just list.

  • Check parent-child relationships, for example svchost.exe not started by services.exe
  • Look for misspelled names such as scvhost.exe
  • Flag cmd.exe or powershell.exe started by WINWORD.EXE or a browser
  • Flag processes running from %TEMP% or %APPDATA%
vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.pslist vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.psscan vol3 -f memory.dmp windows.malfind

What people use it for

  • Incident responders checking a compromised Windows, Linux or macOS machine for malicious processes
  • Malware analysts hunting fileless or memory-resident threats that leave no files on disk
  • Investigators reviewing command-line history, environment variables or network connections from a capture
  • Students learning memory forensics methodology step by step
  • Analysts building a timeline and process or network exports for a written report

Frequently asked questions

Is the Volatility agent skill free to use?

The skill is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, as stated on this page. Volatility 3 is an open-source framework, and the skill assumes you install it yourself. Check the licence files for the exact terms before reuse.

What do I need before the skill works?

You need Python 3, Volatility 3 with the vol3 command on your PATH, symbol tables for the target OS, and a memory dump acquired with a tool such as WinPmem, LiME or DumpIt. A YARA rules file is optional. The skill does not provide these for you.

How do I install the Volatility agent skill?

Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. In the Claude apps you can upload it under Settings, Capabilities, Skills instead.

Can the skill analyse a disk image?

No. The skill is for RAM memory dumps. The source says disk image investigations are better handled by tools such as Autopsy, FTK or Sleuth Kit.

Does the skill run code or use the network?

The skill runs scripts, and it includes a scripts/agent.py file. It does not use the network, according to this page. Memory dumps can contain passwords, keys and personal data, so only analyse systems you are authorised to examine.

How is this different from just running Volatility yourself?

The skill adds a structured workflow and explanations on top of the Volatility 3 commands. It names the plugins to run at each stage and what to look for, but it still needs Volatility and your dump file in place.

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Our verdict

This skill suits incident responders, malware analysts and students who already have Volatility 3, symbol tables and a memory dump and want a repeatable method. It is not a turnkey tool and will not help if your setup is missing those pieces. For disk forensics, or if you lack authorisation to examine the captured machine, pick a different tool.

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