awesome-hacking
A curated list of links to hacking tutorials, tools and learning resources.
- Stars
- 17.4k
- Forks
- 1.7k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- —
- Last update
- 2.4 years ago
- Type
- Curated list
No commits in over a year — check for forks or alternatives before adopting.
What it is
This is a long, hand-picked list of web links grouped by topic, such as system exploitation, reverse engineering, web security, networking, forensics, cryptography, and capture-the-flag (CTF) competitions. It points to tutorials, tools, Docker images for practice environments, and reference sites. It does not install or run software itself; you use it to find resources and then follow each linked project's own instructions.
- Browse the Reverse Engineering section to compare disassemblers and decompilers such as Ghidra, radare2 and JADX
- Pull a deliberately vulnerable app such as DVWA or OWASP Juice Shop from Docker to practice on
- Follow the linked tutorials on exploit writing or Linux binary exploitation
- Use the Wargame and CTF sections to find practice challenges
Great for
- Students looking for a starting map of security topics
- Security learners who want tutorials and practice targets in one place
- Developers who want to find reverse engineering or pentesting tools to evaluate
- People preparing for CTF competitions or wargames
Not ideal for
- Readers who need a single tool with step-by-step setup, since this is only an index of links
- Beginners with no computing background, who may need the basics first; the list assumes some technical knowledge
- Anyone expecting up-to-date recommendations, since the README shows no recent update history beyond the last push date
How to get it
- 1
See the README
Clone the list locally (optional)
git clone https://github.com/carpedm20/awesome-hacking - 2
Run it
- Open the README on GitHub and read the Table of Contents
- Pick a topic, such as Reverse Engineering or Web
- Open a linked tutorial or tool and follow its own install instructions
- Return to the list when you want another resource
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Start with the System > Tutorials section if you are new, since it lists beginner-friendly material such as Missing Semester and Roppers Computing Fundamentals
- Use the Docker section to run practice targets like DVWA, WebGoat and Juice Shop without installing them directly on your machine
- Check the link for a free security ebook collection mentioned at the top of the README
- Compare several tools in the same category before choosing one
Downloads
Strengths
- Broad coverage across many security subfields in one document
- Links are grouped by topic and subtopic, which makes browsing easier
- MIT licensed and widely starred, with a clear contribution path via pull requests
Trade-offs
- It is a list of external links, so quality and availability depend on each linked project, and some links point to archived or old pages
- Some entries are dated (for example, the README mentions tools like OllyDbg and JAD that are old or unmaintained)
- The README is truncated here, so the full contents could not be checked
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| awesome-hacking (this) | 17.4k | Curated list | beginner | 2.4 years ago | Students looking for a starting map of security topics |
| awesome-security | 15.1k | Curated list | beginner | 10 months ago | Security learners looking for well-known tools in a given area |
| PayloadsAllTheThings | 82.3k | Curated list | beginner | 7 days ago | Penetration testers who want a quick reference of payload variations for a known vulnerability class |
| h4cker | 30k | Curated list | beginner | 14 days ago | Students looking for a structured starting point in cybersecurity |
| hacker-roadmap | 15.7k | Curated list | beginner | 3.1 years ago | Beginners who want an overview of penetration testing concepts and vocabulary |
| juice-shop | 14.3k | App | beginner | 6 days ago | Security students learning web vulnerabilities hands-on |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.