Merlin is a Command & Control toolset written in golang that operates over an HTTP/2 connection. Communications are passed between the server and agent using JSON messages.
The Go programing language must be installed on the system hosting Merlin.
Download and install GO: https://golang.org/doc/install
Merlin can be run as a script or compiled and run as a standalone binary file.
Ensure your GOPATH environment variable is set
Windows set GOPATH=C:\Merlin
*nix export GOPATH=/opt/Merlin
3rd party libraries must be installed with:
go get golang.org/x/net/http2
go get github.com/fatih/color
go get github.com/satori/go.uuid
Run Merlin Server as a script: go run merlinserver.go
Compile Merlin into an executable: go build -o bin\merlinserver.exe merlinserver.go
-debug
Enable debug output
-i string
The IP address of the interface to bind to (default "0.0.0.0")
-p int
Merlin Server Port (default 443)
-v Enable verbose output
-x509cert string
The x509 certificate for the HTTPS listener (default "C:\\Merlin\\data\\x509\\server.crt")
-x509key string
The x509 certificate key for the HTTPS listener (default "C:\\Merlin\\data\\x509\\server.key")
exit Exit and close Merlin
help Show Merlin help menu
quit Exit and close Merlin
? Show Merlin help menu
agent_cmd <agent id> <command> A command to run on a remote agent
agent_control <agent id> <command> Configure/Control a remote agent (not the host)
[kill,]
agent_info <agent id> Display all information for an agent
agent_list List agents
By default, Merlin will load server.crt and server.key from the data/x509/ directory. You must generate your own certificate pair and place them in this directory.
github.com/fatih/color
github.com/satori/go.uuid
golang.org/x/net/http2
github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3
* requires gcc
* Use tdm64-gcc or mingw-w64 for Windows and add its /bin directory to your path
Execute this command to install all dependencies:
go get github.com/fatih/color github.com/satori/go.uuid golang.org/x/net/http2 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3
The agent portion of Merlin should be run as a compiled binary file on a target host.
Ensure your GOPATH environment variable is set
Windows set GOPATH=C:\Merlin
*nix export GOPATH=/opt/Merlin
Compile Merlin Agent into an executable: go build -o bin\merlinagent.exe merlin\agent\main.go
Run Merlin Agent as script go run merlin\agent\main.go
-debug
Enable debug output
-sleep duration
Time for agent to sleep (default 10s)
-url string
Full URL for agent to connect to (default "https://127.0.0.1:443")
-v Enable verbose output