SecurityCipher
Home Blog About Us

Learn Paths, courses, and reference docs

  • 🚀 Start Here Beginner path through the site
  • 🗺️ Penetration Testing Roadmap Structured path to become a pentester
  • 🎓 Free Security Courses Current free Udemy coupon listings
  • 📄 Secure Code Explain Vulnerable vs secure code side by side
  • 🎯 Penetration Testing Tricks Field notes for real engagements
  • 📖 Vulnerability Explain How common vulns actually work

Checklists Interactive reviews and LLM risks

  • ✅ Security Checklists Hub All interactive security checklists
  • 📋 Writeup Checklists Steps derived from real writeups
  • 🧠 LLM AI Security Checklist Controls for LLM apps
  • 🤖 OWASP LLM Top 10 LLM Top 10 risks mapped out
  • 🧰 Burp Suite Guide Step-by-step Burp tutorials
  • 📘 Payload Field Manual Safe-first probes and signals

Practice Browser labs, games, and explorers

  • 🔬 Interactive Labs SQL injection, AI, architecture review
  • 🎮 Security Games Phishing, JWT, WAF, and more
  • 🚗 On-Call Drive Neon-city arcade security missions
  • • Shift Zero SOC desk: phish, OTP, malware, tickets
  • ❓ Application Security Quiz Web, secure coding, and cloud quizzes
  • 🗺️ OWASP Top 10 Explorer Clickable risk map with signals
  • 🔀 Interactive Attack Paths Recon-to-impact chains

Tools & Career Databases, jobs, and community

  • 🛠️ Security Tools Curated recon, SAST, and bounty tools
  • 🔎 CVE Lookup Multi-source CVE intelligence
  • 💰 Bug Bounty Programs Live public scopes to search
  • 💼 Cybersecurity Jobs Roles from company career pages
  • 🧑‍💻 Security Researchers Community profiles and submissions
  • 🎤 Security Conferences Upcoming and past events
Browse all Security resources hub Freelance Security →
My Resume
Freelance SecurityFreelance
New Security Researchers Join the directory - submit your profile for review Submit profile →
← Security Tools View on GitHub

Villain

Backdoor and reverse-shell handler that manages multiple sessions and links C2 siblings.

Villain

Python License

Purpose

Villain is a high-level Stage 0/1 C2 framework that can handle multiple reverse TCP and HoaxShell-based shells, enhance their functionality with additional features (commands, utilities), and share them among connected sibling servers (Villain instances running on different machines).

The framework's main features include:

  • Payload generation based on default, customizable and/or user defined payload templates (Windows & Linux),
  • A dynamically engaged pseudo-shell prompt that can quickly swift between shell sessions,
  • File uploads (via http),
  • Fileless execution of scripts against active sessions,
  • Auto-invoke ConPtyShell against a powershell r-shell session as a new process to gain a fully interactive Windows shell,
  • Multiplayer mode,
  • Session Defender (a feature that inspects user issued commands for mistakes / unintentional input that may cause a shell to hang).

Video Presentations

There’s no up-to-date presentation of Villain with its latest features, but these videos give a good overview of its functionality.
[2022-11-30] John Hammond showcased the tool in this incredible video -> youtube.com/watch?v=pTUggbSCqA0
[2023-03-30] Version 2.0.0 release demo, made by me -> youtube.com/watch?v=NqZEmBsLCvQ

❗ Disclaimer
This project is in active development. Expect breaking changes with releases.
Using this tool against hosts that you do not have explicit permission to test is illegal. You are responsible for any trouble you may cause by using this tool.

Preview

https://github.com/t3l3machus/Villain/assets/75489922/20bf0ad5-d06f-4658-bb43-1bb0359fe3f7

image

Installation

Villain has been explicitly developed and tested on kali linux. You can install it with apt:

apt install villain

❗New releases may take time to be incorporated into kali's repositories.

For the latest version or if you prefer to install it manually:

git clone https://github.com/t3l3machus/Villain
cd ./Villain
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

You must also install gnome-terminal (required for one of the framework's commands):

sudo apt update&&sudo apt install gnome-terminal

Usage

You should run as root:

villain [-h] [-p PORT] [-x HOAX_PORT] [-n NETCAT_PORT] [-f FILE_SMUGGLER_PORT] [-i] [-c CERTFILE] [-k KEYFILE] [-u] [-q] 

Check out the Usage Guide for more.

⚠️ Create your own obfuscated reverse shell templates and replace the default ones in your instance of Villain to better handle AV evasion. Here's how 📽️ -> youtube.com/watch?v=grSBdZdUya0

Contributions

Pull requests are generally welcome. Please, keep in mind: I am constantly working on new tools as well as maintaining several existing ones. I may be slow to respond. If you have an idea for a new feature that comes with a significant chunk of code, I suggest you first contact me to discuss if there's something similar already in the making, before making a PR.

Press Escape to close the search panel.

Donate

Buy me a Coffee

Penetration Testing Services

penetration Testing Services

Web Application Security Quiz

Web Application Security Quiz

Daily Bug Bounty Writeups - Twitter

Daily Bug Bounty Writeups

Download our Latest Android Application

Guide for Penetration Testing

Daily Bug Bounty Writeups - Telegram

Daily Bug Bounty Writeups

Author

Piyush
Senior Product Security Engineer

Ethical Hacker || Penetration Tester || Gamer || Blogger || Product Security Engineer || AI Security

READ ARTICLE

Donate

Buy me a Coffee

Recent Posts

  • AI-Generated Code Security Bugs: A Vibe Coding Case Study
    AI-Generated Code Security Bugs: A Vibe Coding Case Study
    October 7, 2026/
    0 Comments
  • Cloud Misconfig Bounty Hunting in 2026: Open Buckets, Firebase, and Secrets
    Cloud Misconfig Bounty Hunting in 2026: Open Buckets, Firebase, and Secrets
    September 8, 2026/
    0 Comments
  • DevSecOps From Laptop to Production: A Practical Security Pipeline Guide
    DevSecOps From Laptop to Production: A Practical Security Pipeline Guide
    August 27, 2026/
    0 Comments

Follow Us

SecurityCipher

Practical security guides, vulnerability deep-dives, and hands-on resources for bug bounty hunters and penetration testers.

Useful Links

  • Security Checklists
  • Cybersecurity Jobs
  • Blogs
  • About
  • Contact
© 2026 Security Cipher. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy · Terms & Conditions