Volatility 3 Memory Forensics MCP server for AI agents

The Volatility MCP Server integrates the Volatility 3 memory forensics framework with Claude and other MCP-compatible LLMs, allowing you to perform memory forensics analysis using natural language instead of complex commands. This tool helps digital forensic investigators analyze memory dumps more efficiently by making memory forensics more accessible.

Requirements

Python 3.10 or higher
Volatility 3 Framework
Claude Desktop or other MCP-compatible client
MCP Python SDK (mcp package)

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/volatility-mcp-server.git

Install the required Python packages:
```
pip install mcp httpx
```
Configure the Volatility path:
- Open volatility_mcp_server.py and update the VOLATILITY_DIR variable to point to your Volatility 3 installation path.
Configure Claude Desktop:
- Open your Claude Desktop configuration file located at:
  - Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
  - macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
- Add the server configuration:
```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "volatility": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/volatility_mcp_server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PYTHONPATH": "/path/to/volatility3"
      }
    }
  }
}
```
- Replace /path/to/ with the actual path to your files.
Restart Claude Desktop to apply the changes.

Usage

After setup, you can ask Claude natural language questions about your memory dumps:

"List all processes in the memory dump at C:\path\to\dump.vmem"
"Show me the network connections in C:\path\to\dump.vmem"
"Run malfind to check for code injection in the memory dump"
"What DLLs are loaded in process ID 4328?"
"Check for hidden processes in C:\path\to\dump.vmem"

Available Tools

The server exposes the following Volatility plugins as MCP tools:

list_available_plugins - Shows all Volatility plugins you can use
get_image_info - Provides information about a memory dump file
run_pstree - Shows the process hierarchy
run_pslist - Lists processes from the process list
run_psscan - Scans for processes including ones that might be hidden
run_netscan - Shows network connections in the memory dump
run_malfind - Detects potential code injection
run_cmdline - Shows command line arguments for processes
run_dlllist - Lists loaded DLLs for processes
run_handles - Shows file handles and other system handles
run_filescan - Scans for file objects in memory
run_memmap - Shows the memory map for a specific process
run_custom_plugin - Run any Volatility plugin with custom arguments
list_memory_dumps - Find memory dumps in a directory

Memory Forensics Workflow

This MCP server enables a streamlined memory forensics workflow:

Initial Triage

"Show me the process tree in memory.vmem"
"List all network connections in memory.vmem"

Suspicious Process Investigation

"What command line was used to start process 1234?"
"Show me all the DLLs loaded by process 1234"
"What file handles are open in process 1234?"

Malware Hunting

"Run malfind on memory.vmem to check for code injection"
"Show me processes with unusual parent-child relationships"
"Find hidden processes in memory.vmem"

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

Path Problems

Make sure all paths are absolute and use double backslashes in Windows paths
Check that the memory dump file exists and is readable

Permission Issues

Run Claude Desktop as Administrator
Check that Python and the Volatility directory have proper permissions

Volatility Errors

Make sure Volatility 3 works correctly on its own
Try running the same command directly in your command line

MCP Errors

Check Claude Desktop logs for MCP errors
Make sure the MCP Python package is installed correctly

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "volatility" '{"command":"python","args":["/path/to/volatility_mcp_server.py"],"env":{"PYTHONPATH":"/path/to/volatility3"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "volatility": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/volatility_mcp_server.py"
            ],
            "env": {
                "PYTHONPATH": "/path/to/volatility3"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "volatility": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/volatility_mcp_server.py"
            ],
            "env": {
                "PYTHONPATH": "/path/to/volatility3"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect