Volatility3 MCP server

The Volatility3 MCP Server enables you to harness the power of memory forensics through conversational AI interfaces. It connects AI assistants like Claude Desktop with Volatility3, allowing even non-experts to analyze memory dumps, detect malware, and perform sophisticated memory forensics through natural language commands.

Installation

Prerequisites

To set up the Volatility3 MCP Server, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository:

git clone [repository-url]

2. Create a virtual environment:

python -m venv environ
source environ/bin/activate  # On Windows: environ\Scripts\activate

3. Install the required dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Configuration

You can use the Volatility3 MCP Server in two different ways:

Option 1: With Claude Desktop

1. Configure Claude Desktop:
   • Navigate to Claude → Settings → Developer → Edit Config → claude_desktop_config.json
   • Add the following configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "volatility3": {
            "command": "absolute/path/to/virtual/environment/bin/python3",
            "args": [
                "absolute/path/to/bridge_mcp_volatility.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

2. Restart Claude Desktop to apply the changes.
3. You can now start analyzing memory dumps through natural language commands.

Option 2: With Cursor (SSE Server)

1. Start the SSE server:

python3 start_sse_server.py

2. Configure Cursor to use the SSE server:

   • Open Cursor settings
   • Navigate to Features → MCP Servers
   • Add a new MCP server with the URL http://127.0.0.1:8080/sse

3. Use the Cursor Composer in agent mode to begin analyzing memory dumps.

Available Tools

The Volatility3 MCP Server provides several powerful tools for memory forensics:

Core Functions

• initialize_memory_file: Set up a memory dump file for analysis
• detect_os: Identify the operating system of the memory dump
• list_plugins: Display all available Volatility3 plugins
• get_plugin_info: Get detailed information about a specific plugin
• run_plugin: Execute any Volatility3 plugin with custom arguments

Specialized Analysis

• get_processes: List all running processes in the memory dump
• get_network_connections: View all network connections from the system
• list_process_open_handles: Examine files and resources accessed by a process
• scan_with_yara: Scan memory for malicious patterns using YARA rules

Usage Examples

Basic Memory Analysis Workflow

1. Initialize a memory file:

I'd like to analyze a memory dump file located at /path/to/memory.dmp

2. Detect the operating system:

What operating system is this memory dump from?

3. List running processes:

Show me all the running processes in this memory dump

4. Examine network connections:

Can you show me all network connections in this memory dump?

Advanced Analysis

To scan the memory with YARA rules for potential malware:

Scan this memory dump using YARA rules to identify any potential malware

To examine a specific process in detail:

I see a suspicious process with PID 1234. Can you show me what files and resources it was accessing?

To run a specific Volatility plugin with custom arguments:

Run the 'handles' plugin on process ID 1234 with verbose output

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 "volatility3" '{"command":"python3","args":["bridge_mcp_volatility.py"]}'

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": {
        "volatility3": {
            "command": "python3",
            "args": [
                "bridge_mcp_volatility.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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": {
        "volatility3": {
            "command": "python3",
            "args": [
                "bridge_mcp_volatility.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect