Donut vs Saruman v0.1: 2026 Comparison

Donut

Red teamers and penetration testers who need to deliver .NET and PE payloads that evade memory-scanning EDR will find Donut essential; it generates position-independent shellcode that executes directly from memory without touching disk, eliminating the most common detection vector. With 4,492 GitHub stars and active community contributions, the tool has been battle-tested across real engagements and stays current with Windows API changes. Skip this if you're looking for post-exploitation frameworks with built-in C2 capability or if your scope is limited to external reconnaissance; Donut is narrowly focused on the injection problem and assumes you already have payload delivery sorted.

Saruman v0.1

Red teamers and penetration testers validating EDR evasion techniques will find Saruman v0.1 useful for its dual injection approach; the stealth variants let you test whether your target's memory inspection actually catches parasitic code, not just whether it blocks obvious syscalls. The 138 GitHub stars and proof-of-concept maturity suggest active use in adversary simulation workflows. Skip this if you need production-grade injection stability or vendor support; Saruman is a research tool for understanding injection mechanics, not a foundation for persistent access frameworks.