Data verified May 2026
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Writing YARA rules based on executable code within malware can be a tedious task. An analyst cannot simply copy and paste raw executable code into a YARA rule, because this code contains variable values, such as memory addresses and offsets. The analyst has to disassemble the code and wildcard all the pieces in the code that can change between samples. mkYARA aims to automate this part of writing rules by generating executable code signatures that wildcard all these little pieces of executable code that are not static. Installation is as easy as installing the pip package. pip install mkyara Usage: import codecs from capstone import CS_ARCH_X86, CS_MODE_32 from mkyara import YaraGenerator gen = YaraGenerator("normal", CS_ARCH_X86, CS_MODE_32) gen.add_chunk(b"\x90\x90\x90", offset=1000) gen.add_chunk(codecs.decode("6830800000E896FEFFFFC3", "hex"), offset=0x100) gen.add_chunk(b"\x90\x90\x90\xFF\xD7", is_data=True) rule = gen.generate_rule() rule_str = rule.get_rule_string() print(rule_str) Standalone Tool: mkYARA comes with a standalone tool that is cross platform, as in, it can create signatures for Windows binaries running under Linux. Usage: mkyara [-h] [-i {x86}
mkYARA FAQ
Common questions about mkYARA including features, pricing, alternatives, and user reviews.
mkYARA is Automate the process of writing YARA rules based on executable code within malware. It is a Security Operations solution designed to help security teams with YARA, Rule Generation.
mkYARA is a free Security Operations tool. This makes it accessible for organizations of all sizes, from startups to enterprises. Visit https://github.com/fox-it/mkYARA/ for download and installation instructions.
Popular alternatives to mkYARA include:
1.Managed Agentic Threat Hunting - Managed Agentic Threat Hunting Service (IOC sweeps and hypothesis based hunting) (Commercial)
2.base64_substring - A tool that generates YARA rules to search for specific terms within base64-encoded malware samples by enumerating all possible encoding variations. (Free)
3.AutoYara - AutoYara is a Java tool that automatically generates YARA rules from malware samples using biclustering algorithms to help analysts create detection rules for malware families. (Free)
4.Yara Rule Generator - A tool for quick and effective Yara rule creation to isolate malware families and malicious objects. (Free)
5.YARA-Signator - Automatic YARA rule generation for malware repositories. (Free)
Compare all mkYARA alternatives at https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/mkyara
mkYARA is for security teams and organizations that need YARA, Rule Generation. It's particularly suitable for small to medium-sized teams looking for cost-effective solutions. Other Security Operations tools can be found at https://cybersectools.com/categories/security-operations
Have more questions? Browse our categories or search for specific tools.
