stringsext – search for Unicode strings in binary data

stringsext is a command-line utility that searches binary data for readable strings in multiple character encodings. It extends the functionality of GNU strings by recognising Cyrillic, Arabic, CJKV and other Unicode scripts that conventional string extraction may miss, particularly in UTF-16 encoded data.

The utility is useful for examining executable files, disk images, memory dumps and other non-text data. It supports encodings including UTF-8, UTF-16LE, UTF-16BE, BIG5, EUC-JP and KOI8-R. Multiple encodings can be searched simultaneously using separate scanning threads.

Searching arbitrary binary data for UTF-16 strings can generate large numbers of false positives. stringsext addresses this with configurable Unicode block and character filters, allowing searches to focus on particular scripts or character sequences.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

• Extract readable Unicode strings from binary files and data streams.
• Recognise Cyrillic, Arabic, CJKV and other non-Latin scripts.
• Search multiple encodings simultaneously using parallel threads.
• Support UTF-8, UTF-16LE, UTF-16BE, BIG5, EUC-JP, KOI8-R and other encodings.
• List supported encodings and predefined filter names with –list-encodings.
• Specify the minimum string length using –chars-min, measured in Unicode code points.
• Apply configurable ASCII character filters.
• Restrict searches to particular Unicode blocks, including Cyrillic, Greek and Arabic.
• Use –same-unicode-block to reduce false positives in multibyte searches.
• Filter results by requiring a specified ASCII character, useful for finding paths and URLs.
• Configure separate minimum lengths and character filters for individual encodings.
• Display string offsets in hexadecimal, decimal or octal notation.
• Suppress output metadata when only extracted text is required.
• Control the maximum output line length.
• Process multiple input files as a continuous byte stream, detecting strings that span file boundaries.
• Read data from standard input or directly from block devices.
• Write extracted strings to a specified output file.
• Inspect interpreted command-line settings with –debug-options.
• Use ASCII mode as an alternative to GNU strings.
• Cross-platform support – runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Website: gitlab.com/getreu/stringsext
Support:
Developer: Jens Getreu
License: Apache License 2.0 or MIT License

stringsext is written in Rust. Learn Rust with our recommended free books and free tutorials

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