AeonDave zsteg
Bit-plane spelunking for images that are too quiet on the surface.
When to use zsteg
Use zsteg when you need to:
- scan PNG/BMP files for common LSB and channel-hiding tricks
- enumerate embedded payload candidates quickly
- extract a promising payload for deeper analysis
Quick Start
# Automatic scan
zsteg -a image.png
# Default inspection
zsteg image.png
High-Value Workflows
Extract a specific candidate
zsteg -E "b1,r,lsb,xy" image.png > payload.bin
Broad PNG/BMP triage
- Run
zsteg -a. - Review human-readable hits first.
- Extract promising payloads with
-E. - Feed extracted bytes into
file,strings,foremost, or archive tools.
Practical Notes
- zsteg shines on PNG/BMP artifacts; JPEG-focused suspects usually belong to other workflows.
- Not every hit is meaningful; short text fragments and compressed junk both show up.
- Pair with
steghide,stegseek, and normal image triage rather than betting everything on one pass.
Caveats
- False positives are common on busy or large images.
- The interesting payload may need decompression or decoding after extraction.
- Channel/bit-order choice matters; extraction without context can mislead.
Resources
No bundled scripts/, references/, or assets/.
Use the upstream README for extractor spec syntax and advanced scan flags.