Radare2 vs Cowpatty vs Skipfish: Which Command and Control Framework tool is Best in 2025?

Radare2 is an open-source, modular reverse engineering framework, pre-installed on Kali Linux at /usr/bin/r2, designed for analyzing binaries, disassembling code, and debugging software across multiple platforms. Initiated by Sergi Alvarez (pancake) in 2006, Radare2 offers a suite of command-line tools, a graphical interface (Cutter), and scripting APIs for tasks like malware analysis, firmware auditing, and exploit development. Supporting architectures such as x86, ARM, MIPS, and WebAssembly, it’s a favorite among cybersecurity researchers, ethical hackers, and CTF enthusiasts for its lightweight design and extensibility.

Cowpatty is a robust open-source wireless network auditing tool for ethical hacking, seamlessly integrated into Kali Linux (version 2024.06.R1). As a WPA/WPA2-PSK dictionary attack tool for cybersecurity, it performs offline passphrase cracking using captured 4-way handshakes, making it a top choice for wireless password cracking in penetration testing. Developed by Joshua Wright, its 77 KB size and genpmk utility enable efficient attacks on pre-shared key (PSK) networks.

Skipfish is an open-source web application security reconnaissance tool pre-installed in Kali Linux, designed for automated penetration testing and vulnerability scanning. Developed by Google and maintained on GitHub, it performs recursive crawls and dictionary-based probes to create an interactive sitemap of a target website, annotating it with results from non-disruptive security checks. With a lightweight 559 KB footprint, Skipfish achieves high performance (500+ requests/second on internet targets, 2000+ on LAN), detecting vulnerabilities like XSS, SQL injection, and directory traversal in CMS platforms like WordPress and Joomla. Its 15+ modules, including metagoofil and wananga, support comprehensive scans, while features like form authentication, custom headers, and heuristic wordlist generation enhance flexibility. Skipfish generates detailed HTML reports for professional security assessments, making it ideal for ethical hackers, penetration testers, and webmasters.