ghidraMCP

ghidraMCP

ghidraMCP is an Model Context Protocol server for allowing LLMs to autonomously reverse engineer applications. It exposes numerous tools from core Ghidra functionality to MCP clients.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/36080514-f227-44bd-af84-78e29ee1d7f9

Features

MCP Server + Ghidra Plugin

• Decompile and analyze binaries in Ghidra
• Automatically rename methods and data
• List methods, classes, imports, and exports

Installation

Ghidra 12.1.2 Compatible Fork — This fork updates the plugin to build and run on Ghidra 12.1.2. The original upstream targets Ghidra 11.3.2.

Changes Made for Ghidra 12.1.2 Compatibility

The original plugin was built for Ghidra 11.3.2. To make it work on Ghidra 12.1.2, these changes were made:

• extension.properties — Updated version and ghidraVersion from 11.3.2 to 12.1.2 so Ghidra accepts the extension.
• pom.xml — Updated all Ghidra dependency version references from 11.3.2 to 12.1.2.
• lib/GhidraMCP.jar — Recompiled the plugin against Ghidra 12.1.2 API JARs (no source code changes were needed — all APIs used by the plugin are stable across these versions).
• README.md — Updated install/build instructions for Ghidra 12.1.2.

The plugin source code (GhidraMCPPlugin.java) required no modifications. Only the build configuration and metadata files were updated.

Prerequisites

• Install Ghidra 12.1.2
• Python3
• MCP SDK

Ghidra

Download the GhidraMCP-12.1.2.zip from this repository's releases. Then import it into Ghidra:

1. Run Ghidra
2. Select File -> Install Extensions
3. Click the + button
4. Select the GhidraMCP-12.1.2.zip
5. Restart Ghidra
6. Enable the plugin in File -> Configure -> Developer -> GhidraMCPPlugin
7. Optional: Configure the port in Edit -> Tool Options -> GhidraMCP HTTP Server

Video Installation Guide:

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/75f0c176-6da1-48dc-ad96-c182eb4648c3

MCP Clients

Theoretically, any MCP client should work with ghidraMCP. Three examples are given below.

Example 1: Claude Desktop

To set up Claude Desktop as a Ghidra MCP client, go to Claude -> Settings -> Developer -> Edit Config -> claude_desktop_config.json and add the following:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ghidra": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": [
        "/ABSOLUTE_PATH_TO/bridge_mcp_ghidra.py",
        "--ghidra-server",
        "http://127.0.0.1:8080/"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Alternatively, edit this file directly:

/Users/YOUR_USER/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

The server IP and port are configurable and should be set to point to the target Ghidra instance. If not set, both will default to localhost:8080.

Example 2: Cline

To use GhidraMCP with Cline, this requires manually running the MCP server as well. First run the following command:

python bridge_mcp_ghidra.py --transport sse --mcp-host 127.0.0.1 --mcp-port 8081 --ghidra-server http://127.0.0.1:8080/

The only required argument is the transport. If all other arguments are unspecified, they will default to the above. Once the MCP server is running, open up Cline and select MCP Servers at the top.

Then select Remote Servers and add the following, ensuring that the url matches the MCP host and port:

1. Server Name: GhidraMCP
2. Server URL: http://127.0.0.1:8081/sse

Example 3: 5ire

Another MCP client that supports multiple models on the backend is 5ire. To set up GhidraMCP, open 5ire and go to Tools -> New and set the following configurations:

1. Tool Key: ghidra
2. Name: GhidraMCP
3. Command: python /ABSOLUTE_PATH_TO/bridge_mcp_ghidra.py

Building from Source (Ghidra 12.1.2)

1. Copy the following JARs from your Ghidra 12.1.2 installation into lib/:

   • Ghidra/Features/Base/lib/Base.jar
   • Ghidra/Features/Decompiler/lib/Decompiler.jar
   • Ghidra/Framework/Docking/lib/Docking.jar
   • Ghidra/Framework/Generic/lib/Generic.jar
   • Ghidra/Framework/Project/lib/Project.jar
   • Ghidra/Framework/SoftwareModeling/lib/SoftwareModeling.jar
   • Ghidra/Framework/Utility/lib/Utility.jar
   • Ghidra/Framework/Gui/lib/Gui.jar

2. Build with Maven:

   mvn clean package assembly:single
   

   Or compile directly with javac:

   javac --release 21 -cp $(find /path/to/ghidra_12.1.2_PUBLIC -name '*.jar' -path '*/lib/*' | tr '\n' ':') -d build src/main/java/com/lauriewired/GhidraMCPPlugin.java && jar cfm lib/GhidraMCP.jar src/main/resources/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF -C build com/
   

The generated zip (target/GhidraMCP-1.0-SNAPSHOT.zip) contains:

• lib/GhidraMCP.jar
• extension.properties
• Module.manifest

Note: lib/.gitignore ignores all JARs — the Ghidra dependency JARs and the built GhidraMCP.jar are local only and not committed.