ByteZone
Back to listClaim this project

googleSecurity & privacy

syzkaller

An unsupervised, coverage-guided kernel fuzzer that supports multiple operating systems.

  • Security
  • Backend
  • Testing
  • CLI
  • Linux
  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Self-hostable
  • Runs locally
  • Docker supported
Open project homepage
syzkaller screenshot
Popularity
6.3k Stars
GitHub stars
Recent activity
8/21/2026
Updated in the last 30 days
License
APACHE-2.0
Permissive

Why it matters

We look beyond stars: what problem it solves, whether it creates real utility, and what makes its approach worth noticing.

Last 90 days

Problem

Kernel vulnerability discovery remains a core long-standing challenge in operating system security, where manual testing is costly and struggles to cover complex code paths.

Practical value

Provides unsupervised, coverage-guided kernel fuzzing capabilities across multiple mainstream operating systems, with a track record of discovering real-world bugs.

Innovation / differentiation

Utilizes coverage-guided mechanisms to automatically generate and execute system call sequences, distinguishing itself from traditional random testing methods.

Leverage potential

Interacts directly with and tests OS kernels, offering high reusability for system developers and security researchers.

Why now

No timeline or release milestone mentioned.

Community activity

In the last 90 days there were 47 new issues and 390 pull requests; the bounded issue/PR samples include 9 issue authors and 17 PR contributors, with 0 releases.

Maintainer responsiveness

The 46-issue window sample had a 35% close rate, and the 99-pull-request sample had a 78% merge rate. Maintainer-response observations covered 39% of that issue sample, with a 6% response rate and median first response of 0 hours.

17 contributors in PR sample0 releasesIssue response rate 6% · sample 18 (39% coverage)Median first response 0hPR merge rate 78% · 99 sampled in window

Key highlights

  • Supports multiple kernels including Linux, Windows, and FreeBSD
  • Coverage-guided automated fuzzing
  • Supports distributed testing cluster deployment

Quick start

How it is installed, how hard it is, and where to start.

Where it runs

Self-hosted (your own server)

Difficulty

Harder — CLI / server skills help

Docker supportedSelf-hostableRuns locally
  1. 01Clone the source code from GitHub and install the Go compiler.
  2. 02Configure kernel build options to enable coverage support based on the target OS.
  3. 03Write or configure system call description files.
  4. 04Launch the syzkaller manager and virtual machine instances to begin fuzzing.

Best for

  • Teams that want data on their own servers
  • Developers who want to try it on their machine
  • People who prefer Docker deploys

More about it

syzkaller is an automated testing framework designed to discover vulnerabilities in operating system kernels. By monitoring kernel code coverage, it intelligently generates and executes sequences of system calls to trigger potential kernel crashes or anomalies.

Originally developed for the Linux kernel, the project now supports a wide range of operating systems. It operates via a distributed architecture, enabling efficient fuzzing across large-scale testing clusters.

Sources

Each field shows its status and source — expand to review.

14 · Expand

  • capability tags

    Verified

    testing, security

    Source: admin_cms · cms editor · 8/22/2026

  • editor note

    Verified

    {"en":"syzkaller is a standard tool in kernel security research that performs fuzzing via system call interfaces. It requires complex configuration and is primarily intended for kernel developers and security researchers.","zh":"syzkaller 是内核安全研究领域的标准工具，通过系统调用接口进行模糊测试。该工具配置较为复杂，主要面向内核开发人员及安全研究员。"}

    Source: admin_cms · cms editor · 8/22/2026

  • how to use

    Verified

    {"steps":[{"en":"Clone the source code from GitHub and install the Go compiler.","zh":"从 GitHub 克隆源代码并安装 Go 编译器。"},{"en":"Configure kernel build options to enable coverage support based on the target OS.","zh":"根据目标操作系统配置内核编译选项以启用覆盖率支持。"},{"en":"Write or configure system call description files.","zh":"编写或配置系统调用描述文件。"},{"en":"Launch the syzkaller manager and virtual machine instances to begin fuzzing.","zh":"启动 syzkaller 管理器与虚拟机实例进行模糊测试。"}],"installAt":"self_host","difficulty":"hard"}

    Source: admin_cms · cms editor · 8/22/2026

  • intro

    Verified

    {"en":"syzkaller is an automated testing framework designed to discover vulnerabilities in operating system kernels. By monitoring kernel code coverage, it intelligently generates and executes sequences of system calls to trigger potential kernel crashes or anomalies.\n\nOriginally developed for the Linux kernel, the project now supports a wide range of operating systems. It operates via a distributed architecture, enabling efficient fuzzing across large-scale testing clusters.","zh":"syzkaller 是一个用于发现操作系统内核漏洞的自动化测试框架。它通过监控内核代码覆盖率，智能生成并执行系统调用序列，从而触发潜在的内核崩溃或异常。\n\n该项目最初针对 Linux 内核开发，现已扩展支持多种主流操作系统。它通过分布式架构运行，能够在大规模测试集群中高效执行模糊测试任务。"}

    Source: admin_cms · cms editor · 8/22/2026

  • License

    Verified

    Apache-2.0

    Source: GitHub API · license.spdx_id=Apache-2.0 · 8/22/2026

  • needs api key

    Verified

    No

    Source: admin_cms · cms editor · 8/22/2026

  • One-liner

    Verified

    {"en":"An unsupervised, coverage-guided kernel fuzzer that supports multiple operating systems.","zh":"syzkaller 是一款基于覆盖率引导的无监督内核模糊测试工具，支持多种主流操作系统。"}

    Source: admin_cms · cms editor · 8/22/2026

  • Platforms

    Verified

    linux, windows, macos

    Source: admin_cms · cms editor · 8/22/2026

  • Category hint

    Inferred from materials

    developer-tools

    Source: Project README · hint=developer-tools · 8/13/2026

  • product forms

    Verified

    cli

    Source: admin_cms · cms editor · 8/22/2026

  • role tags

    Verified

    security, backend

    Source: admin_cms · cms editor · 8/22/2026

  • supports docker

    Verified

    Yes

    Source: Repository file · dockerfile=true; compose=false · 8/22/2026

  • supports local

    Verified

    Yes

    Source: admin_cms · cms editor · 8/22/2026

  • supports self host

    Verified

    Yes

    Source: admin_cms · cms editor · 8/22/2026

Related projects

Other verified projects matched by category, capabilities, and intended roles.

CVE Lite CLI

A local-first JavaScript/TypeScript lockfile vulnerability scanner focused on actionable remediation, with CI, SARIF, HTML reports, and offline advisory data.

Same Security & privacy categoryBoth support Testing

clusterfuzz

A scalable fuzzing infrastructure developed by Google for automating the discovery of security vulnerabilities and stability issues in software.

Same Security & privacy categoryBoth support Testing

openbao

An open-source secrets management system for storing, distributing, rotating, and controlling access to secrets, certificates, and keys.

Same Security & privacy categoryBoth support Security

agent-governance-toolkit

A governance toolkit for AI agents that adds policy checks, identity, audit trails, sandboxing, and SRE controls across multiple agent frameworks.

Same Security & privacy categoryBoth support Security

wolfssl

A lightweight, cross-platform ANSI C TLS/SSL cryptographic library designed for embedded, real-time operating systems, and resource-constrained environments with TLS 1.3 and DTLS 1.3 support.

Same Security & privacy categoryBoth support Security

osv.dev

Open source vulnerability database and triage service providing a unified query API and web interface

Same Security & privacy categoryBoth support Security