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Stegseek

Official Documentation: https://github.com/RickdeJager/stegseek

Cheat Sheet: Stegseek Commands

Purpose

Stegseek is a tool to brute-force passphrases for files hidden with certain stego tools (notably steghide). It tries a wordlist to find the passphrase and extract embedded content.

Scenarios

  • CTF: When steghide info shows embedded data but you don’t know the passphrase, use Stegseek with a wordlist to try common passwords.
  • Real world: Recover hidden data when passphrase is weak and known-list attack is permitted.

All needed info to run

  • Install: apt install stegseek (or get from repo). Some versions are Python wrappers — check --help.
  • Syntax: stegseek <stego-file> <wordlist> <output-file> (varies slightly by install).
  • Wordlists: use rockyou.txt, Cewl-generated lists, or targeted wordlists.
  • Speed depends on wordlist size and stego algorithm; stegseek targets specific formats (e.g., steghide).

Example commands & outputs

# Run stegseek with rockyou to try and extract data from image
$ stegseek suspicious.jpg /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt extracted_output
# Output snippet:
# Trying password: 123456
# Trying password: password
# Password found: letmein
# Extracted to extracted_output

# If not found, stegseek will finish scanning the list and report no match

Stegseek Basics

  • Stegseek automates a wordlist attack against stego passphrases — choose wordlists wisely (targeted > huge).
  • If stegseek fails, try custom lists from Cewl or context-specific words.
  • Brute-forcing large lists is slow; prefer targeted lists first.
  • Verify extracted output (file magic/type) after extraction to confirm success.

Stegseek Commands