# Manticore

> Trail of Bits' now-archived symbolic execution tool for Linux ELF binaries on x86, x86-64, AArch64 and ARMv7, Ethereum smart contracts as EVM bytecode, and WebAssembly modules. It runs a program on symbolic inputs to explore the states it can reach, generates concrete inputs that lead to a chosen state and detects crashes and other failures, solving constraints with an external Yices, Z3 or CVC4 solver. The manticore CLI writes generated test cases to an mcore_ workspace, while the Python API adds instruction hooks, event callbacks and custom initial states; manticore-verifier checks contract properties written in the contract's own language.

- Type: Tool
- Targets: Binary
- Category: Binary analysis libraries
- Relationship: Foundation tool
- Sources reviewed: 2026-10-20
- Added to the catalog: 2026-11-02
- Original resource: <https://github.com/trailofbits/manticore>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/trailofbits/manticore/blob/cdf6c4b49603cc1d70a09cabe74e0f786df1e13f/README.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/manticore/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/manticore/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/manticore/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- Archived and unmaintained: the README states that the project is no longer internally developed and maintained, and GitHub marks the repository archived. The reviewed master commit, from 2026-06-24, only changes that status; the last change under manticore/ dates from 2022-08-07. The latest release is 0.3.7 on GitHub and PyPI (2022-02-17), and PyPI's nightly 0.3.8.dev builds end on 2024-02-27.
- Requires Python 3.7 or later. pip install manticore covers EVM and WASM, manticore[native] adds the pinned capstone 5.0.0rc2 and unicorn 2.x needed for native binaries, and a trailofbits/manticore Docker image is offered. The README names the latest Ubuntu LTS on GitHub Actions as the supported platform, gives macOS experimental EVM and WASM support but no native-binary support, and recommends a larger stack limit; CI at the reviewed commit still runs Python 3.7 on ubuntu-20.04.
- Inputs are the user's own ELF binaries, Solidity or Vyper sources or EVM bytecode, or WASM modules. Contract analysis needs solc on PATH and compiles through crytic-compile; the README says EVM Istanbul semantics are not fully implemented, so some opcodes may be unsupported. Whole-program CLI runs are prone to state explosion, which the README suggests limiting by tailoring the initial state through the API.
- CI runs ethereum, native, WASM, examples and other test suites after downloading Yices 2.6.2 and solc 0.4.24. tests/native/binaries and examples/linux/binaries hold small prebuilt Linux test programs for amd64 and ARMv7, some with their C sources; larger examples, including CTF problems, live in the separate manticore-examples repository, and server/ holds an unpublished gRPC wrapper for the Manticore UI.
- AGPL-3.0; the README says Trail of Bits can be contacted for an exception to its terms. The ASE 2019 paper (arXiv 1907.03890) describes the tool.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/trailofbits/manticore/blob/cdf6c4b49603cc1d70a09cabe74e0f786df1e13f/README.md>
2. <https://github.com/trailofbits/manticore/blob/cdf6c4b49603cc1d70a09cabe74e0f786df1e13f/README.md#L225-L236>
3. <https://github.com/trailofbits/manticore/blob/cdf6c4b49603cc1d70a09cabe74e0f786df1e13f/setup.py>
4. <https://github.com/trailofbits/manticore/blob/cdf6c4b49603cc1d70a09cabe74e0f786df1e13f/.github/workflows/ci.yml>
5. <https://github.com/trailofbits/manticore/tree/cdf6c4b49603cc1d70a09cabe74e0f786df1e13f/tests/native/binaries>
6. <https://github.com/trailofbits/manticore/blob/cdf6c4b49603cc1d70a09cabe74e0f786df1e13f/server/README.md>
7. <https://github.com/trailofbits/manticore/blob/cdf6c4b49603cc1d70a09cabe74e0f786df1e13f/LICENSE>
8. <https://github.com/trailofbits/manticore/releases/tag/0.3.7>
9. <https://pypi.org/project/manticore/0.3.7/>
10. <https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.03890>

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## About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.