Based on recent analyses, hereβs an overview of the top 10 red teaming tools for 2025. These are selected for their prevalence in offensive security, adversary emulation, and penetration testing, drawing from expert sources. Each includes a brief description, key features, and why it's essential for red team operations. Tools are ranked by cross-source popularity and versatility.
- Metasploit Framework
An open-source penetration testing framework used for developing and executing exploits against target systems. It's ideal for identifying vulnerabilities and simulating attacks.
Key Features: Extensive exploit library, payload generation, post-exploitation modules, and integration with other tools.
Use in Red Teaming: Automates vulnerability exploitation and maintains access, making it a staple for testing defenses. - Cobalt Strike
A commercial threat emulation tool focused on adversary simulation, using beacons for command-and-control (C2) operations.
Key Features: Malleable C2 profiles, social engineering tools, and post-exploitation capabilities like credential dumping.
Use in Red Teaming: Mimics advanced persistent threats (APTs) for realistic attack simulations, though it's geared toward experienced users. - Empire
A post-exploitation framework built on PowerShell and Python, designed for stealthy command execution and lateral movement.
Key Features: Multi-language agents, customizable modules, encrypted communications, and evasion techniques.
Use in Red Teaming: Enables low-detection operations after initial access, perfect for maintaining persistence in Windows environments. - Burp Suite
A web application security testing tool for identifying vulnerabilities in web apps through automated scanning and manual testing.
Key Features: Proxy interception, scheduled scans, CI/CD integration, and detailed reporting on issues like SQL injections.
Use in Red Teaming: Focuses on web-based attacks, helping teams exploit app weaknesses and integrate with broader pentesting workflows. - Wireshark
An open-source network protocol analyzer that captures and inspects traffic in real-time to uncover network vulnerabilities.
Key Features: Graphical interface, protocol decoding, cross-platform support, and integration with other tools for packet analysis.
Use in Red Teaming: Essential for reconnaissance and identifying unencrypted data or misconfigurations in network communications. - Sliver
An open-source, cross-platform C2 framework supporting implants across multiple operating systems with various communication channels.
Key Features: mTLS, HTTPS, and DNS comms; built-in evasion; and Golang-based for efficiency.
Use in Red Teaming: Provides flexible post-exploitation control, especially in diverse environments like MacOS, Windows, and Linux. - BloodHound
A tool for mapping Active Directory (AD) relationships to identify privilege escalation paths, often used with collectors like SharpHound or BloodHound.py.
Key Features: Visual graphs of AD data, remote collection without .NET execution, and support for multiple auth methods.
Use in Red Teaming: Uncovers AD misconfigurations for targeted attacks, making it crucial for enterprise network exploitation. - MITRE Caldera
An open-source autonomous adversary emulation platform aligned with the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
Key Features: Pre-built playbooks, extensible plugins, and automated threat intelligence integration.
Use in Red Teaming: Automates simulation of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to test defenses systematically. - Kali Linux
A Linux distribution pre-loaded with over 600 security tools for penetration testing and forensics.
Key Features: Customizable meta packages, live boot options, and integration with tools like Metasploit and Nmap.
Use in Red Teaming: Serves as a base OS for running offensive operations, providing a comprehensive toolkit in one environment. - Nessus (Tenable)
A vulnerability scanner that detects security gaps across IT assets, including networks and applications.
Key Features: Coverage for 47,000+ assets, CIS benchmarks, grouped vulnerabilities for remediation, and detailed risk prioritization.
Use in Red Teaming: Identifies exploitable weaknesses pre-attack, though it may require time to master its interface.