Full Report
Carbon is a source imaging tool that supports a variety of languages. Just wanted to document it here to use in the future. bytes032 uses this all the time and things look great using it.
Analysis Summary
# Tool/Technique: Carbon (Source Code Imaging Tool)
## Overview
Carbon is an open-source tool used to create high-quality, aesthetic images of source code. While primarily used by developers and researchers for documentation and social media presentation, it is utilized by security researchers and malware analysts (such as bytes032) to document code snippets, exploit proofs-of-concept (PoCs), and reverse-engineering findings in a readable format.
## Technical Details
- **Type:** Software Development / Documentation Tool
- **Platform:** Web-based (cross-platform), CLI, and various IDE extensions (VS Code, IntelliJ, etc.)
- **Capabilities:** Syntax highlighting, multi-language support, custom aesthetic styling, and code serialization into image formats (PNG/SVG).
- **First Seen:** Approximately 2017
## MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
*Note: As this is a legitimate utility tool used for documentation rather than an offensive exploit tool, its mapping relates to the "Preparation" stage of an operation.*
- **[TA0042 - Resource Development]**
- **[T1587 - Develop Capabilities]** (Used to document and share exploit code or script snippets)
## Functionality
### Core Capabilities
- **Syntax Highlighting:** Supports a vast array of programming and scripting languages.
- **Customization:** Allows for the modification of background colors, padding, shadows, and font styles.
- **Image Export:** Converts raw text into high-resolution PNG or SVG files.
- **Predefined Themes:** Includes themes modeled after popular IDEs (Monokai, Solarized, Night Owl, etc.).
### Advanced Features
- **GitHub Gist Integration:** Ability to import code directly from a Gist URL.
- **Social Media Integration:** Features built-in "Tweet" functionality to share code snapshots immediately.
- **Configuration Persistence:** Allows users to save specific aesthetic "templates" for consistent documentation.
## Indicators of Compromise
*This tool is a legitimate web service and does not typically generate IOCs associated with malicious activity. However, in an investigative context, files generated by this tool may be identified by:*
- **File Names:** `carbon.png`, `carbon.svg` (default export names).
- **Metadata:** Exported PNGs may contain metadata referencing the Carbon.now.sh service unless stripped.
## Associated Threat Actors
- **Security Researchers:** Extensively used by the "InfoSec Twitter" community and malware analysts for sharing code snippets.
- **General Use:** No specific malicious threat actor group is uniquely tied to this tool, as it is a public productivity utility.
## Detection Methods
- **Usage Detection:** Monitoring network traffic to `carbon[.]now[.]sh`.
- **Content Analysis:** Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scan on images in reports to extract the underlying source code for analysis.
## Mitigation Strategies
- **Data Leakage Prevention (DLP):** Ensure that internal or proprietary source code is not uploaded to the public Carbon web interface to prevent accidental exposure of intellectual property.
- **Information Security Policy:** Encourage the use of offline or self-hosted syntax highlighting tools for sensitive code bases.
## Related Tools/Techniques
- **Silicon:** A CLI alternative to Carbon written in Rust.
- **CodeSnap:** A VS Code extension providing similar functionality directly within the IDE.
- **Snappify:** An advanced alternative for creating technical presentations from code.