Renef

Dynamic instrumentation toolkit for Android ARM64

Renef lets you hook native and Java functions, scan and patch memory, and inject into running processes on Android ARM64, all through a Lua scripting interface. No ptrace required.

For comprehensive information, see renef.io.

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases.

Prerequisites: CMake 3.16+, C++17 compiler, Android NDK r25+

# Setup dependencies (first time)
make setup

# Build client, server, and agent
make all

# Build, deploy to device, and start server
make install

Requires WSL with Ubuntu.

git clone https://github.com/ahmeth4n/renef.git
cd renef
build_wsl.bat

This installs dependencies, configures, and builds automatically. Run the binary with wsl ./build/renef.

ADB runs on Windows, so set up the connection from PowerShell/cmd first:

adb tcpip 5555
adb connect <device-ip>:5555

Then use ADB from WSL via the Windows binary:

adb.exe push ...
adb.exe shell ...

Once the renef server is running on the device, the client connects directly over TCP -no ADB needed:

wsl ./build/renef

No Android NDK needed -only builds the host client. Dependencies (capstone, asio) are downloaded automatically during cmake configure.

# Install build tools (Ubuntu/Debian/WSL)
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential cmake libreadline-dev git

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/ahmeth4n/renef.git
cd renef
mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)

brew install cmake readline
git clone https://github.com/ahmeth4n/renef.git
cd renef
mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)

The Python package wraps the C API via ctypes and requires no Android NDK.

# Install build tools (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install -y build-essential cmake python3 python3-pip

# Build the shared library
git clone https://github.com/ahmeth4n/renef.git
cd renef
mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake ..
make renef_shared -j$(nproc)
cd ..

# Run tests (no device needed)
PYTHONPATH=bindings/python python3 -m pytest bindings/python/tests/ -v

# Or use unittest directly
PYTHONPATH=bindings/python python3 -m unittest discover -s bindings/python/tests -v

Usage:

import sys
sys.path.insert(0, "bindings/python")

from renef import Renef
r = Renef()
session = r.attach(1234)     # attach by PID
# session = r.spawn("com.example.app")  # or spawn an app

# Module API
libc = session.Module.find("libc.so")
modules = session.Module.list()

# Eval Lua on the target
ok, out, err = session.eval("print(OS.getpid())")

Visit renef.io for docs, guides, and API reference.

Browse and share community hooks at hook.renef.io -SSL pinning bypass, root detection bypass, debugger detection bypass, and more.

Apache-2.0 License - see LICENSE for details.