Analyzing Rich Header And Compiler Artifacts
Analyzes the PE Rich header and related compiler artifacts to fingerprint the build
Install
$ agentstack add skill-meltedinhex-analyst-ai-pack-analyzing-rich-header-and-compiler-artifacts ✓ scanned · ✓ verified, works with Claude Code, Cursor, and more.
Security review
✓ PassedNo issues found. Passed automated security review. · v0.1.0 How review works →
- ✓ Prompt-injection patterns
- ✓ Secret / credential exfiltration
- ✓ Dangerous shell & filesystem operations
- ✓ Untrusted network calls
- ✓ Known-malicious package signatures
What it can access
- ✓ Network access No
- ✓ Filesystem access No
- ✓ Shell / process execution No
- ✓ Environment & secrets No
- ✓ Dynamic code execution No
From automated source analysis of v0.1.0. “Used” means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it’s unsafe.
Verified badge
Passed review? Show it. Paste this badge into your README, it links to the public security report.
Links to your public security report.[](https://agentstack.voostack.com/security/report/skill-meltedinhex-analyst-ai-pack-analyzing-rich-header-and-compiler-artifacts) Reliability & compatibility
Declared compatibility
Compatibility is declared by the source manifest. End-to-end runtime verification is coming, see below.
We're building live execution health for every listing: tool-call success rate, median latency, uptime, and last-checked timestamps, measured, not self-reported. It isn't live yet, so we don't show numbers we can't stand behind.
How agent discovery & health will work →About
Analyzing Rich Header and Compiler Artifacts
When to Use
- You have a Windows PE and want to fingerprint its build toolchain (compiler/linker product IDs
and build numbers) from the Rich header.
- You are clustering samples by toolchain or detecting Rich-header tampering/forgery.
Do not use the Rich header as definitive attribution — it can be copied or stripped. This skill reads the PE statically and executes nothing.
Prerequisites
- The PE sample (read inertly).
Safety & Handling
- Read bytes statically; treat the sample as malicious data.
Workflow
Step 1: Parse and decode the Rich header
python scripts/analyst.py rich sample.exeLocates the Rich marker, recovers the XOR key (the DWORD after Rich), decodes the DanS- prefixed entries, and lists (product_id, build_id, use_count) tuples.
Step 2: Fingerprint the toolchain
Map product IDs to compiler/linker products and build numbers to identify the Visual Studio version(s) used.
Step 3: Compute a clustering hash
Hash the decoded Rich entries to produce a toolchain fingerprint for grouping related samples.
Step 4: Check for inconsistencies
Compare the Rich-derived linker version against the PE optional-header linker version; mismatches suggest tampering or a copied header.
Validation
- The XOR key correctly decodes the
DanSsignature at the start of the block. - Decoded entries have plausible product IDs and use counts.
- The toolchain fingerprint is reproducible across identical builds.
Pitfalls
- Samples with no Rich header (non-MSVC toolchains, stripped headers).
- Forged Rich headers copied from a benign binary.
- Confusing the Rich checksum/key handling and misdecoding entries.
References
- See [
references/api-reference.md](references/api-reference.md) for the parser. - PE format documentation (linked in frontmatter).
Source & license
This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.
- Author: meltedinhex
- Source: meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack
- License: Apache-2.0
- Homepage: https://meltedinhex.com/
Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.
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Versions
- v0.1.0 Imported from the upstream source.