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fuzzsociety/usbstackfuzz

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

19C++Audience · developerComplexity · 4/5Setup · hard

TLDR

ESP32-S3 firmware that emulates weird USB devices so security researchers can test how a host computer's USB stack handles malformed input.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Emulates malformed USB devices
      MIDI fuzzing firmware
      HID fuzzing firmware
    Tech stack
      C++
      ESP-IDF
      ESP32-S3
    Use cases
      Fuzz host USB MIDI driver
      Fuzz host USB HID driver
      Capture crash logs via debug port
    Audience
      Security researchers
    Notes
      Use test machines or VMs
      Native USB hardware peripheral

Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Flash MIDI-emulation firmware to fuzz a host's USB MIDI driver with malformed descriptors.

USE CASE 2

Flash HID-emulation firmware to test a host's handling of an assistive-control device.

USE CASE 3

Capture serial debug logs from a second port when the target machine's USB handling locks up.

USE CASE 4

Reproduce a crash by recording the firmware version, host OS, and USB logs.

What is it built with?

C++ESP-IDFESP32-S3

How does it compare?

fuzzsociety/usbstackfuzzdiskclaw/sslclawhackcascac/obfushunter
Stars191919
LanguageC++C++C++
Setup difficultyhardeasymoderate
Complexity4/52/53/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1h+

Requires an ESP32-S3 board, the ESP-IDF toolchain, and a data-capable USB cable, test on VMs, not production hardware.

In plain English

This repository contains firmware projects for an ESP32-S3 microcontroller board that let security researchers test how host computers handle unusual or malformed USB devices. The basic idea is that you flash the firmware onto a cheap ESP32-S3 board, plug it into a test machine, and observe how the operating system's USB code responds to edge-case descriptors, strange device names, or unexpected packet patterns. There are two firmware projects. The first emulates a USB MIDI device, which is the class of device used for connecting electronic musical instruments to computers. It can produce unusual descriptor combinations, Unicode-heavy device names, long or short string fields, and boundary-value MIDI packet sequences. This exercises the host's MIDI driver and enumeration path in ways that normal instruments would not. The second emulates a non-keyboard HID (Human Interface Device), specifically one designed around accessibility or assistive-control use cases like Braille displays. It avoids generating keyboard keystrokes by default, which limits the risk of accidental input injection during testing. The ESP32-S3 chip was chosen because it includes a native USB hardware peripheral, making it straightforward and inexpensive to produce arbitrary USB device behavior without extra hardware. On dual-port boards, one port connects to the machine under test while the other provides a serial debug link back to the researcher's development computer, so logs can be captured even if the target machine's USB handling locks up. The README recommends using dedicated test machines or virtual machines with USB passthrough rather than production hardware. It also suggests keeping detailed records of the firmware version, host OS, and USB logs when a crash or unexpected behavior is found, so results can be reproduced with the same inputs. The repository is structured as two separate firmware directories, one for MIDI and one for HID, each with its own build configuration and documentation subfolder. Building requires Espressif's ESP-IDF toolchain and a data-capable USB cable.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through flashing the USB MIDI fuzzing firmware onto an ESP32-S3 board.
Prompt 2
Explain the difference between the MIDI and HID firmware projects in this repo.
Prompt 3
Help me set up ESP-IDF to build the usbStackFuzz firmware.
Prompt 4
Suggest a safe test environment for running this on a host computer.

Frequently asked questions

What is usbstackfuzz?

ESP32-S3 firmware that emulates weird USB devices so security researchers can test how a host computer's USB stack handles malformed input.

What language is usbstackfuzz written in?

Mainly C++. The stack also includes C++, ESP-IDF, ESP32-S3.

How hard is usbstackfuzz to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is usbstackfuzz for?

Mainly developer.

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