QEMU

QEMU (Quick Emulator) is a versatile open-source machine emulator and virtualizer that can emulate various hardware platforms or work with KVM for near-native virtualization performance.

Operating Modes

• Full System Emulation - Emulates complete hardware systems
• User Mode Emulation - Run binaries for different architectures
• KVM Acceleration - Near-native performance with hardware support
• Xen Integration - Works as a device model for Xen

Key Features

• Multi-Architecture - x86, ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, and more
• Device Emulation - Extensive hardware device support
• Snapshot Support - Save and restore VM states
• Live Migration - Move running instances between hosts
• Flexible Disk Formats - qcow2, raw, vmdk, and others

Security Use Cases

• Malware Analysis - Isolated analysis environments
• Reverse Engineering - Run binaries from different architectures
• Fuzzing - Test software on various platforms
• Security Research - Kernel and driver development
• CTF Challenges - Cross-architecture challenge solving