Reverse Engineering Services
Document protocols. Reverse APIs. Decode formats. Engagements include API reverse engineering, network protocol analysis, and related work — all under NDA.
Overview
Protocol reverse engineering services for proprietary APIs, network protocols, and file formats. Documentation that enables interoperability.
Engagements are scoped to a fixed deliverable list before kickoff and run under a written NDA. Daily lab notes and weekly written status keep the work auditable from your side at every step.
In the lab
Capture, dissect, diagram — before a single line of spec is written.
Protocol Engineering Lead
Anonymized pre-NDA
How we work
In both reverse engineering and custom development, we never thoughtlessly clone. We carry out improvements and adaptations to the customer's specific task, because the existing solution often cannot fully satisfy the customer's request. Reverse engineering surfaces the design intent; the engineering that follows decides what to keep, what to change, and what to engineer from scratch.
Engineering analysis
As part of both reverse engineering and custom development projects, we perform in-depth engineering analysis based on mathematical and physical modeling. Depending on project requirements this may include structural calculations, fluid dynamics, gas flow analysis, thermal processes, stress and load simulations, process modeling, and validation of engineering assumptions affecting system performance and operational reliability — used for design verification, technology assessment, process optimization, and validation of technical parameters for production and commercial deployment.
When you call us
Patterns we see across engagements. Each can stand alone or combine with adjacent capabilities.
Reverse-engineer undocumented or partially documented APIs to enable third-party integration, data migration, or interoperability.
Document custom or undocumented network protocols on devices and platforms where the vendor's documentation is absent or insufficient.
Reverse-engineer proprietary file formats — save files, configuration formats, document formats, archive formats — to enable read or write support.
Document the wire-level protocols used by IoT devices and operational-technology systems for monitoring, integration, or migration.
Capture and dissect proprietary network traffic on legacy systems where vendor documentation never existed or has been lost.
Produce specification-grade documentation of proprietary protocols sufficient for clean-room reimplementation.
Map an undocumented API surface as a precondition to security testing. Common in mobile, web, and embedded products with rich client-server contracts.
Methodology
Vertical phasing — each step's deliverables agreed before kickoff, and not closed until you sign off.
Phase 01
Mutual NDA executed before any traces, fixtures, or technical materials change hands. Scope, deliverables, and legal basis confirmed in writing.
Phase 02
Wire-level capture of protocol traffic in representative scenarios. Logging of session metadata and reproducible test fixtures.
Phase 03
Initial structural analysis of captured frames — magic numbers, length fields, type tags, checksums. Iterative refinement of a draft grammar.
Phase 04
Reconstruction of session state machines and behavioral protocols. Identification of message ordering, retransmission, and error-handling paths.
Phase 05
Production of a written specification with field definitions, state diagrams, and example traces. Format suitable for clean-room reimplementation.
Phase 06
Implementation of a conformance harness that validates the specification against additional captured traces and against any reference implementation.
Tooling
Named tools, in production. We don't list anything we don't actually use.
Tool
Wireshark with custom dissectors
Production use — versioned per-engagement and pinned in our build.
Tool
mitmproxy
Production use — versioned per-engagement and pinned in our build.
Tool
Frida
Production use — versioned per-engagement and pinned in our build.
Tool
010 Editor
Production use — versioned per-engagement and pinned in our build.
Tool
Kaitai Struct
Production use — versioned per-engagement and pinned in our build.
Tool
Custom Python / Rust analysis tooling
Production use — versioned per-engagement and pinned in our build.
Tool
Logic analyzers (Saleae Logic Pro)
Production use — versioned per-engagement and pinned in our build.
Tool
Bus-specific decoders (CAN, LIN, FlexRay, MIL-STD-1553)
Production use — versioned per-engagement and pinned in our build.
$ saleae-cli capture --channels 0-7 --rate 100MS --time 30
Captured 12,400 frames · 0 CRC errors
$ dissect --capture cap.sal --emit spec.md --emit pcap
Wrote spec.md (14 fields) · pcap exported
$
Deliverables
Artifacts handed over at close-out. Each is reproducible and self-contained.
Sample deliverable
protocol-reverse-engineering · final report
rev.04 · pdf
Engagement summary
Findings
Our practice
Protocol work demands iteration. We capture, dissect, refine — and ship a spec precise enough for clean-room reimplementation.
From wire to spec
Capture, dissect, document — clean-room-ready specifications with conformance tooling.
Protocol Engineering Lead
Anonymized pre-NDA
Wireshark Specialist
Anonymized pre-NDA
Bus Capture Engineer
Anonymized pre-NDA
Spec Author
Anonymized pre-NDA
“A protocol spec isn't done until an independent team can implement to it without seeing the original.”
Cross-industry
Sectors where this work is most often scoped. Cross-link to detailed industry pages for sector-specific context.
Firmware extraction and protocol mapping.
Protocol RE for iot & embeddedECU, CAN, and aftermarket interoperability.
Protocol RE for automotiveAdversary research and product hardening.
Protocol RE for cybersecurityCompliance-aware reverse engineering.
Protocol RE for medical devicesPLC and legacy controller recovery.
Protocol RE for industrial & manufacturingSustainment for long-life platforms.
Protocol RE for aerospaceQuestions
Pulled from real client conversations. If yours isn't here, ask directly.
Our protocol reverse engineering services cover the full path from wire capture to written specification: traffic capture, frame dissection, state recovery, specification authoring, and conformance testing. Output is documentation precise enough for an independent team to implement an interoperable client or server.
API reverse engineering combines client-side instrumentation (Frida hooks, mitmproxy man-in-the-middle, traffic capture) with server response analysis. We reconstruct the API contract — endpoints, request and response schemas, authentication flow, error semantics — and document it at a level that supports independent implementation.
Yes. Network protocol analysis on proprietary protocols is the core of our protocol reverse engineering services. The work pattern is the same regardless of layer: capture representative traffic, identify structural features, recover the state machine, and document the result. We work on application-layer, transport-layer, and link-layer protocols.
File format analysis follows the same methodology as protocol analysis: a captured corpus of files plays the role of captured traffic. We identify magic numbers, length fields, type tags, and structural relationships, then produce a Kaitai Struct or similar formal grammar that other implementations can build from.
Yes. Wireshark dissectors are a common deliverable, particularly for protocols your team will need to debug repeatedly. Dissectors ship with the specification and accelerate downstream protocol work — incident response, integration debugging, conformance testing.
Specification-grade wire protocol documentation requires field-level precision: bit-exact layout, byte ordering, alignment rules, length-encoding rules, and complete state diagrams. Our output meets this bar and includes example traces for every documented message type. A separate engineering team can implement from the specification without touching the original artifact.
Yes. Automotive bus reverse engineering is a long-standing specialty. We capture with Saleae Logic Pro or vehicle-specific interfaces, dissect proprietary CAN signal layouts, reconstruct ECU communication state machines, and produce DBC files or equivalent documentation.
Yes. API reverse engineering is often a precondition to security review on products with rich client-server contracts. The protocol specification feeds threat modeling and vulnerability analysis under our security research services.
Engagements start with a scoping phase under NDA. Project length and pricing depend on protocol complexity, capture access, and required deliverable depth. Specification-only engagements run shorter than reference-implementation engagements; both are scoped fixed-bid where the protocol is well-bounded.
Selected work
Engagements where this capability carried significant scope.
Case studies for this service available under NDA
Most of our work in this area is covered by mutual NDA. Request anonymized references during your inquiry — we share them with prospective clients after NDA execution.
More from us
Adjacent capabilities you may need on the same engagement.
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Explore Firmware REReverse Engineering
Vulnerability discovery. Code audits. Exploit research.
Explore Security ResearchReverse Engineering
Decode binaries. Recover logic. Restore source code.
Explore Software REEngage
All inquiries reviewed under NDA. We respond within two business days with a scoped engagement plan and fixed deliverables list.
Senior engineers · Anonymized pre-NDA
