Foremost
Foremost recovers files from disk images or raw data by their headers and footers, without needing a file system.
Legal & ethical use. Use this tool only on systems, networks and data that you own or have explicit written permission to test. Unauthorised access or scanning can break computer-misuse laws (for example Pakistan's Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, and equivalents elsewhere). Practise in your own lab or in authorised environments such as CTFs.
What it is used for
- Recover deleted pictures or documents from a forensic image
- Solve file-carving CTF challenges
Key features
- Header/footer carving
- Configurable file types
- Audit log of results
Installation
sudo apt install foremost on Debian-based systems.
Beginner usage guide
Carve a practice image into a fresh output directory and compare the recovered files with their hashes.
Example commands
Run these only against your own lab or authorised targets. Placeholder addresses such as 192.0.2.x are documentation ranges.
Carve a disk image
foremost -i image.dd -o out/-i is the input file; -o is an empty output directory.
References
Source verification
Last reviewed: 2026-10-27
Links checked over HTTP: 2026-10-27 07:51 UTC — official: 200, docs: 200, repo: 200
Commands were written from the official documentation and have not been executed on this site; test them in your lab.