MFTOOL

Summary from the TLDR InfoSec newsletter

MFTool is a red team-oriented NTFS parser that bypasses Windows file APIs by directly parsing on-disk Master File Table structures to access locked, deleted, and hidden files. The tool can retrieve sensitive files like SAM, SYSTEM, and pagefile.sys without opening OS-level file handles, effectively circumventing Windows file access controls while requiring administrative privileges. It supports regex-based searches across entire volumes and maintains an encrypted in-memory Master File Table (MFT) cache for stealthy file system operations during red team engagements.