Evil-WinRM

What it is

Evil-WinRM is a free open-source Ruby client for Windows Remote Management (WinRM), maintained by Hackplayers on GitHub (Hackplayers/evil-winrm). In authorised penetration tests and lab environments it provides an interactive shell over WinRM so testers can exercise remote administration paths that Windows estates already expose when WinRM is enabled.

What it helps with

- Opening an interactive WinRM shell against authorised Windows targets with valid credentials or certificates.
- Uploading and downloading files and running PowerShell or local commands during scoped post-exploitation exercises.
- Supporting pass-the-hash style and certificate-backed WinRM authentication flows where the engagement rules allow.
- Loading helper scripts and amenity features that speed authorised Windows assessment workflows.
- Validating WinRM hardening, logging and network segmentation controls from an attacker-emulation perspective.
- Running as LGPL open-source tooling without a commercial licence for the core project.

Who it's for

Penetration testers and red teams who need a purpose-built WinRM shell for authorised Windows and Active Directory assessments, alongside Impacket, NetExec and similar remote-access helpers.

Worth knowing

Evil-WinRM is free and open source (LGPL). Official repository and logo: github.com/Hackplayers/evil-winrm (resources/evil-winrm_logo.png). Official website field is GitHub-only for this listing. Name reflects community branding for a WinRM client used in pentests; it is not malware. Authorised penetration testing and lab use only.