Diabolic Parasite is an ESP32-S3 USB dongle for penetration testing and security research (Crowdfunding)

Diabolic Parasite is an ESP32-S3-based USB dongle for penetration testing and security research. It supports keystroke injection, keylogging, wireless access, and detection-evasion.

Its functionality looks similar to the earlier Diabolic Drive from “UNIT 72784” with an ATMega24 + ESP8266 design and 64GB eMMC flash, but the Parasite is instead based on an ESP32-S3 chip with only 8MB flash and no eMMC flash.

Diabolic Parasite specifications:

• Wireless SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3FN8
  • CPU – Xtensa Dual-core 32-bit LX7 Microprocessor with up to 240MHz clock speed
  • Memory – 512KB SRAM,
  • Storage – 384KB ROM, 8MB SPI flash
  • Wireless – Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 with BLE
• Antenna – High-gain 4.1 dBi, 2.4 GHz ceramic chip antenna
• USB
  • USB Type-A male port for host connectivity
  • USB Type-A female port for passthrough and device communication
• Features
  • Keystroke Reflection Exfiltration
  • Keylogger Functionality
  • Wireless Control
  • USB passthrough
  • Multi-HID Device Handling: keyboard and mouse emulation with input forwarding
  • Remote Access
  • Self-Destruct
  • Mouse Jiggler
• Misc – RGB WS2812 LED for status indication, configurable for stealth mode
• Power Supply
  • 5V via USB-A port
  • 3.3 V onboard 700 mAh LDO regulator
• Dimensions – Small USB dongle

We’re told the Diabolic Parasite is partially open source, but without more details. The GitHub repo for the project is currently empty, and all we see is “Will be updated soon”. What we can check out the the repo for the earlier Diabolic Drive to better understand what may be released for the Parasite: PDF schematics, 3D files for an enclosure,  an Arduino sketch to flash the ESP8266 through the ATMega32U4 MCU, and the closed-source firmware for the ATMega32U4 and ESP8266. In other words, the firmware is not open-source.

They also made a comparison table between the Diabolic Parasite and other USB security tools (Rubber Ducky, O.MG Cable Elite, and Key Croc) is shown below, likely to justify the relatively high price ($99) for this type of niche hardware. For reference, the LILYGO T-Dongle-S3 still sells for $15 (but not penetration testing firmware), and the similar ESP32-S3 version of the BUG penetration testing tool for $59, althrough the Parasite hardware is a bit different with two USB ports.

UNIT 72784 launched the Diabolic Parasite on Crowd Supply with a $5,000 funding target that has just been surpassed. You’ll need to pledge $99 plus $8 for shipping in the US and $18 for the rest of the world. Deliveries are scheduled to start by December 2025.

Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress. We also use affiliate links in articles to earn commissions if you make a purchase after clicking on those links.