Kali Linux

Autotimeliner : Automagically Extract Forensic Timeline From Volatile Memory Dump

Autotimeliner tool will automagically extract forensic timeline from volatile memory dumps.

Requirements

  • Python 3
  • Volatility
  • mactime (from SleuthKit)

(Developed and tested on Debian 9.6 with Volatility 2.6-1 and sleuthkit 4.4.0-5)

How it works

AutoTimeline automates this workflow:

  • Identify correct volatility profile for the memory image.
  • Runs the timeliner plugin against volatile memory dump using volatility.
  • Runs the mftparser volatility plugin, in order to extract $MFT from memory and generate a bodyfile.
  • Runs the shellbags volatility plugin in order to generate a bodyfile of the user activity. (suggested by Matteo Cantoni).
  • Merges the timeliner, mftparser and shellbags output files into a single bodyfile.
  • Sorts and filters the bodyfile using mactime and exports data as CSV.

Installation

Simply clone the GitHub repository:

git clone https://github.com/andreafortuna/autotimeliner.git

Usage

autotimeline.py [-h] -f IMAGEFILE [-t TIMEFRAME] [-p CUSTOMPROFILE]
optional arguments:
-h, –help show this help message and exit
-f IMAGEFILE, –imagefile IMAGEFILE
Memory dump file
-t TIMEFRAME, –timeframe TIMEFRAME
Timeframe used to filter the timeline (YYYY-MM-DD
..YYYY-MM-DD)
-p CUSTOMPROFILE, –customprofile CUSTOMPROFILE
Jump image identification and use a custom memory
profile

Examples

Extract timeline from TargetServerMemory.raw, limited to a timeframe from 2018-10-17 to 2018-10-21:

./autotimeline.py -f TargetServerMemory.raw -t 2018-10-17..2018-10-21

Extract timeline from all images in current directory, limited to a timeframe from 2018-10-17 to 2018-10-21:

./autotimeline.py -f ./*.raw -t 2018-10-17..2018-10-21

Extract timeline from TargetServerMemory.raw, using a custom memory profile:

./autotimeline.py -f TargetServerMemory.raw -p Win2008R2SP1x64

All timelines will be saved as $ORIGINALFILENAME-timeline.csv.

R K

Recent Posts

Best OSINT Tools for Journalists 2026: Verify Sources, Images and Claims

Journalists use OSINT to verify public information before publishing. In 2026, misinformation, AI-generated images, fake…

8 hours ago

Install Docker on Ubuntu 20.04: Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Docker is an open-source platform that lets you package and run applications inside containers. Each container…

18 hours ago

Install PostgreSQL on Ubuntu: Database Setup and Admin Guide

PostgreSQL (often called Postgres) is an open-source relational database system. It supports advanced features like JSON…

19 hours ago

Install Xrdp Remote Desktop on Ubuntu: Setup and Connect

Xrdp is an open-source server that lets you connect to your Ubuntu machine from another computer…

19 hours ago

Tomcat 9 on Ubuntu 20.04: Install, Configure, and Start

Apache Tomcat is an open-source web server and Java servlet container. It is one of the…

20 hours ago

Automatic Updates on Ubuntu: Set Up unattended-upgrades

Keeping your Ubuntu system updated is one of the best ways to protect it. Security…

21 hours ago