firmware

Bruce is open-source firmware for small ESP32-based hardware devices, particularly the M5Stack Cardputer and similar compact gadgets from M5Stack and Lilygo. Firmware is the low-level software that runs directly on a physical device, and flashing it replaces the default software with Bruce's feature set. The project also sells its own open-source hardware boards.

The firmware is aimed at security professionals doing red team work, which means authorized testing of systems to find weaknesses before attackers do. It packs a wide range of wireless capabilities into a pocket-sized device. On the WiFi side, it can scan networks, run a fake access point, capture credentials through an evil portal page, sniff raw traffic, and perform deauthentication attacks that disconnect devices from a network. It also supports ARP spoofing and Wireguard tunneling.

Beyond WiFi, Bruce covers Bluetooth Low Energy (scanning, keyboard emulation, and spam attacks targeting iOS, Android, Windows, and Samsung devices), radio frequencies (scanning, replaying, and jamming signals below 1 GHz using a CC1101 module), RFID (reading, cloning, and writing NFC and 125kHz tags), infrared (TV-B-Gone style remote control blasting and custom IR replay), and FM radio broadcasting.

Other features include a BadUSB mode that makes the device appear as a keyboard and types predefined scripts, a JavaScript interpreter, a web interface for remote control, SD card management, and QR code generation.

Installing Bruce is done through a web flasher at the project's site, or by flashing a binary file directly using a command-line tool called esptool. A wiki covers each feature in detail. The project has a Discord server for support and community discussion.