BruceDevices/firmware

What it is

Bruce is an ESP32 firmware for portable red-team and offensive-security work. It runs on M5Stack Cardputer, StickC, Core, and Core2/CoreS3 devices, LILYGO T-Embed and T-Deck boards, the CYD‑2432S028, and several other ESP32 variants, with some features tied to onboard or attached radios (source:3).

The firmware covers Wi‑Fi scanning and attack flows (deauth, Evil Portal, ARP spoofing/poisoning, TelNet/SSH, WireGuard tunneling), BLE scanning and Bad BLE scripts, Sub‑GHz/RF scanning and replay via CC1101 or built‑in RF, NFC/RFID reads, clones, and writes via PN532, IR replay and TV‑B‑Gone, NRF24 jamming, FM broadcast, a JavaScript interpreter, BadUSB, iButton, a web UI, and ESPNOW file/command transfer (source:3). Hardware support varies by board, so check the per-device function table before choosing a target.

Install and first use

The recommended path is the official web flasher at bruce.computer/flasher. Alternatively, download a Bruce-<device>.bin release and flash locally with esptool, for example:

esptool.py --port /dev/ttyACM0 write_flash 0x00000 Bruce-<device>.bin

Replace the port and firmware filename with those for your board. On M5Stack devices you can also install through M5Launcher OTA or burn directly with M5Burner, searching for "Bruce" (source:3). The wiki documents per-feature usage; the FAQ is the place to check before troubleshooting (source:15).

Hardware and platform constraints

Function availability depends on the board. For example, CC1101, NRF24, FM radio, PN532, microphone, BadUSB, RGB LED, speaker, and fuel gauge support differ across the Cardputer, StickC models, Core models, T-Embed, T-Deck, T-Watch-S3, T-LoRa Pager, CYD, and the party boards; the README table is the authoritative mapping (source:3). A LITE_VERSION build for M5Launcher compatibility drops TelNet, SSH, WireGuard, ScanHosts, RawSniffer, Brucegotchi, BLEBacon, BLEScan, and the interpreter. The project is AGPL‑3.0 licensed and is stated to be for legal, authorized security testing only; offensive radio and network functions are regulated by jurisdiction.

HotRepo's take

On 2026-11-09, Bruce recorded 7,187 stars and 2,420 forks, adding 9 stars in that day's C++ daily list and reaching position 10 there. The project's own framing — an alternative to higher-priced offensive-security hardware built on the ESP32 ecosystem — is backed by a broad feature set and a substantial hardware support table, rather than a single-purpose tool. The README also leans heavily on the official web flasher and a commercial devkit shop, so hardware and installation are part of the project experience, not an afterthought. No all-language HotRepo rank was recorded for this repository.