______
        /      \ 
       /        \ 
       |        |
    )  o        o   ?        EightArms
   (    \      /    |        GitHub Email Intelligence
     \__/||||||\___/ _
   \____/ |||| \____/ `
   ,-.___/ || \__,-._
  /    ___/  \__
     _/         `--

EightArms is an OSINT tool for extracting publicly available email addresses from GitHub repositories through commit history analysis. EightArms enables security researchers and investigators to gather intelligence while maintaining operational anonymity.

Overview

EightArms performs automated reconnaissance on GitHub user accounts by analyzing publicly accessible commit metadata across their repository ecosystem. The tool extracts email addresses from commit headers, signatures, and collaboration records without requiring authentication or leaving forensic traces.

Learn the theory behind EightArms.

Key Capabilities

• Comprehensive Email Discovery - Extracts emails from target repositories and associated development networks
• Intelligent Filtering - Removes invalid, fake, and system-generated addresses while preserving legitimate contacts
• Configurable Speed Profiles - Adjustable scanning intensity from rapid reconnaissance to thorough investigation
• Concurrent Processing - Multi-threaded analysis for efficient large-scale data collection
• Rate Limiting Protection - Built-in delays and retry mechanisms to avoid detection and service disruption
• Anonymity Preservation - Operates through standard HTTP requests with header randomisation without requiring authentication

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.7 or higher
• pip package manager
• A cloned copy of this repo

Setup Process

# Navigate to project directory
cd eightarms

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Install package
pip install -e .

# Verify installation
eightarms --help

Usage

Basic Operation

# Standard reconnaissance scan
eightarms <target_username>

# Rapid reconnaissance
eightarms <target_username> --speed fast

# Comprehensive investigation
eightarms <target_username> --speed slow

Configuration Parameters

Speed Profiles

Profile	Request Delay	Pages/Repo	Commits Analysed	Concurrent Workers	Application
fast	0.2-0.8s	2	First/Last 5	6	Quick reconnaissance
medium	0.5-1.5s	3	First/Last 10	4	Standard investigation
slow	3.0-6.0s	5	All available	1	Comprehensive analysis

Advanced Configuration

# Repository scope control
--max-repos N                 # Maximum repositories to analyse (default: 10)
--pages N                     # Commit pages per repository (default: 3)

# Commit selection patterns
--commits FORMAT              # Commit processing strategy (see below)

# Performance tuning
--multithreaded               # Enable concurrent processing
--no-multithreaded           # Single-threaded operation

Commit Selection Formats

• all - Process complete commit history (resource intensive)
• 15 - Analyse first 15 commits only
• [10,10] - Process first 10 and last 10 commits (recommended)
• [20,0] - Analyse first 20 commits only
• [0,5] - Process last 5 commits only

Operational Examples

# Maximum coverage investigation
eightarms target --speed slow --max-repos 50 --commits all

# Balanced reconnaissance
eightarms target --commits [20,10] --max-repos 15

# Stealth operation
eightarms target --speed slow --no-multithreaded

# Targeted analysis
eightarms target --pages 5 --commits [15,5] --max-repos 8

Technical Operation

Data Collection Process

EightArms operates through a structured reconnaissance methodology:

1. Target Enumeration - Identifies public repositories associated with the target username
2. Commit History Analysis - Systematically retrieves commit metadata from repository timelines
3. Patch Acquisition - Downloads commit patches containing author and contributor information
4. Email Extraction - Parses commit headers using pattern matching algorithms
5. Data Sanitisation - Applies filtering rules to remove invalid and system-generated addresses
6. Intelligence Compilation - Consolidates unique email addresses with source attribution

Information Sources

The tool extracts contact information from multiple commit metadata fields:

• Author Headers - Primary commit authors and their configured email addresses
• Committer Headers - Users who performed the actual commit operations
• Signed-off-by Lines - Contributors who formally reviewed and approved changes
• Co-authored-by Lines - Collaborative contributors and pair programming participants

Filtering Mechanisms

EightArms automatically excludes:

• GitHub noreply addresses (users.noreply.github.com)
• Malformed email addresses
• Common testing and placeholder addresses
• Obviously generated or temporary addresses

OSINT Applications

Anonymity Preservation

EightArms maintains operational security through several mechanisms:

• No Authentication Required - Operates using public GitHub interfaces without login
• Standard HTTP Requests - Uses legitimate web scraping patterns indistinguishable from normal browsing
• Configurable Request Timing - Adjustable delays to mimic human interaction patterns
• User Agent Rotation - Multiple browser identities to avoid fingerprinting
• No Persistent Sessions - Each request appears isolated without correlation markers

Important: EightArms does not provide IP address anonymity or network-level operational security.

For operational security during investigations:

• Use a VPN service to mask your IP address and geographic location
• Consider using Tor or other anonymity networks for sensitive investigations
• Implement proper operational security practices including separate investigation infrastructure
• Be aware that your requests may still be logged by GitHub regardless of EightArms' stealth features

EightArms focuses on avoiding application-level detection and rate limiting, but does not provide network anonymity. Users conducting sensitive investigations must implement their own network-level protection.

Result Analysis

Collected email addresses require verification and analysis:

• Cross-reference with other intelligence sources
• Analyze commit frequency patterns to identify primary addresses
• Examine repository diversity to assess collaboration networks
• Validate through breach databases and data leak repositories
• Consider temporal patterns in commit activity

Example Operation

         ______
        /      \ 
       /        \ 
       |        |
    )  o        o   ?        EightArms
   (    \      /    |        GitHub Email Intelligence
  * \*__/||||||\___/ _
   \____/ |||| \____/ `
   ,-.___/ || \__,-._
  /    ___/  \__
     _/         `--

CONFIGURATION
--------------------------------------------------
  Speed: Medium
  Delays: 0.5-1.5s
  Pages per repo: 3
  Commits: [10, 10]
  Multithreaded: Yes
  Workers: 4
--------------------------------------------------

Target: security_researcher

Found 12 repositories for security_researcher
Analysing 89 commit patches...
Analysed 89 patches

RESULTS
==================================================
Found 6 unique emails for security_researcher:

  • researcher@security-firm.com
  • john.doe@university.edu
  • contributor@opensec.org
  • analyst@redteam.co
  • security@consulting.net
  • research@infosec.institute

==================================================
Scan completed for security_researcher

Troubleshooting

No Results Obtained

• Target may have no public repositories or commit history
• Email addresses may be configured as private in GitHub settings
• Increase --max-repos parameter or use slow speed profile
• Verify target username accuracy

Rate Limiting Encountered

• Reduce request frequency using slow speed profile
• Disable concurrent processing with --no-multithreaded
• Implement delays between reconnaissance sessions
• Consider using different network egress points

Excessive Results

• Normal behavior - tool discovers entire development ecosystem
• Focus analysis on emails appearing across multiple repositories
• Apply additional filtering based on commit frequency
• Correlate with external intelligence sources for relevance assessment

Legal Notice

This tool is designed for legitimate security research, penetration testing, and OSINT investigations. Users must ensure compliance with applicable laws, terms of service, and ethical guidelines. The developers assume no responsibility for misuse or unauthorized activities.