Burpsuite Project Parser

Burpsuite Project Parser

Search and extract data from Burp Suite project files

Category: design Source: trailofbits/skills

What Is This?

Overview

The Trailofbits/burpsuite Project Parser is a command-line utility designed to parse, search, and extract structured data from Burp Suite project files. Burp Suite stores captured HTTP traffic, scanner findings, and session data in a proprietary binary format, making it difficult to access this information programmatically without the GUI. This tool bridges that gap by providing direct access to the underlying data through a scriptable interface.

Security engineers and penetration testers frequently accumulate large Burp Suite project files during assessments. Manually reviewing these files through the Burp Suite interface is time-consuming, especially when searching for specific endpoints, parameters, or response patterns across hundreds or thousands of requests. The parser enables automated extraction and filtering of this data without requiring Burp Suite to be running.

The tool is developed and maintained by Trail of Bits, a well-regarded security research firm. It is built to integrate into existing security workflows, allowing teams to pipe extracted data into other tools, generate custom reports, or perform bulk analysis on captured traffic from multiple project files.

Who Should Use This

  • Penetration testers who need to extract and analyze HTTP traffic data from completed Burp Suite assessments
  • Security engineers building automated pipelines that process Burp Suite output alongside other security tooling
  • Bug bounty hunters who want to search large project files for specific endpoints or parameter patterns
  • Red team operators who need to review captured session data without launching the full Burp Suite application
  • Developers auditing their own applications by reviewing traffic captured during security testing sessions
  • Security managers who need to generate structured reports from raw Burp Suite project data

Why Use It?

Problems It Solves

  • Burp Suite project files are stored in a binary format that is not directly readable by standard text processing tools, making programmatic access difficult without this parser
  • Manually searching through large project files in the Burp Suite GUI is slow and does not support bulk operations or scripted queries
  • Extracting specific request or response data for use in other tools requires tedious copy-paste workflows when done through the interface
  • Teams working with multiple project files from different assessments have no straightforward way to aggregate or compare data without a parsing layer
  • Generating custom reports from Burp Suite data typically requires manual effort or expensive enterprise features

Core Highlights

  • Parses Burp Suite project files directly from the command line without requiring Burp Suite to be installed or running
  • Supports searching across request and response data using flexible query parameters
  • Outputs structured data that can be piped into other tools or saved to files for further processing
  • Enables extraction of specific fields such as URLs, headers, parameters, and response codes
  • Integrates cleanly into shell scripts and CI/CD pipelines
  • Handles large project files efficiently without loading the entire dataset into memory at once
  • Maintained by Trail of Bits with a focus on reliability and correctness

How to Use It?

Basic Usage

Install the tool using pip and run it against a Burp Suite project file:

pip install burpsuite-project-parser
burpsuite-parser --file project.burp --list-requests

To extract all captured URLs from a project file:

burpsuite-parser --file project.burp --extract urls

To filter requests by a specific host:

burpsuite-parser --file project.burp --host example.com --extract requests

Specific Scenarios

Scenario 1: Extracting all POST requests for parameter analysis

burpsuite-parser --file project.burp --method POST --extract requests > post_requests.json

This outputs all POST requests in JSON format, which can then be processed with tools like jq to identify parameter names and values.

Scenario 2: Searching for specific response patterns

burpsuite-parser --file project.burp --response-contains "Authorization" --extract responses

Real-World Examples

A penetration tester finishing an engagement can run the parser to extract all unique endpoints discovered during the assessment and feed them directly into a reporting template. A security engineer can integrate the parser into a post-assessment pipeline that automatically flags requests containing sensitive parameter names. A bug bounty hunter can search a large project file for all endpoints returning 500 errors, narrowing the focus for further manual testing.

Important Notes

Requirements

  • Python 3.7 or higher must be installed on the system
  • Burp Suite project files must be saved in the standard .burp format
  • Sufficient disk space and memory to handle large project files during parsing