theharvester
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Description:
Gather materials from public sources (for pen testers)
Type: Formula  |  Latest Version: 4.8.2@1  |  Tracked Since: Nov 5, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: Security
Tags: osint reconnaissance pentesting security information-gathering
Install: brew install theharvester
About:
TheHarvester is an OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) reconnaissance tool designed to gather emails, subdomains, hosts, employee names, and open ports from various public sources like search engines, PGP key servers, and the Shodan computer search engine. Its primary value is in the early stages of a penetration test or security assessment to map out a target's external attack surface.
Key Features:
  • Gathers emails, subdomains, and hostnames from public sources
  • Supports numerous data sources including Google, Bing, LinkedIn, and Shodan
  • Performs DNS brute-forcing and reverse DNS lookups
  • Outputs results in HTML, XML, and CSV formats for analysis
Use Cases:
  • Penetration testing reconnaissance and footprinting
  • Security assessment to discover exposed company assets
  • Gathering contact information for security awareness campaigns
Alternatives:
  • recon-ng – More modular framework with a database for persistent reconnaissance data
  • maltego – Commercial, graphical tool for link analysis and data visualization
Version History
Detected Version Rev Change Commit
Dec 27, 2025 5:49pm 4.8.2 1 VERSION_BUMP 424b2618
Nov 5, 2025 6:44am 1 VERSION_BUMP 1f514b05
Nov 5, 2025 6:44am 1 VERSION_BUMP 872adaf6
Sep 12, 2024 9:58pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 929c25c9
Feb 17, 2024 5:45pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 1ec15217
Feb 5, 2024 7:19pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 4f6e4783
Dec 20, 2023 11:05am 0 VERSION_BUMP 7ed6f526
Dec 19, 2023 8:24pm 0 VERSION_BUMP e8216174
Sep 24, 2023 8:25pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 6d1ad1bf
Aug 12, 2023 7:19pm 0 VERSION_BUMP d80a96b0
Aug 6, 2023 2:31am 0 VERSION_BUMP 66741fcb
May 20, 2023 5:48am 0 VERSION_BUMP 43c1c822