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wtf is mifareclassictool?

mygod/mifareclassictool — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-08-04 · repo last pushed 2023-08-17

1Audience · developerComplexity · 3/5DormantLicenseSetup · moderate

TL;DR

Free Android app for reading, writing, cloning, and analyzing MIFARE Classic RFID cards using your phone's NFC. You need the card's cryptographic keys beforehand, the app doesn't crack them for you.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((MIFARE Classic Tool))
    What it does
      Read RFID tag data
      Write and clone tags
      Reset tags to factory
      Analyze tag structure
    Requirements
      Android phone with NFC
      MIFARE Classic support
      Known cryptographic keys
      Hex number familiarity
    Use cases
      Clone building access cards
      Back up RFID tag data
      Study tag data structure
      Write to magic tags
    Audience
      Security researchers
      RFID hobbyists
      Access system admins
    License and origin
      Open source GPLv3
      Built by Gerhard Klostermeier
      SySS GmbH and Aalen University

Code map

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Clone a building access card to a spare blank tag so you have a backup.

REASON 2

Back up the raw data from an RFID fob before it stops working.

REASON 3

Inspect how a MIFARE Classic tag is structured for security research or auditing.

REASON 4

Write data to special magic tags that allow overriding read-only areas for a perfect clone.

What's in the stack?

AndroidJavaNFC

How it stacks up

mygod/mifareclassictool0xallam/posthog0xallam/search-engine
Stars111
LanguagePythonC++
Last pushed2023-08-172026-03-262023-08-23
MaintenanceDormantMaintainedDormant
Setup difficultymoderatemoderatehard
Complexity3/53/53/5
Audiencedeveloperpm founderdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires an Android phone with NFC hardware that specifically supports MIFARE Classic, plus the cryptographic keys for the tag you want to read.

Free to use, modify, and share, but any derivative works must also be open source under the same GPL license.

Wtf does this do

MIFARE Classic Tool (MCT) is a free Android app that lets you read, write, clone, and analyze MIFARE Classic RFID tags, the small, chip-based cards and fobs commonly used for building access, public transit, and other RFID-based systems. You tap a tag against your phone's NFC reader, and the app shows you the raw data stored on it, lets you edit that data, write it to another tag, or reset a tag to its factory state. It's available on Google Play, F-Droid, and as a direct APK download. To use it, you need an Android phone with NFC hardware that supports MIFARE Classic (some phones don't, due to their NFC chip). You also need the cryptographic keys for the specific tag you want to read. The app can't crack or hack these keys, you have to obtain them through other tools or already know them. Once you have keys, you put them in a text file, and the app tries each key against every section of the tag to read as much data as possible. All data is shown and entered as raw hexadecimal numbers, so some familiarity with hex is expected. The app is built for people who already have at least a basic understanding of MIFARE Classic technology, think security researchers, hobbyists, or anyone who works with RFID access systems and wants to inspect or back up what's stored on a card. For example, if you manage building access cards and want to clone one to a spare, or if you're studying how a particular tag is structured, this tool gives you direct, low-level access to the data. It also supports special "magic" tags that allow writing to normally read-only areas, enabling fully correct clones. A few notable tradeoffs: the app deliberately avoids brute-force attacks (too slow given the protocol) and stays focused on raw data rather than offering polished workflows for everyday tasks like saving a URL to a tag. It's open source under the GPLv3, originally developed in 2012/2013 by Gerhard Klostermeier in cooperation with SySS GmbH and Aalen University.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
I have MIFARE Classic RFID cards at work and want to back them up. How do I use MIFARE Classic Tool on my Android phone to read and save the data from a tag, and what format should the key file be in?
Prompt 2
I cloned a MIFARE Classic tag using MIFARE Classic Tool but the clone doesn't work in my access reader. Could the issue be that my blank tag isn't a magic tag, and how do I find out if it is?
Prompt 3
Help me create a text file of known MIFARE Classic keys for MIFARE Classic Tool to try against all sectors of my card. What is the standard key format and layout the app expects?
Prompt 4
I'm getting unreadable sectors when scanning my MIFARE Classic card with MIFARE Classic Tool. How can I tell which keys I'm missing, and what external tools can help me find them since MCT doesn't crack keys?

Frequently asked questions

wtf is mifareclassictool?

Free Android app for reading, writing, cloning, and analyzing MIFARE Classic RFID cards using your phone's NFC. You need the card's cryptographic keys beforehand, the app doesn't crack them for you.

Is mifareclassictool actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2023-08-17).

What license does mifareclassictool use?

Free to use, modify, and share, but any derivative works must also be open source under the same GPL license.

How hard is mifareclassictool to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is mifareclassictool for?

Mainly developer.

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