Standalone mode

Introduction

The most curious concept of Proxmark3 is standalone mode.

If you can power your device from battery, you can run small modules from the PM3 itself, without needing a computer running the PM3 client.

These modules are usually limited to a single function, eg: "read and emulate a Legic Prime RFID tag". This also means the user interface is limited to the LEDs and the button:

LEDS	BUTTON PRESS
4 leds (A,B,C,D)	short, long or multiple (twice)

All standalone modes use this differently, and it is hard to figure out what is what. Looking at the source code for each mode generally helps!

To enter the currently flashed standalone mode, press and hold the button until the LEDs play a short animation.

Warning: all standalone modes that target generic PM3 devices will lose data on power loss (or if the battery goes flat). Standalone modes that take advantage of RDV4-specific features can overcome this by storing data to flash.

Supported standalone modes

For any iceman based repo the current most popular public standalone modes is quite easy to compile and install.

In this repo its even easier than before. The default standalone mode is HF_MSDSAL.

Table of built-in standalone modes:

Module	Description	Author	Device target
LF_SKELETON	Standalone mode skeleton	Iceman1001	All
LF_EM4100EMUL	Simulate predefined EM4100 tags	Artyom Gnatyuk	All
LF_EM4100RSWB	Read/simulate/brute/clone EM4100 tags	Monster1024	All
LF_EM4100RWC	Read/simulate/clone EM4100 tags	Artyom Gnatyuk	All
LF_HIDBRUTE	HID corporate 1000 bruteforce	Federico dotta & Maurizio Agazzini	All
LF_ICEHID	LF HID / IOprox / AWID / EM4100 collector to flashmem	Iceman1001	RDV4
LF_PROXBRUTE	HID ProxII bruteforce	Brad Antoniewicz	All
LF_SAMYRUN	HID26 read/clone/sim	Samy Kamkar	All
HF_14ASNIFF	HF 14a sniff to flashmem	Michael Farrell	RDV4
HF_AVEFUL	MIFARE Ultralight read/simulation	Ave Ozkal	All
HF_BOG	HF 14a sniff ULC/ULEV1/NTAG auth to flashmem	Bogito	RDV4
HF_COLIN	MIFARE ultra fast sniff/sim/clone to flashmem	Colin Brigato	RDV4
HF_ICECLASS	iCLASS 4-1 mode sim/read & dump/loclass/glitch & config to flashmem	Iceman1001	RDV4
HF_LEGIC	Read/simulate Legic Prime tags (RDV4: + save to flashmem)	Stefanie Hofmann & Uli Heilmeier	All / RDV4 *
HF_MATTYRUN	MIFARE sniff/clone	Matías A. Ré Medina	All
HF_MSDSAL	(default) Read and emulate MSD Visa cards	Salvador Mendoza	All
HF_TCPRST	IKEA Rothult ST25TA, Standalone Master Key Dump/Emulation	Nick Draffen	Yes
HF_YOUNG	MIFARE sniff/simulation	Craig Young	Yes

Warning: some standalone modes takes advantage of RDV4 specific features, which may not work on non-RDV4 devices. You will most likely need to read the source code to understand what is supported.

Installing a different standalone module

The standalone module can be switched in the file Makefile.platform. Only one standalone module can be chosen at a time.

1. Copy Makefile.platform.sample to Makefile.platform

2. Edit the STANDALONE variable inside Makefile.platform. You need to uncomment it and chose a standalone mode. For example:

   PLATFORM=PM3RDV4
   #PLATFORM_EXTRAS=BTADDON
   STANDALONE=LF_EM4100RWC

After changing your standalone mode, don't forget to build and flash the code to the Proxmark3:

1. make clean
2. make -j
3. ./pm3-flash-fullimage

Writing your own

See: https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/proxmark3/blob/master/armsrc/Standalone/readme.md

Additional information

Some members of our community have produced text and video walk-throughs of these modules:

• @Hacker warehouse did a nice video on youtube.
• Troy also has a nice image of the leds for LF_SAMYRUN.
• TinkerSec blogged about HID Prox badge cloning.
• Iceman made walk-through videos of the HF_LEGIC and HF_ICECLASS modules.
• quentynblog made a video about the HF_TCPRST (IKEA Rothult) standalone module.