diff --git a/pkg/archive/archive.go b/pkg/archive/archive.go
index c4bd936b..14c91450 100644
--- a/pkg/archive/archive.go
+++ b/pkg/archive/archive.go
@@ -32,12 +32,15 @@ func extractNestedArchive(
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to determine file type: %w", err)
 	}
-	if ft != nil && ft.MIME == "application/zlib" {
+	switch {
+	case ft != nil && ft.MIME == "application/x-upx":
 		isArchive = true
-	}
-	if _, ok := programkind.ArchiveMap[programkind.GetExt(f)]; ok {
+	case ft != nil && ft.MIME == "application/zlib":
+		isArchive = true
+	case programkind.ArchiveMap[programkind.GetExt(f)]:
 		isArchive = true
 	}
+
 	//nolint:nestif // ignore complexity of 8
 	if isArchive {
 		// Ensure the file was extracted and exists
@@ -52,11 +55,15 @@ func extractNestedArchive(
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to determine file type: %w", err)
 		}
-		if ft != nil && ft.MIME == "application/zlib" {
+		switch {
+		case ft != nil && ft.MIME == "application/x-upx":
+			extract = ExtractUPX
+		case ft != nil && ft.MIME == "application/zlib":
 			extract = ExtractZlib
-		} else {
+		default:
 			extract = ExtractionMethod(programkind.GetExt(fullPath))
 		}
+
 		err = extract(ctx, d, fullPath)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("extract nested archive: %w", err)
@@ -103,11 +110,16 @@ func ExtractArchiveToTempDir(ctx context.Context, path string) (string, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to determine file type: %w", err)
 	}
-	if ft != nil && ft.MIME == "application/zlib" {
+
+	switch {
+	case ft != nil && ft.MIME == "application/zlib":
 		extract = ExtractZlib
-	} else {
+	case ft != nil && ft.MIME == "application/x-upx":
+		extract = ExtractUPX
+	default:
 		extract = ExtractionMethod(programkind.GetExt(path))
 	}
+
 	if extract == nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("unsupported archive type: %s", path)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/archive/upx.go b/pkg/archive/upx.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f4f7995d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/archive/upx.go
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+package archive
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"github.com/chainguard-dev/clog"
+)
+
+var ErrUPXNotFound = errors.New("UPX executable not found in PATH")
+
+func upxInstalled() error {
+	_, err := exec.LookPath("upx")
+	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, exec.ErrNotFound) {
+			return ErrUPXNotFound
+		}
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to check for UPX executable: %w", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func ExtractUPX(ctx context.Context, d, f string) error {
+	// Check if UPX is installed
+	if err := upxInstalled(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	logger := clog.FromContext(ctx).With("dir", d, "file", f)
+	logger.Debug("extracting upx")
+
+	// Check if the file is valid
+	_, err := os.Stat(f)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to stat file: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	gf, err := os.Open(f)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to open file: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer gf.Close()
+
+	base := filepath.Base(f)
+	target := filepath.Join(d, base[:len(base)-len(filepath.Ext(base))])
+
+	// copy the file to the temporary directory before decompressing
+	tf, err := os.ReadFile(f)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	err = os.WriteFile(target, tf, 0o600)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	cmd := exec.Command("upx", "-d", target)
+	if _, err := cmd.CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to decompress upx file: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/programkind/programkind.go b/pkg/programkind/programkind.go
index f0d700a7..4e547af5 100644
--- a/pkg/programkind/programkind.go
+++ b/pkg/programkind/programkind.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 package programkind
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ var ArchiveMap = map[string]bool{
 	".tar.gz": true,
 	".tar.xz": true,
 	".tgz":    true,
+	".upx":    true,
 	".whl":    true,
 	".xz":     true,
 	".zip":    true,
@@ -86,6 +88,7 @@ var supportedKind = map[string]string{
 	"sh":      "application/x-sh",
 	"so":      "application/x-sharedlib",
 	"ts":      "application/typescript",
+	"upx":     "application/x-upx",
 	"whl":     "application/x-wheel+zip",
 	"yaml":    "",
 	"yara":    "",
@@ -99,8 +102,17 @@ type FileType struct {
 }
 
 // IsSupportedArchive returns whether a path can be processed by our archive extractor.
+// UPX files are an edge case since they may or may not even have an extension that can be referenced.
 func IsSupportedArchive(path string) bool {
-	return ArchiveMap[GetExt(path)]
+	if _, isValidArchive := ArchiveMap[GetExt(path)]; isValidArchive {
+		return true
+	}
+	if ft, err := File(path); err == nil && ft != nil {
+		if ft.MIME == "application/x-upx" {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
 }
 
 // getExt returns the extension of a file path
@@ -206,6 +218,10 @@ func File(path string) (*FileType, error) {
 	// final strategy: DIY matching where mimetype is too strict.
 	s := string(hdr[:])
 	switch {
+	// Check for UPX files before we do the ELF check
+	// We're looking for UPX! throughout the header since it may not be in the first 2-4 bytes
+	case bytes.Contains(hdr[:], []byte{'\x55', '\x50', '\x58', '\x21'}):
+		return Path(".upx"), nil
 	case hdr[0] == '\x7f' && hdr[1] == 'E' || hdr[2] == 'L' || hdr[3] == 'F':
 		return Path(".elf"), nil
 	case strings.Contains(s, "<?php"):