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atheris

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Atheris is a coverage-guided Python fuzzer based on libFuzzer. Use for fuzzing pure Python code and Python C extensions.

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plugins/testing-handbook-skills/skills/atheris/SKILL.md

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January 24, 2026

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Instructions

# Atheris

Atheris is a coverage-guided Python fuzzer built on libFuzzer. It enables fuzzing of both pure Python code and Python C extensions with integrated AddressSanitizer support for detecting memory corruption issues.

## When to Use

| Fuzzer | Best For | Complexity |
|--------|----------|------------|
| Atheris | Python code and C extensions | Low-Medium |
| Hypothesis | Property-based testing | Low |
| python-afl | AFL-style fuzzing | Medium |

**Choose Atheris when:**
- Fuzzing pure Python code with coverage guidance
- Testing Python C extensions for memory corruption
- Integration with libFuzzer ecosystem is desired
- AddressSanitizer support is needed

## Quick Start

```python
import sys
import atheris

@atheris.instrument_func
def test_one_input(data: bytes):
    if len(data) == 4:
        if data[0] == 0x46:  # "F"
            if data[1] == 0x55:  # "U"
                if data[2] == 0x5A:  # "Z"
                    if data[3] == 0x5A:  # "Z"
                        raise RuntimeError("You caught me")

def main():
    atheris.Setup(sys.argv, test_one_input)
    atheris.Fuzz()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()
```

Run:
```bash
python fuzz.py
```

## Installation

Atheris supports 32-bit and 64-bit Linux, and macOS. We recommend fuzzing on Linux because it's simpler to manage and often faster.

### Prerequisites

- Python 3.7 or later
- Recent version of clang (preferably [latest release](https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/releases))
- For Docker users: [Docker Desktop](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/)

### Linux/macOS

```bash
uv pip install atheris
```

### Docker Environment (Recommended)

For a fully operational Linux environment with all dependencies configured:

```dockerfile
# https://hub.docker.com/_/python
ARG PYTHON_VERSION=3.11

FROM python:$PYTHON_VERSION-slim-bookworm

RUN python --version

RUN apt update && apt install -y \
    ca-certificates \
    wget \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# LLVM builds version 15-1

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