sqlmapproject/sqlmap · error · SqlmapFilePathException

failed to create the shellcode ('%s')

Error message

failed to create the shellcode ('%s')

What it means

Error "failed to create the shellcode ('%s')" thrown in sqlmapproject/sqlmap.

Source

Thrown at lib/takeover/metasploit.py:613

        process = execute(self._payloadCmd, shell=True, stdin=PIPE, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE, close_fds=False)

        dataToStdout("\r[%s] [INFO] creation in progress " % time.strftime("%X"))
        pollProcess(process)
        payloadStderr = process.communicate()[1]

        match = re.search(b"(Total size:|Length:|succeeded with size|Final size of exe file:) ([\\d]+)", payloadStderr)

        if match:
            payloadSize = int(match.group(2))

            if extra == "BufferRegister=EAX":
                payloadSize = payloadSize // 2

            debugMsg = "the shellcode size is %d bytes" % payloadSize
            logger.debug(debugMsg)
        else:
            errMsg = "failed to create the shellcode ('%s')" % getText(payloadStderr).replace("\n", " ").replace("\r", "")
            raise SqlmapFilePathException(errMsg)

        self._shellcodeFP = open(self._shellcodeFilePath, "rb")
        self.shellcodeString = getText(self._shellcodeFP.read())
        self._shellcodeFP.close()

        os.unlink(self._shellcodeFilePath)

    def uploadShellcodeexec(self, web=False):
        self.shellcodeexecLocal = os.path.join(paths.SQLMAP_EXTRAS_PATH, "shellcodeexec")

        if Backend.isOs(OS.WINDOWS):
            self.shellcodeexecLocal = os.path.join(self.shellcodeexecLocal, "windows", "shellcodeexec.x%s.exe_" % "32")
            content = decloak(self.shellcodeexecLocal)
            if SHELLCODEEXEC_RANDOM_STRING_MARKER in content:
                content = content.replace(SHELLCODEEXEC_RANDOM_STRING_MARKER, getBytes(randomStr(len(SHELLCODEEXEC_RANDOM_STRING_MARKER))))
                _ = cloak(data=content)
                handle, self.shellcodeexecLocal = tempfile.mkstemp(suffix="%s.exe_" % "32")
                os.close(handle)

View on GitHub (pinned to 0a35b20e39)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/takeover/metasploit.py:613 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of sqlmapproject/sqlmap@0a35b20e39 (2026-08-26). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3b4689064c0a5157. Report an issue: GitHub.