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How to fix a corrupted project file?

Filip | Last updated: Sep 01, 2017 02:37AM UTC

Hey, I had a Burp session running when my laptop restarted itself overnight. After starting new session and choosing and existing project file which was in use before laptop restarted I get information that "selected project file appears to be corrupt and cannot be opened". After specifying new or existing empty file from a file chooser and clicking the repair button Burp returns "burp.ake: java.io.FileNotFoundException: /tmp/burpNNNNNNNNNNN.tmp/1 (No such file or directory)" error message. Is there any way to get the corrupted project file repaired?

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Sep 01, 2017 09:24AM UTC

Could you provide us with some further information please Filip: What OS are you using? Was the machine scheduled to shut down or did it crash? Was the machine in sleep mode? Please can you send us your debug ID (at User options / Misc / Performance feedback)?

Burp User | Last updated: Sep 01, 2017 10:24AM UTC

I'm using macOS Sierra. It wasn't a scheduled restart and I'm not sure what could cause it. The machine most likely was in a sleep mode. The debug ID is 0ny1r4yae6ipeyfyzthv:gc7l

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Sep 01, 2017 10:44AM UTC

This problem has been noted by other Mac users. They have been able to work around the issue by disabling sleep or gracefully shutting down Burp before putting the computer to sleep. Additionally, we have added a story to our development backlog to investigate further.

Burp User | Last updated: Sep 01, 2017 01:15PM UTC

Thank you for providing some context information on the issue. As per the initial question, did you try to find a way to fix the structure of the project files that ended up corrupted in this way? I can provide the file for analysis if that would help. Can you advise what's the possible reason for the repair option not working? Can you provide technical information about the format of the project files? The corrupted project file is still there and the size seems right. I want to determine to what extent the file has been corrupted and if it's really unrecoverable.

PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Sep 01, 2017 01:27PM UTC

Hi Borys, Thanks for the feedback. We will be restoring that feature - for project files - in the near future. We're just waiting for the Save Project feature to get some maturity in the wild.

Burp User | Last updated: Sep 01, 2017 11:53PM UTC

That's why this old option "Save backup every NNN minutes" should be returned :). It can be very useful too when project is big and it's constantly changing (fe. deleting some data) and you want to read files which you don't have in last project file.

Burp User | Last updated: Oct 05, 2017 04:51AM UTC

Hi. The same situation occurred again. Any update on this? I.e. repairing files or bringing back the save backup option?

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Oct 05, 2017 10:07AM UTC

Hi Filip We don't have any updates at the moment. We are still working on improvements to this functionality.

Burp User | Last updated: Nov 07, 2017 12:37PM UTC

While you keep working on improvements you may want to incorporate these bits / logic in your "auto fix" feature - http://sprunge.us/XGff?l

PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Nov 07, 2017 01:21PM UTC

Hi Filip, Thanks for submitting your script. Sorry to hear you think we were unprofessional. Do you get better results with your script than the built-in project recovery? The built-in recovery starts by doing exactly what you've done, then tries to trim corrupted data. Perhaps we are being too aggressive in the trimming. Please let us know if you need any further assistance.

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Dec 08, 2022 11:14AM UTC

Hi Filip. We've been discussing project file corruption with the team following our discussion on LinkedIn. We've recently added a warning along the lines of the following: "The project file recovery tool enables you to recover data from corrupted project files. It recovers as much data as possible from the damaged project file and stores it in a new project. Please note that the amount of data that can be recovered depends on how badly corrupted the original project file is. Please be aware that we may not be able to recover all data." I've also created a ticket to discuss if we can improve Project File Size and Reliability. If you have any corrupt project files that you can share, you can email us at support@portswigger.net. We'll provide an update following further internal discussion.

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Jul 27, 2023 11:47AM UTC

Hi Filip. In recent months we've added better telemetry for project file corruption issues, making it easier to obtain project data corruption information. While this hasn't yet led to significant product changes, we still consider this an important issue and we're continuing to monitor user feedback.

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