Book Image

Learning Linux Binary Analysis

By : Ryan "elfmaster" O'Neill
Book Image

Learning Linux Binary Analysis

By: Ryan "elfmaster" O'Neill

Overview of this book

Learning Linux Binary Analysis is packed with knowledge and code that will teach you the inner workings of the ELF format, and the methods used by hackers and security analysts for virus analysis, binary patching, software protection and more. This book will start by taking you through UNIX/Linux object utilities, and will move on to teaching you all about the ELF specimen. You will learn about process tracing, and will explore the different types of Linux and UNIX viruses, and how you can make use of ELF Virus Technology to deal with them. The latter half of the book discusses the usage of Kprobe instrumentation for kernel hacking, code patching, and debugging. You will discover how to detect and disinfect kernel-mode rootkits, and move on to analyze static code. Finally, you will be walked through complex userspace memory infection analysis. This book will lead you into territory that is uncharted even by some experts; right into the world of the computer hacker.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Learning Linux Binary Analysis
Credits
About the Author
Acknowledgments
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Process image reconstruction – from the memory to the executable


One neat exercise to test our abilities with both the ELF format and ptrace is to design software that can reconstruct a process image back into a working executable. This is especially useful for the type of forensic work where we find a suspicious program running on the system. Extended core file snapshot (ECFS) technology is capable of this and extends the functionality into an innovative forensics and debugging format that is backward compatible with the traditional Linux core files' format. This is available at https://github.com/elfmaster/ecfs and is further documented in Chapter 8, ECFS – Extended Core File Snapshot Technology, in this book. Quenya also has this feature and is available for download at http://www.bitlackeys.org/projects/quenya_32bit.tgz.

Challenges for process-executable reconstruction

In order to reconstruct a process back into an executable we must first consider the challenges involved, as there are...