Book Image

Learning Linux Binary Analysis

By : Ryan "elfmaster" O'Neill
5 (1)
Book Image

Learning Linux Binary Analysis

5 (1)
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

The ECFS reference guide


The ECFS file format is both simple and complicated! The ELF file format is complex in general, and ECFS inherits those complexities from a structural point of view. On the other side of the token, ECFS helps make navigating a process image quite easy if you know what specific features it has and what to look for.

In previous sections, we gave some real-life examples of utilizing ECFS that demonstrated many of its primary features. However, it is also important to have a simple and direct reference to what those characteristics are, such as which custom sections exist and what exactly they mean. In this section, we will provide a reference for the ECFS snapshot files.

ECFS symbol table reconstruction

The ECFS handler uses advanced understanding of the ELF binary format and even the dwarf debugging format—specifically with the dynamic segment and the GNU_EH_FRAME segment—to fully reconstruct the symbol tables of the program. Even if the original binary has been stripped...