Short Tutorial: Executable and Linkable Format [Updated 2023]
Executable and Linkable Format (ELF) is a default format on Linux based systems. It defines the structure of binary files used in Linux, Unix, OpenBSD etc.
Remember one thing, ELF is mainly used for or we can say that common standard for:
- shared libraries
- object files
- core dumps
- executable files
Components of ELF files
Header file <elf.h> defines the format of ELF files.
man elf
ELF is broadly divided into the following components:
| executable header |
| program headers (optional) |
| sections |
| section headers (optional) |
Tools used to analyze ELF binaries
| Tool Name | Description |
| file | popular Linux utility to know the information about the format of binary Usage: file <bin> |
| readelf | UNIX utility to identify information of binary Usage: $readelf -a test.o |
| elfdump | extract information of ELF files |
| objdump | display information of object files (one or more) |
| elfutils | collection of binary tools to analyze and manipulate ELF files |
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Disclaimer: This tutorial is for educational purpose only. Individual is solely responsible for any illegal act.
