Elf (5) Linux Manual Page

elf – format of Executable and Linking Format (ELF) files

Synopsis

#include <elf.h>

Description

The header file <elf.h> defines the format of ELF executable binary files. Amongst these files are normal executable files, relocatable object files, core files, and shared objects. An executable file using the ELF file format consists of an ELF header, followed by a program header table or a section header table, or both. The ELF header is always at offset zero of the file. The program header table and the section header table’s offset in the file are defined in the ELF header. The two tables describe the rest of the particularities of the file. This header file describes the above mentioned headers as C structures and also includes structures for dynamic sections, relocation sections and symbol tables.

Basic types

The following types are used for N-bit architectures (N=32,64, ElfN stands for Elf32 or Elf64, uintN_t stands for uint32_t or uint64_t): ElfN_Addr Unsigned program address, uintN_t ElfN_Off Unsigned file offset, uintN_t ElfN_Section Unsigned section index, uint16_t ElfN_Versym Unsigned version symbol information, uint16_t Elf_Byte unsigned char ElfN_Half uint16_t ElfN_Sword int32_t ElfN_Word uint32_t ElfN_Sxword int64_t ElfN_Xword uint64_t (Note: the *BSD terminology is a bit different. There, Elf64_Half is twice as large as Elf32_Half, and Elf64Quarter is used for uint16_t. In order to avoid confusion these types are replaced by explicit ones in the below.) All data structures that the file format defines follow the "natural" size and alignment guidelines for the relevant class. If necessary, data structures contain explicit padding to ensure 4-byte alignment for 4-byte objects, to force structure sizes to a multiple of 4, and so on.

ELF header (Ehdr)

The ELF header is described by the type Elf32_Ehdr or Elf64_Ehdr: desc = note->n_descsz == 0 ? NULL :
memory + sizeof(*note) + ALIGN_UP(note->n_namesz, 4);
/* The next note follows both (with alignment) */
next_note = memory + sizeof(*note) +
ALIGN_UP(note->n_namesz, 4) +
ALIGN_UP(note->n_descsz, 4); typedef struct {
    unsigned char e_ident[EI_NIDENT];
    uint16_t      e_type;
    uint16_t      e_machine;
    uint32_t      e_version;
    ElfN_Addr     e_entry;
    ElfN_Off      e_phoff;
    ElfN_Off      e_shoff;
    uint32_t      e_flags;
    uint16_t      e_ehsize;
    uint16_t      e_phentsize;
    uint16_t      e_phnum;
    uint16_t      e_shentsize;
    uint16_t      e_shnum;
    uint16_t      e_shstrndx; } ElfN_Ehdr; The fields have the following meanings:

e_ident

This array of bytes specifies how to interpret the file, independent of the processor or the file’s remaining contents. Within this array everything is named by macros, which start with the prefix EI_ and may contain values which start with the prefix ELF. The following macros are defined:

EI_MAG0

The first byte of the magic number. It must be filled with ELFMAG0. (0: 0x7f)

EI_MAG1

The second byte of the magic number. It must be filled with ELFMAG1. (1: ‘E’)

EI_MAG2

The third byte of the magic number. It must be filled with ELFMAG2. (2: ‘L’)

EI_MAG3

The fourth byte of the magic number. It must be filled with ELFMAG3. (3: ‘F’)

EI_CLASS

The fifth byte identifies the architecture for this binary:

ELFCLASSNONE: This class is invalid.
ELFCLASS32: This defines the 32-bit architecture. It supports machines with files and virtual address spaces up to 4 Gigabytes.
ELFCLASS64: This defines the 64-bit architecture.

EI_DATA

The sixth byte specifies the data encoding of the processor-specific data in the file. Currently, these encodings are supported:

ELFDATANONE: Unknown data format.
ELFDATA2LSB: Two’s complement, little-endian.
ELFDATA2MSB: Two’s complement, big-endian.

EI_VERSION

The seventh byte is the version number of the ELF specification:

EV_NONE: Invalid version.
EV_CURRENT: Current version.

EI_OSABI

The eighth byte identifies the operating system and ABI to which the object is targeted. Some fields in other ELF structures have flags and values that have platform-specific meanings; the interpretation of those fields is determined by the value of this byte. For example:

ELFOSABI_NONE: Same as ELFOSABI_SYSV
ELFOSABI_SYSV: UNIX System V ABI
ELFOSABI_HPUX: HP-UX ABI
ELFOSABI_NETBSD: NetBSD ABI
ELFOSABI_LINUX: Linux ABI
ELFOSABI_SOLARIS: Solaris ABI
ELFOSABI_IRIX: IRIX ABI
ELFOSABI_FREEBSD: FreeBSD ABI
ELFOSABI_TRU64: TRU64 UNIX ABI
ELFOSABI_ARM: ARM architecture ABI
ELFOSABI_STANDALONE: Stand-alone (embedded) ABI

EI_ABIVERSION

The ninth byte identifies the version of the ABI to which the object is targeted. This field is used to distinguish among incompatible versions of an ABI. The interpretation of this version number is dependent on the ABI identified by the EI_OSABI field. Applications conforming to this specification use the value 0.

EI_PAD

Start of padding. These bytes are reserved and set to zero. Programs which read them should ignore them. The value for EI_PAD will change in the future if currently unused bytes are given meanings.

EI_NIDENT

The size of the e_ident array.

e_type

This member of the structure identifies the object file type:

ET_NONE: An unknown type.
ET_REL: A relocatable file.
ET_EXEC: An executable file.
ET_DYN: A shared object.
ET_CORE: A core file.

e_machine

This member specifies the required architecture for an individual file. For example:

EM_NONE: An unknown machine
EM_M32: AT&T WE 32100
EM_SPARC: Sun Microsystems SPARC
EM_386: Intel 80386
EM_68K: Motorola 68000
EM_88K: Motorola 88000
EM_860: Intel 80860
EM_MIPS: MIPS RS3000 (big-endian only)
EM_PARISC: HP/PA
EM_SPARC32PLUS: SPARC with enhanced instruction set
EM_PPC: PowerPC
EM_PPC64: PowerPC 64-bit
EM_S390: IBM S/390
EM_ARM: Advanced RISC Machines
EM_SH: Renesas SuperH
EM_SPARCV9: SPARC v9 64-bit
EM_IA_64: Intel Itanium
EM_X86_64: AMD x86-64
EM_VAX: DEC Vax

e_version

This member identifies the file version:

EV_NONE: Invalid version
EV_CURRENT: Current version

e_entry

This member gives the virtual address to which the system first transfers control, thus starting the process. If the file has no associated entry point, this member holds zero.

e_phoff

This member holds the program header table’s file offset in bytes. If the file has no program header table, this member holds zero.

e_shoff

This member holds the section header table’s file offset in bytes. If the file has no section header table, this member holds zero.

e_flags

This member holds processor-specific flags associated with the file. Flag names take the form EF_`machine_flag’. Currently, no flags have been defined.

e_ehsize

This member holds the ELF header’s size in bytes.

e_phentsize

This member holds the size in bytes of one entry in the file’s program header table; all entries are the same size.

e_phnum

This member holds the number of entries in the program header table. Thus the product of e_phentsize and e_phnum gives the table’s size in bytes. If a file has no program header, e_phnum holds the value zero.

If the number of entries in the program header table is larger than or equal to PN_XNUM (0xffff), this member holds PN_XNUM (0xffff) and the real number of entries in the program header table is held in the sh_info member of the initial entry in section header table. Otherwise, the sh_info member of the initial entry contains the value zero.

PN_XNUM: This is defined as 0xffff, the largest number e_phnum can have, specifying where the actual number of program headers is assigned.

e_shentsize

This member holds a sections header’s size in bytes. A section header is one entry in the section header table; all entries are the same size.

e_shnum

This member holds the number of entries in the section header table. Thus the product of e_shentsize and e_shnum gives the section header table’s size in bytes. If a file has no section header table, e_shnum holds the value of zero.

If the number of entries in the section header table is larger than or equal to SHN_LORESERVE (0xff00), e_shnum holds the value zero and the real number of entries in the section header table is held in the sh_size member of the initial entry in section header table. Otherwise, the sh_size member of the initial entry in the section header table holds the value zero.

e_shstrndx

This member holds the section header table index of the entry associated with the section name string table. If the file has no section name string table, this member holds the value SHN_UNDEF.

If the index of section name string table section is larger than or equal to SHN_LORESERVE (0xff00), this member holds SHN_XINDEX (0xffff) and the real index of the section name string table section is held in the sh_link member of the initial entry in section header table. Otherwise, the sh_link member of the initial entry in section header table contains the value zero.

Program header (Phdr)

An executable or shared object file’s program header table is an array of structures, each describing a segment or other information the system needs to prepare the program for execution. An object file segment contains one or more sections. Program headers are meaningful only for executable and shared object files. A file specifies its own program header size with the ELF header’s e_phentsize and e_phnum members. The ELF program header is described by the type Elf32_Phdr or Elf64_Phdr depending on the architecture: typedef struct {
    uint32_t   p_type;
    Elf32_Off  p_offset;
    Elf32_Addr p_vaddr;
    Elf32_Addr p_paddr;
    uint32_t   p_filesz;
    uint32_t   p_memsz;
    uint32_t   p_flags;
    uint32_t   p_align; } Elf32_Phdr; typedef struct {
    uint32_t   p_type;
    uint32_t   p_flags;
    Elf64_Off  p_offset;
    Elf64_Addr p_vaddr;
    Elf64_Addr p_paddr;
    uint64_t   p_filesz;
    uint64_t   p_memsz;
    uint64_t   p_align; } Elf64_Phdr; The main difference between the 32-bit and the 64-bit program header lies in the location of the p_flags member in the total struct.

p_type

This member of the structure indicates what kind of segment this array element describes or how to interpret the array element’s information.

PT_NULL: The array element is unused and the other members’ values are undefined. This lets the program header have ignored entries.
PT_LOAD: The array element specifies a loadable segment, described by p_filesz and p_memsz. The bytes from the file are mapped to the beginning of the memory segment. If the segment’s memory size p_memsz is larger than the file size p_filesz, the "extra" bytes are defined to hold the value 0 and to follow the segment’s initialized area. The file size may not be larger than the memory size. Loadable segment entries in the program header table appear in ascending order, sorted on the p_vaddr member.
PT_DYNAMIC: The array element specifies dynamic linking information.
PT_INTERP: The array element specifies the location and size of a null-terminated pathname to invoke as an interpreter. This segment type is meaningful only for executable files (though it may occur for shared objects). However it may not occur more than once in a file. If it is present, it must precede any loadable segment entry.
PT_NOTE: The array element specifies the location of notes (ElfN_Nhdr).
PT_SHLIB: This segment type is reserved but has unspecified semantics. Programs that contain an array element of this type do not conform to the ABI.
PT_PHDR: The array element, if present, specifies the location and size of the program header table itself, both in the file and in the memory image of the program. This segment type may not occur more than once in a file. Moreover, it may occur only if the program header table is part of the memory image of the program. If it is present, it must precede any loadable segment entry.
PT_LOPROC, PT_HIPROC: Values in the inclusive range [PT_LOPROC, PT_HIPROC] are reserved for processor-specific semantics.
PT_GNU_STACK: GNU extension which is used by the Linux kernel to control the state of the stack via the flags set in the p_flags member.

p_offset

This member holds the offset from the beginning of the file at which the first byte of the segment resides.

p_vaddr

This member holds the virtual address at which the first byte of the segment resides in memory.

p_paddr

On systems for which physical addressing is relevant, this member is reserved for the segment’s physical address. Under BSD this member is not used and must be zero.

p_filesz

This member holds the number of bytes in the file image of the segment. It may be zero.

p_memsz

This member holds the number of bytes in the memory image of the segment. It may be zero.

p_flags

This member holds a bit mask of flags relevant to the segment:

PF_X: An executable segment.
PF_W: A writable segment.
PF_R: A readable segment.

A text segment commonly has the flags PF_X and PF_R. A data segment commonly has PF_W and PF_R.

p_align

This member holds the value to which the segments are aligned in memory and in the file. Loadable process segments must have congruent values for p_vaddr and p_offset, modulo the page size. Values of zero and one mean no alignment is required. Otherwise, p_align should be a positive, integral power of two, and p_vaddr should equal p_offset, modulo p_align.

Section header (Shdr)

A file’s section header table lets one locate all the file’s sections. The section header table is an array of Elf32_Shdr or Elf64_Shdr structures. The ELF header’s e_shoff member gives the byte offset from the beginning of the file to the section header table. e_shnum holds the number of entries the section header table contains. e_shentsize holds the size in bytes of each entry. A section header table index is a subscript into this array. Some section header table indices are reserved: the initial entry and the indices between SHN_LORESERVE and SHN_HIRESERVE. The initial entry is used in ELF extensions for e_phnum, e_shnum, and e_shstrndx; in other cases, each field in the initial entry is set to zero. An object file does not have sections for these special indices:

SHN_UNDEF: This value marks an undefined, missing, irrelevant, or otherwise meaningless section reference.
SHN_LORESERVE: This value specifies the lower bound of the range of reserved indices.
SHN_LOPROC, SHN_HIPROC: Values greater in the inclusive range [SHN_LOPROC, SHN_HIPROC] are reserved for processor-specific semantics.
SHN_ABS: This value specifies the absolute value for the corresponding reference. For example, a symbol defined relative to section number SHN_ABS has an absolute value and is not affected by relocation.
SHN_COMMON: Symbols defined relative to this section are common symbols, such as FORTRAN COMMON or unallocated C external variables.
SHN_HIRESERVE: This value specifies the upper bound of the range of reserved indices. The system reserves indices between SHN_LORESERVE and SHN_HIRESERVE, inclusive. The section header table does not contain entries for the reserved indices.

The section header has the following structure: typedef struct {
    uint32_t   sh_name;
    uint32_t   sh_type;
    uint32_t   sh_flags;
    Elf32_Addr sh_addr;
    Elf32_Off  sh_offset;
    uint32_t   sh_size;
    uint32_t   sh_link;
    uint32_t   sh_info;
    uint32_t   sh_addralign;
    uint32_t   sh_entsize; } Elf32_Shdr; typedef struct {
    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; } Elf64_Shdr; No real differences exist between the 32-bit and 64-bit section headers.

sh_name

This member specifies the name of the section. Its value is an index into the section header string table section, giving the location of a null-terminated string.

sh_type

This member categorizes the section’s contents and semantics.

SHT_NULL: This value marks the section header as inactive. It does not have an associated section. Other members of the section header have undefined values.
SHT_PROGBITS: This section holds information defined by the program, whose format and meaning are determined solely by the program.
SHT_SYMTAB: This section holds a symbol table. Typically, SHT_SYMTAB provides symbols for link editing, though it may also be used for dynamic linking. As a complete symbol table, it may contain many symbols unnecessary for dynamic linking. An object file can also contain a SHT_DYNSYM section.
SHT_STRTAB: This section holds a string table. An object file may have multiple string table sections.
SHT_RELA: This section holds relocation entries with explicit addends, such as type Elf32_Rela for the 32-bit class of object files. An object may have multiple relocation sections.
SHT_HASH: This section holds a symbol hash table. An object participating in dynamic linking must contain a symbol hash table. An object file may have only one hash table.
SHT_DYNAMIC: This section holds information for dynamic linking. An object file may have only one dynamic section.
SHT_NOTE: This section holds notes (ElfN_Nhdr).
SHT_NOBITS: A section of this type occupies no space in the file but otherwise resembles SHT_PROGBITS. Although this section contains no bytes, the sh_offset member contains the conceptual file offset.
SHT_REL: This section holds relocation offsets without explicit addends, such as type Elf32_Rel for the 32-bit class of object files. An object file may have multiple relocation sections.
SHT_SHLIB: This section is reserved but has unspecified semantics.
SHT_DYNSYM: This section holds a minimal set of dynamic linking symbols. An object file can also contain a SHT_SYMTAB section.
SHT_LOPROC, SHT_HIPROC: Values in the inclusive range [SHT_LOPROC, SHT_HIPROC] are reserved for processor-specific semantics.
SHT_LOUSER: This value specifies the lower bound of the range of indices reserved for application programs.
SHT_HIUSER: This value specifies the upper bound of the range of indices reserved for application programs. Section types between SHT_LOUSER and SHT_HIUSER may be used by the application, without conflicting with current or future system-defined section types.

sh_flags

Sections support one-bit flags that describe miscellaneous attributes. If a flag bit is set in sh_flags, the attribute is "on" for the section. Otherwise, the attribute is "off" or does not apply. Undefined attributes are set to zero.

SHF_WRITE: This section contains data that should be writable during process execution.
SHF_ALLOC: This section occupies memory during process execution. Some control sections do not reside in the memory image of an object file. This attribute is off for those sections.
SHF_EXECINSTR: This section contains executable machine instructions.
SHF_MASKPROC: All bits included in this mask are reserved for processor-specific semantics.

sh_addr

If this section appears in the memory image of a process, this member holds the address at which the section’s first byte should reside. Otherwise, the member contains zero.

sh_offset

This member’s value holds the byte offset from the beginning of the file to the first byte in the section. One section type, SHT_NOBITS, occupies no space in the file, and its sh_offset member locates the conceptual placement in the file.

sh_size

This member holds the section’s size in bytes. Unless the section type is SHT_NOBITS, the section occupies sh_size bytes in the file. A section of type SHT_NOBITS may have a nonzero size, but it occupies no space in the file.

sh_link

This member holds a section header table index link, whose interpretation depends on the section type.

sh_info

This member holds extra information, whose interpretation depends on the section type.

sh_addralign

Some sections have address alignment constraints. If a section holds a doubleword, the system must ensure doubleword alignment for the entire section. That is, the value of sh_addr must be congruent to zero, modulo the value of sh_addralign. Only zero and positive integral powers of two are allowed. The value 0 or 1 means that the section has no alignment constraints.

sh_entsize

Some sections hold a table of fixed-sized entries, such as a symbol table. For such a section, this member gives the size in bytes for each entry. This member contains zero if the section does not hold a table of fixed-size entries.

Various sections hold program and control information:

.bss: This section holds uninitialized data that contributes to the program’s memory image. By definition, the system initializes the data with zeros when the program begins to run. This section is of type SHT_NOBITS. The attribute types are SHF_ALLOC and SHF_WRITE.
.comment: This section holds version control information. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. No attribute types are used.
.ctors: This section holds initialized pointers to the C++ constructor functions. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The attribute types are SHF_ALLOC and SHF_WRITE.
.data: This section holds initialized data that contribute to the program’s memory image. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The attribute types are SHF_ALLOC and SHF_WRITE.
.data1: This section holds initialized data that contribute to the program’s memory image. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The attribute types are SHF_ALLOC and SHF_WRITE.
.debug: This section holds information for symbolic debugging. The contents are unspecified. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. No attribute types are used.
.dtors: This section holds initialized pointers to the C++ destructor functions. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The attribute types are SHF_ALLOC and SHF_WRITE.
.dynamic: This section holds dynamic linking information. The section’s attributes will include the SHF_ALLOC bit. Whether the SHF_WRITE bit is set is processor-specific. This section is of type SHT_DYNAMIC. See the attributes above.
.dynstr: This section holds strings needed for dynamic linking, most commonly the strings that represent the names associated with symbol table entries. This section is of type SHT_STRTAB. The attribute type used is SHF_ALLOC.
.dynsym: This section holds the dynamic linking symbol table. This section is of type SHT_DYNSYM. The attribute used is SHF_ALLOC.
.fini: This section holds executable instructions that contribute to the process termination code. When a program exits normally the system arranges to execute the code in this section. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The attributes used are SHF_ALLOC and SHF_EXECINSTR.
.gnu.version: This section holds the version symbol table, an array of ElfN_Half elements. This section is of type SHT_GNU_versym. The attribute type used is SHF_ALLOC.
.gnu.version_d: This section holds the version symbol definitions, a table of ElfN_Verdef structures. This section is of type SHT_GNU_verdef. The attribute type used is SHF_ALLOC.
.gnu.version_r: This section holds the version symbol needed elements, a table of ElfN_Verneed structures. This section is of type SHT_GNU_versym. The attribute type used is SHF_ALLOC.
.got: This section holds the global offset table. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The attributes are processor-specific.
.hash: This section holds a symbol hash table. This section is of type SHT_HASH. The attribute used is SHF_ALLOC.
.init: This section holds executable instructions that contribute to the process initialization code. When a program starts to run the system arranges to execute the code in this section before calling the main program entry point. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The attributes used are SHF_ALLOC and SHF_EXECINSTR.
.interp: This section holds the pathname of a program interpreter. If the file has a loadable segment that includes the section, the section’s attributes will include the SHF_ALLOC bit. Otherwise, that bit will be off. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS.
.line: This section holds line number information for symbolic debugging, which describes the correspondence between the program source and the machine code. The contents are unspecified. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. No attribute types are used.
.note: This section holds various notes. This section is of type SHT_NOTE. No attribute types are used.
.note.ABI-tag: This section is used to declare the expected run-time ABI of the ELF image. It may include the operating system name and its run-time versions. This section is of type SHT_NOTE. The only attribute used is SHF_ALLOC.
.note.gnu.build-id: This section is used to hold an ID that uniquely identifies the contents of the ELF image. Different files with the same build ID should contain the same executable content. See the –build-id option to the GNU linker (ld (1)) for more details. This section is of type SHT_NOTE. The only attribute used is SHF_ALLOC.
.note.GNU-stack: This section is used in Linux object files for declaring stack attributes. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The only attribute used is SHF_EXECINSTR. This indicates to the GNU linker that the object file requires an executable stack.
.note.openbsd.ident: OpenBSD native executables usually contain this section to identify themselves so the kernel can bypass any compatibility ELF binary emulation tests when loading the file.
.plt: This section holds the procedure linkage table. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The attributes are processor-specific.
.relNAME: This section holds relocation information as described below. If the file has a loadable segment that includes relocation, the section’s attributes will include the SHF_ALLOC bit. Otherwise, the bit will be off. By convention, "NAME" is supplied by the section to which the relocations apply. Thus a relocation section for .text normally would have the name .rel.text. This section is of type SHT_REL.
.relaNAME: This section holds relocation information as described below. If the file has a loadable segment that includes relocation, the section’s attributes will include the SHF_ALLOC bit. Otherwise, the bit will be off. By convention, "NAME" is supplied by the section to which the relocations apply. Thus a relocation section for .text normally would have the name .rela.text. This section is of type SHT_RELA.
.rodata: This section holds read-only data that typically contributes to a nonwritable segment in the process image. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The attribute used is SHF_ALLOC.
.rodata1: This section holds read-only data that typically contributes to a nonwritable segment in the process image. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The attribute used is SHF_ALLOC.
.shstrtab: This section holds section names. This section is of type SHT_STRTAB. No attribute types are used.
.strtab: This section holds strings, most commonly the strings that represent the names associated with symbol table entries. If the file has a loadable segment that includes the symbol string table, the section’s attributes will include the SHF_ALLOC bit. Otherwise, the bit will be off. This section is of type SHT_STRTAB.
.symtab: This section holds a symbol table. If the file has a loadable segment that includes the symbol table, the section’s attributes will include the SHF_ALLOC bit. Otherwise, the bit will be off. This section is of type SHT_SYMTAB.
.text: This section holds the "text", or executable instructions, of a program. This section is of type SHT_PROGBITS. The attributes used are SHF_ALLOC and SHF_EXECINSTR.

String and symbol tables

String table sections hold null-terminated character sequences, commonly called strings. The object file uses these strings to represent symbol and section names. One references a string as an index into the string table section. The first byte, which is index zero, is defined to hold a null byte (‘

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