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Foundations of Linux Debugging, Disassembling, and Reversing

Analyze Binary Code, Understand Stack Memory Usage, and Reconstruct C/C++ Code with Intel x64

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

Authors:
  1. Dmitry Vostokov

    1. Dublin, Ireland

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Exploratory hands-on exercises of increasing complexity that unify learning
  • Provides more than 40 pictures and diagrams that illustrate concepts and code
  • Covers code disassembly pattern catalog, reverse engineering instructions and comments

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
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  2. Memory, Registers, and Simple Arithmetic

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 1-17

  3. Code Optimization

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 19-26

  4. Number Representations

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 27-32

  5. Pointers

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 33-51

  6. Bytes, Words, Double, and Quad Words

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 53-58

  7. Pointers to Memory

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 59-79

  8. Logical Instructions and RIP

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 81-86

  9. Reconstructing a Program with Pointers

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 87-96

  10. Memory and Stacks

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 97-115

  11. Frame Pointer and Local Variables

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 117-128

  12. Function Parameters

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 129-138

  13. More Instructions

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 139-147

  14. Function Pointer Parameters

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 149-159

  15. Summary of Code Disassembly Patterns

    • Dmitry Vostokov
    Pages 161-166

  16. Back Matter

    Pages 167-173
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Keywords

About this book

Review topics ranging from Intel x64 assembly language instructions and writing programs in assembly language, to pointers, live debugging, and static binary analysis of compiled C and C++ code. This book is ideal for Linux desktop and cloud developers. 

Using the latest version of Debian, you’ll focus on the foundations of the diagnostics of core memory dumps, live and postmortem debugging of Linux applications, services, and systems, memory forensics, malware, and vulnerability analysis. This requires an understanding of x64 Intel assembly language and how C and C++ compilers generate code, including memory layout and pointers.

This book provides the back­ground knowledge and practical foundations you’ll need in order to master internal Linux program structure and behavior. It consists of practical step-by-step exercises of increasing complexity with explanations and ample diagrams. You’ll also work with the GDB debugger and use it for disassembly and reversing.  

By the end of the book, you will have a solid understanding of how Linux C and C++ compilers generate binary code. In addition, you will be able to analyze such code confidently, understand stack memory usage, and reconstruct original C/C++ code. Foundations of Linux Debugging, Disassembling, and Reversing is the perfect companion to Foundations of ARM64 Linux Debugging, Disassembling, and Reversing for readers interested in the cloud or cybersecurity.



What You'll Learn
  • Review the basics of x64 assembly language
  • Examine the essential GDB debugger commands for debugging and binary analysis 
  • Study C and C++ compiler code generation with and without compiler optimizations 
  • Look at binary code disassembly and reversing patterns
  • See how pointers in C and C++ are implemented and used

        Who This Book Is For

        Software support and escalation engineers, cloud security engineers, site reliability engineers, DevSecOps, platform engineers, software testers, Linux C/C++ software engineers and security researchers without Intel x64 assembly language background, beginners learning Linux software reverse engineering techniques, and engineers coming from non-Linux environments.




        Authors and Affiliations

        • Dublin, Ireland

          Dmitry Vostokov

        About the author

        Dmitry Vostokov is an internationally recognized expert, speaker, educator, scientist, inventor, and author. He is the founder of the pattern-oriented software diagnostics, forensics, and prognostics discipline (Systematic Software Diagnostics), and Software Diagnostics Institute (DA+TA: DumpAnalysis.org + TraceAnalysis.org). Vostokov has also authored books on software diagnostics, anomaly detection and analysis, software and memory forensics, root cause analysis and problem solving, memory dump analysis, debugging, software trace and log analysis, reverse engineering, and malware analysis. He has over 25 years of experience in software architecture, design, development, and maintenance in various industries, including leadership, technical, and people management roles. In his spare time, he presents various topics on Debugging.TV and explores Software Narratology, its further development as Narratology of Things and Diagnostics of Things (DoT), Software Pathology, and Quantum Software Diagnostics. His current interest areas are theoretical software diagnostics and its mathematical and computer science foundations, application of formal logic, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data mining to diagnostics and anomaly detection, software diagnostics engineering and diagnostics-driven development, diagnostics workflow, and interaction. Recent interest areas also include cloud native computing, security, automation, functional programming, and applications of category theory to software development and big data. He is based out of Dublin, Ireland.

        Bibliographic Information

        • Book Title: Foundations of Linux Debugging, Disassembling, and Reversing

        • Book Subtitle: Analyze Binary Code, Understand Stack Memory Usage, and Reconstruct C/C++ Code with Intel x64

        • Authors: Dmitry Vostokov

        • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-9153-5

        • Publisher: Apress Berkeley, CA

        • eBook Packages: Professional and Applied Computing, Apress Access Books, Professional and Applied Computing (R0)

        • Copyright Information: Dmitry Vostokov 2023

        • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4842-9152-8Published: 31 January 2023

        • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4842-9153-5Published: 30 January 2023

        • Edition Number: 1

        • Number of Pages: XIV, 173

        • Number of Illustrations: 47 b/w illustrations

        • Topics: Open Source, Operating Systems

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