# loaders

**Repository Path**: hkm0804/loaders

## Basic Information

- **Project Name**: loaders
- **Description**: No description available
- **Primary Language**: Unknown
- **License**: MIT
- **Default Branch**: master
- **Homepage**: None
- **GVP Project**: No

## Statistics

- **Stars**: 0
- **Forks**: 0
- **Created**: 2025-11-10
- **Last Updated**: 2025-11-10

## Categories & Tags

**Categories**: Uncategorized

**Tags**: None

## README

## Binary Loaders

[![MIT License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg?style=flat)](http://choosealicense.com/licenses/mit/)

This repo is about small, self-contained implementations of various binary formats loaders (Macho on OSX, ELF on Linux/*BSD and PE on Windows). The rationale for these libraries is the following: You wrote an exploit and achieved arbitrary code execution. Now what?

These loaders enable you to load and execute an arbitrary binary in your exploited process. The loaders are coded in a way that it's all done in memory, and they do not require access to system libraries/methods - it's all resolved on the fly. The Macho loader enables you to run bundle files, the ELF loader standard ELF files (no shared objects), and the PE loader enables you to run both DLLs and PE files alike.

### PE Loader

The PE loader uses the standard trick. We first walk the PEB and resolve `LoadLibrary`, `GetProcAddress` as well as a few other functions. We then load the PE file and resolve it's dependancies.

### Macho Loader

The macho loader requires access to some system functions (e.g., `NSCreateObjectFileImageFromMemory`, `NSLinkModule`) that are provided by `libdyld.dylib`. As we don't know the address of `libdyld.dylib` in memory, we first walk to the very top of the stack. We then start walking downwards on the stack and we inspect every pointer we find. The trick is that the offset inside of `libdyld.dylib` must be present as it's placed there by the dynamic linker as the return function when `main` returns. We find the offset, we resolve the functions and from then on, it's standard loading of macho bundles.

### ELF Loader

The ELF loader parses the ELF file, searches for the dynamic linker and, if present, loads and jumps to it.