Binspect

Binspect is a lightweight, cross-platform binary inspection tool and library written in modern C++. It allows you to parse and analyze executable files, inspect their sections and symbols, and retrieve architecture and entry point information.

Note: Currently supports Linux only. Windows and macOS support is under development.

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Features

• Supports multiple binary formats:
  • ELF (Linux, Unix-like)
  • COFF (Common Object File Format)
  • PE (Windows Portable Executable)
  • Mach-O (macOS)
• Supports multiple architectures:
  • x86 / x86_64
  • ARM / AArch64
  • RISC-V
• Inspect sections (.text, .data, etc.) and symbols (functions, objects, labels).
• Retrieve entry point, architecture, and human-readable binary type.
• Portable C++17 code, currently supporting Linux (Windows and macOS support under development).
• Uses GNU BFD library for parsing binaries.

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Installation

Using CMake

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/chrinovicmu/binspect.git
cd binspect

2. Build for the detected architecture:

./scripts/build_all.sh

This script will automatically select the correct toolchain based on your system.

You can also manually build for specific architectures using the CMake toolchain files:

# Example for x86_64
cmake -B build-x86_64 -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=cmake/toolchains/x86_64-linux.cmake .
cmake --build build-x86_64

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Usage

./binspect <path_to_binary>

Example:

./binspect /bin/ls

Sample output:

Loaded binary: /bin/ls
Filename: /bin/ls
Type: ELF
Architecture: x86_64 (64-bit)
Entry: 0x401000
Sections: 12
Symbols: 123

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Example in C++

You can also use Binspect as a library in your C++ projects:

Binary bin;
if (load_binary("test_binary", &bin, Binary::BIN_TYPE_AUTO) == 0) {
    bin.print_info();
    bin.print_sections();
    bin.print_symbols();
}

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Project Structure

.
├── cmake/
│   └── toolchains/        # Toolchain files for cross-compilation
├── include/               # Header files
├── src/                   # Source files
├── scripts/               # Build scripts
├── tests/                 # Example/test loaders
├── CMakeLists.txt
└── README.md

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Dependencies

• GNU BFD library (binutils-dev on Linux)
• C++17 compatible compiler
• CMake 3.15+

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License

MIT License – see LICENSE