TL;DR: GEF is a kick-ass set of commands for X86, ARM, MIPS, PowerPC and SPARC to make GDB cool again for exploit dev.

GEF is aimed to be used mostly by exploiters and reverse-engineers. It provides additional features to GDB using the Python API to assist during the process of dynamic analysis or exploit development.

GEF fully relies on GDB API and other Linux specific source of information (such as /proc/pid). As a consequence, some of the features might not work on custom or harden systems such as GrSec. It has fully support for Python2 and Python3 indifferently (as more and more distro start pushing gdb compiled with Python3 support).

Simply make sure you're having a GDB 7.x .

# via the install script
$ wget -q -O- https://github.com/hugsy/gef/raw/master/gef.sh | sh

# manually
$ wget -q -O ~/.gdbinit-gef.py https://github.com/hugsy/gef/raw/master/gef.py
$ echo source ~/.gdbinit-gef.py >> ~/.gdbinit

Then just start playing (for local files):

$ gdb -q /path/to/my/bin
gef> gef help

Or (for remote debugging)

remote:~ $ gdbserver 0.0.0.0:1234 /path/to/file
Running as PID: 666

And

local:~ $ gdb -q
gef> gef-remote -t your.ip.address:1234 -p 666

If your host/VM is connected to Internet, you can update gef easily to the latest version (even without git installed)

$ python /path/to/gef.py --update
Updated

If no updates are available, gef will respond No update instead.

There are none: GEF works out of the box! However, to enjoy all the coolest features, it is highly recommended to install:

• capstone
• keystone
• unicorn
• ROPgadget

capstone (by Nguyen Anh Quynh)is an alternative disassembly engine, and keystone is an (arguably the best) assembly engine. You can use pip to simply and quickly install it.

$ pip2 install capstone   # for Python2.x
$ pip3 install capstone   # for Python3.x

capstone and keystone are under very active development and improvement, so it is recommended to compile and install them from git.

$ git clone https://github.com/keystone-engine/keystone.git
$ mkdir -p keystone/build && keystone/build
$ cmake .. && make -j8
$ sudo make install
$ cd ../bindings/python && sudo make install # or sudo make install3 for Python3

capstone provides an alternative to the gdb disassembler, which could be useful specifically when dealing with complex/uncommon instructions.

keystone allows to generate opcodes, which can, for example, then be used as part of a shellcode.

unicorn (also written by Nguyen Anh Quynh) is a lightweight Qemu-based framework to emulate any architecture currently supported by GDB (and even some more). Install is simple through the released packages but I would recommend instead to rely on the GIT master branch.

$ git clone https://github.com/unicorn-engine/unicorn.git && cd unicorn && ./make.sh && sudo ./make.sh install

unicorn integration in gef allows to emulate the behaviour to specific instructions (or block of instructions) based on the runtime context, without actually running it, and therefore sparing the trouble of saving the context/running the new context/restoring the old context. Additionally, gef can generate a standalone unicorn Python script, if you want/need to reproduce steps outside the debugger.

ROPgadget (written by Jonathan Salwan) is simply the best cross-platform ROP gadget finder. It has been totally integrated inside gef to benefit of all of its awesomeness.

$ pip[23] install ropgadget

Simply run this

$ pip install ropgadget capstone keystone

Yes ! Why not ?! PEDA is a fantastic tool to do the same, but is only to be used for x86-32 or x86-64. On the other hand, GEF supports all the architecture supported by GDB (x86, ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, SPARC, and so on).

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