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reverse-engineering-anything/docs/specs/native/native-initializers/plan.md
T
8bc01b48b4 feat(native): list ELF and Mach-O initializer and finalizer functions (#9574)
* feat(native): list ELF and Mach-O initializer and finalizer functions

inspect_native_initializers and inspect-native-initializers list the
functions an ELF or Mach-O image runs before and after main: ELF
DT_INIT, DT_FINI, preinit, init and fini arrays and .ctors/.dtors, and
Mach-O __mod_init_func, __mod_term_func and __init_offsets, with slot
addresses, resolved targets, symbols where available and relocation
facts for relocatable objects. Nothing is executed. Slot, symbol,
relocation and note budgets are shared across tables, sentinels are
matched at the image width, and target-derived names are bounded and
marked untrusted.

* fix(native): keep ELF initializer slots unresolved when relocation coverage is partial

A skipped, unreadable or over-budget section relocation table now keeps
every slot it could reach unresolved instead of reading the stored word as
raw or dropping a .ctors slot as a sentinel. Dynamic writes that only
partly overlap a slot, or write it twice, leave it unresolved. Linked
images no longer reapply retained non-SHF_ALLOC link-time records.

The dynamic relocation walk now pauses at the shared reader's step
boundaries and observes cancellation there, resolved targets need only
their first byte mapped, and unreadable symbol names make the report
incomplete.

* fix(native): stop reporting unchecked Mach-O initializer words as resolved

Object files now apply their own section relocations: an UNSIGNED entry
against a defined symbol gives symbol_addend, one against an undefined
symbol gives unresolved_import, and any other entry leaves the slot
unresolved. Linked images without a fixup decoder, such as 32-bit ones,
keep pointer slots unresolved when an LC_DYLD_INFO bind stream or
LC_DYSYMTAB external relocations could replace the stored word.

LC_DYLD_INFO rebases now report dyld_info_rebase instead of
chained_fixup, and unreadable symbol names make the report incomplete.
Section headers keep their declared reloff and nreloc for this.

* docs(native): move initializer guide under docs/guides/native

The documentation guide assigns analyst workflows to docs/guides/<domain>/.
Move the guide there, place its navigation and directory entries in the
Native binaries group, and update links from the docs index, CLI guide,
spec and authored skill. The public /native-initializers route is
unchanged.

The guide and spec also describe per-slot relocation coverage, retained
link-time records, Mach-O object relocations, undecoded bind streams,
the dyld_info_rebase resolution and unreadable names.

* fix(native): keep IFUNC and partly relocated ELF initializer slots unresolved

An absolute relocation against an STT_GNU_IFUNC symbol no longer reports
the resolver address as the target. Section relocation records now use
their real write width, so a record that writes only part of a slot,
starts inside it or repeats it leaves the slot unresolved instead of
reading a raw zero or dropping a .ctors slot as a sentinel.

On 32-bit ARM the Thumb bit is cleared when locating a target's section
and file offset, while value_va keeps the stored callable value.

* fix(native): locate Thumb Mach-O initializer targets and reject arm64_32 with a 64-bit header

On CPU_TYPE_ARM the Thumb bit is cleared when locating and naming a
target, since nlist values do not carry it. An arm64_32 image that
declares a 64-bit header is rejected as malformed rather than read with
8-byte slots. The guide and spec describe IFUNC relocations, partly
relocated section slots, Thumb targets and this rejection.

* fix(native): index initializer address lookups and keep ambiguous mappings unknown

ELF and Mach-O initializer lookups now build the shared file mapping
index once per image, so each slot and target lookup is logarithmic in
the number of load segments rather than a scan of every mapping.

An address that load segments map ambiguously no longer falls back to a
section header offset. Its file offset is reported as unknown and the
report is incomplete; only genuinely unmapped spans use the section
fallback.

* fix(native): report Mach-O bind names over the name budget

A bound import name longer than the 1024-byte name budget was dropped
without a trace, although it is the only identity of an unresolved
initializer target. It now counts toward the over-long name limitation
and makes the report incomplete.

* test(native): count mapping lookups instead of timing the load index regression

The load-mapping regression asserted a wall-clock bound, which is
sensitive to machine load. It now spies on the shared mapping module and
requires the same number of mapping scans and index builds for 8 and 64
slots, so a per-slot scan of every load segment fails deterministically
on a small fixture.

* fix(native): yield while decoding legacy rebase runs

* fix(native): preserve initializer mapping and coverage

* fix(native): index legacy fixup spans

* fix(native): preserve relocation uncertainty and bound bind lookup work

* fix(native): validate ELF slot mappings and yield section relocation scans

---------

Co-authored-by: Matt Van Horn <455140+mvanhorn@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: morluto <76467478+morluto@users.noreply.github.com>
2026-11-09 08:58:12 -05:00

2.1 KiB

Implementation plan

Boundary and contract

The domain contract lives in src/domain/native/nativeInitializers.ts: input schema, entry and coverage schemas, kinds, resolutions, standing limitations and budgets. NativeInitializersService validates caller input, re-parses provider output, checks paging and artifact identity, and builds Evidence with a file-offset location per returned slot. CLI and MCP adapters call the same service; the tool is registered with the evidence effect.

Parsers

NativeInitializersProvider selects one image (thin or universal slice) and dispatches to the ELF or Mach-O parser. Both produce CollectedInitializer rows, and finishInitializerReport pages them, counts examined slots and appends limitations after the standing ones. Both parsers record observations through InitializerNotes, which keeps distinct messages to the note budget and tallies per-row reasons, so the limitations list stays bounded.

  • ElfInitializers.ts reads the consumed DT_* tags once, builds sources in declaration order with a shared slot budget, and resolves each slot. Dynamic relocation writes come from the owner, readElfRelocationWritesSteps in ElfPointerRelocations.ts; the RELATIVE type per machine comes from the same owner's elfRelativeRelocationType. Section names and fallback file offsets come from an addressRangeIndex built once over the section headers and searched by address.
  • ElfInitializerSymbols.ts loads symbol tables under one total symbol budget and decodes section REL / RELA records under one total record budget, checking the caller signal during that walk.
  • MachoInitializers.ts reuses the shared Mach-O container and chained-fixup decoders, reads symbols under one budget across every LC_SYMTAB, and names target sections through the same address index.

Effects and compatibility

The tool reads one stable local file and never executes it. It adds a new contract and changes no existing tool. slot_va is nullable only for DT_INIT / DT_FINI whose value field is unmapped.