Actually Portable Executables

Re:Actually Portable Executables by IshKebab on Sunday February 28, 2021 @10:07AM (#26293875)

Are you sure? Other answers are suggesting it isn't a valid ELF file and I don't get why it would need to be a valid boot sector or zip file.

You might be right though. The author might be very good at executable hacks but they're a terrible writer. Their explanation explains nothing.

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Re:Actually Portable Executables by reikonomusha on Sunday February 28, 2021 @01:53PM (#26295964)

The author seems to be an excellent writer. They just may not have taken the enormous amount of time to answer tons of questions or write tons of documentation people are seeking. One person did all this!

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Re:Actually Portable Executables by IshKebab on Sunday February 28, 2021 @03:36PM (#26296826)

You really think so? Here's their description of how it works:

> Here's how it works:

> MZqFpD='

> BIOS BOOT SECTOR'

> exec 7<> $(command -v $0)

> printf '\177ELF...LINKER-ENCODED-FREEBSD-HEADER' >&7

> exec "$0" "$@"

> exec qemu-x86_64 "$0" "$@"

> exit 1

> REAL MODE...

> ELF SEGMENTS...

> OPENBSD NOTE...

> NETBSD NOTE...

> MACHO HEADERS...

> CODE AND DATA...

> ZIP DIRECTORY...

Ok well that clears it up. MZqFpD='. Of course!

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Re:Actually Portable Executables by matheusmoreira on Sunday February 28, 2021 @10:24PM (#26299385)

Actually I'm not 100% sure. I can barely make sense of it. All I know is it somehow works as if it was a valid ELF. Some dark magic going on here...

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