--- name: binary-re-tool-setup-175245b220be description: Use when reverse engineering tools are missing, not working, or need configuration. Installation guides for radare2 (r2), Ghidra, GDB, QEMU, Frida, binutils, and cross-compilation toolchains. Keywords - "install radare2", "setup ghidra", "r2 not found", "qemu missing", "tool not installed", "configure gdb", "cross-compiler" --- # Tool Setup ## Purpose Ensure required reverse engineering tools are available and properly configured for cross-architecture analysis. ## When to Use - Before first analysis session - When tool commands fail - Setting up new analysis environment - Updating to newer tool versions ## Required Tools | Tool | Purpose | Priority | |------|---------|----------| | radare2 | Static analysis, disassembly | **Required** | | rabin2 | Fast binary triage | **Required** (part of r2) | | qemu-user | Cross-arch emulation | **Required** | | gdb-multiarch | Cross-arch debugging | **Required** | | Ghidra | Decompilation | Recommended | | GEF | GDB enhancements | Recommended | | Frida | Dynamic instrumentation | Optional | | Unicorn | Snippet emulation | Optional | | Angr | Symbolic execution | Optional | ## Installation by Platform ### Ubuntu/Debian ```bash # Core tools sudo apt update sudo apt install -y \ radare2 \ qemu-user \ qemu-user-static \ gdb-multiarch \ binutils-multiarch \ jq # Required for JSON parsing in skill commands # ARM sysroots (for QEMU) sudo apt install -y \ libc6-armhf-cross \ libc6-arm64-cross \ libc6-dev-armhf-cross \ libc6-dev-arm64-cross # Additional utilities sudo apt install -y \ file \ binutils \ elfutils \ patchelf ``` ### Windows (WSL2) Windows users should use WSL2 with Ubuntu for full compatibility: ```powershell # PowerShell (Administrator) - Install WSL2 with Ubuntu wsl --install -d Ubuntu # Restart computer when prompted, then open Ubuntu terminal ``` Inside WSL2 Ubuntu: ```bash # Install all required tools sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y \ radare2 \ qemu-user \ qemu-user-static \ gdb-multiarch \ binutils-multiarch \ jq \ file \ patchelf # Fix file permissions for Windows-mounted drives sudo tee -a /etc/wsl.conf > /dev/null << 'EOF' [automount] options = "metadata,umask=22,fmask=11" EOF # Restart WSL to apply changes # (In PowerShell: wsl --shutdown) ``` **WSL2 Tips:** - Copy binaries into `~` rather than using `/mnt/c/...` paths (fewer permission issues) - Use `wsl --shutdown` in PowerShell to restart WSL after config changes - Docker Desktop integrates with WSL2 for container-based analysis ### macOS (Homebrew) ```bash # Core tools brew install radare2 jq # NOTE: Homebrew QEMU may lack qemu-user targets # Verify: qemu-arm --version || echo "qemu-user missing" # If missing, use Docker for cross-arch execution (see below) # GDB requires special handling on macOS brew install gdb # Note: Code signing required for debugging # ARM cross tools (optional, for static analysis only) brew install arm-linux-gnueabihf-binutils ``` ### macOS Docker Setup for Dynamic Analysis Since Homebrew doesn't provide `qemu-user`, use Docker for cross-architecture execution: ```bash # Install Docker runtime (Colima is lightweight alternative to Docker Desktop) brew install colima docker # Start Colima colima start # Register multi-architecture emulation handlers docker run --rm --privileged --platform linux/arm64 \ tonistiigi/binfmt --install arm # Verify ARM32 emulation works docker run --rm --platform linux/arm/v7 arm32v7/debian:bullseye-slim uname -m # Should output: armv7l # Verify ARM64 emulation works docker run --rm --platform linux/arm64 arm64v8/debian:bullseye-slim uname -m # Should output: aarch64 # Verify x86-32 emulation works docker run --rm --platform linux/i386 i386/debian:bullseye-slim uname -m # Should output: i686 ``` **IMPORTANT:** On Colima, always mount from `~/` not `/tmp/`: ```bash # ✅ Works docker run -v ~/samples:/work ... # ❌ May fail silently docker run -v /tmp/samples:/work ... ``` ### Arch Linux ```bash sudo pacman -S radare2 qemu-user gdb yay -S arm-linux-gnueabihf-glibc # From AUR ``` ## Tool-Specific Setup ### radare2 ```bash # Verify installation r2 -v rabin2 -v # Install r2ghidra plugin (decompilation) r2pm init r2pm update r2pm -ci r2ghidra # -ci = clean install # Verify r2ghidra is working (CRITICAL CHECK) r2 -qc 'pdg?' - 2>/dev/null | grep -q Usage && echo "r2ghidra OK" || echo "r2ghidra MISSING" # Alternative verification r2 -c 'Ld' /bin/ls | grep -i ghidra ``` **Common r2ghidra issues:** | Symptom | Cause | Fix | |---------|-------|-----| | `pdg` unknown command | Plugin not loaded | `r2pm -ci r2ghidra` | | Plugin loads but crashes | Version mismatch | Update both r2 and plugin | | Decompilation hangs | Large function | Use `pdf` instead, or Ghidra headless | **Configuration (~/.radare2rc):** ``` # Disable colors for scripting e scr.color=false # Increase analysis limits e anal.timeout=120 e anal.maxsize=67108864 # JSON output by default for scripts e cfg.json.num=true ``` ### Ghidra (Headless) ```bash # Download from https://ghidra-sre.org/ # Extract to /opt/ghidra # Verify headless script /opt/ghidra/support/analyzeHeadless --help # Add to PATH echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/opt/ghidra/support' >> ~/.bashrc ``` **Memory configuration (for large binaries):** Edit `/opt/ghidra/support/analyzeHeadless`: ```bash MAXMEM=4G # Increase from default ``` ### GEF (GDB Enhanced Features) ```bash # Install GEF bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://gef.blah.cat/sh)" # Verify gdb -q -ex "gef help" -ex "quit" # For ARM Cortex-M support, also install gef-extras git clone https://github.com/hugsy/gef-extras.git ~/.gef-extras echo 'source ~/.gef-extras/scripts/checksec.py' >> ~/.gdbinit ``` ### Frida ```bash # Install Frida tools pip install frida-tools # Verify frida --version # Install frida-server for device debugging (optional) # Download from https://github.com/frida/frida/releases ``` ### Unicorn (Python bindings) ```bash pip install unicorn # Verify python -c "from unicorn import *; print('OK')" ``` ### Angr ```bash # Create virtual environment (recommended) python -m venv ~/angr-venv source ~/angr-venv/bin/activate # Install angr pip install angr # Verify python -c "import angr; print('OK')" ``` ### YARA ```bash # Ubuntu/Debian sudo apt install yara # Or from source for latest git clone https://github.com/VirusTotal/yara.git cd yara ./bootstrap.sh ./configure make && sudo make install # Python bindings pip install yara-python ``` ## Sysroot Setup ### Standard Debian/Ubuntu Sysroots Already installed via `libc6-*-cross` packages: ```bash # Verify paths ls /usr/arm-linux-gnueabihf/lib/ ls /usr/aarch64-linux-gnu/lib/ ``` ### Custom Sysroot from Device ```bash # Pull from device via SSH mkdir -p ~/sysroots/device ssh user@device "tar czf - /lib /usr/lib" | tar xzf - -C ~/sysroots/device # Or minimal extraction ssh user@device "tar czf - /lib/ld-* /lib/libc.* /lib/libpthread.* /lib/libdl.*" \ | tar xzf - -C ~/sysroots/device ``` ### Musl Sysroot ```bash # From Alpine Linux docker run -it --rm -v ~/sysroots:/out alpine:latest sh -c \ "apk add musl musl-dev && cp -a /lib /usr /out/alpine-musl" ``` ## Verification Script Run this to verify all tools are working: ```bash #!/bin/bash set -e echo "=== Binary RE Tool Verification ===" # radare2 echo -n "radare2: " r2 -v | head -1 # rabin2 echo -n "rabin2: " rabin2 -v | head -1 # QEMU echo -n "qemu-arm: " qemu-arm --version | head -1 echo -n "qemu-aarch64: " qemu-aarch64 --version | head -1 # GDB echo -n "gdb-multiarch: " gdb-multiarch --version | head -1 # Ghidra (optional) if command -v analyzeHeadless &> /dev/null; then echo -n "Ghidra: " analyzeHeadless 2>&1 | head -1 || echo "available" else echo "Ghidra: not installed (optional)" fi # Frida (optional) if command -v frida &> /dev/null; then echo -n "Frida: " frida --version else echo "Frida: not installed (optional)" fi # Sysroots echo "" echo "=== Sysroots ===" [ -d /usr/arm-linux-gnueabihf ] && echo "ARM hard-float: OK" || echo "ARM hard-float: MISSING" [ -d /usr/aarch64-linux-gnu ] && echo "ARM64: OK" || echo "ARM64: MISSING" echo "" echo "=== Verification Complete ===" ``` ## Troubleshooting ### Common Issues Quick Reference | Symptom | Cause | Fix | |---------|-------|-----| | `exec format error` in Docker | binfmt not registered | `docker run --privileged tonistiigi/binfmt --install arm` | | `ld-linux.so.3 not found` | Linker path mismatch | `ln -sf /lib/ld-linux-armhf.so.3 /lib/ld-linux.so.3` | | `libXXX.so not found` | Missing dependency | `apt install` in container (check `rabin2 -l`) | | r2 `pdg` unknown command | r2ghidra not installed | `r2pm -ci r2ghidra` | | Empty xrefs from `axtj` | Shallow analysis | Use `aa; aac` or manual `af @addr` | | Empty Docker mount | Colima /tmp issue | Use `~/path` instead of `/tmp/path` | | strace fails in container | ptrace not implemented | Use `LD_DEBUG=files,libs` | ### r2 "Cannot open file" ```bash # Check permissions ls -la binary # Try with explicit format r2 -b 32 binary ``` ### QEMU "Invalid ELF image" ```bash # Verify architecture matches file binary # Check QEMU variant qemu-arm --help | grep -i "target" ``` ### Docker "exec format error" ```bash # Register binfmt handlers (one-time setup) docker run --rm --privileged --platform linux/arm64 \ tonistiigi/binfmt --install arm # Verify registration cat /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/qemu-arm ``` ### GDB "Cannot execute binary" ```bash # Use QEMU as gdbserver qemu-arm -g 1234 ./binary & gdb-multiarch -ex "target remote :1234" ./binary ``` ### Ghidra "Out of memory" ```bash # Increase heap in analyzeHeadless script # Or pass explicitly: analyzeHeadless ... -max-cpu 4 -analysisTimeoutPerFile 600 ``` ### Missing ARM libraries in QEMU ```bash # Set LD_LIBRARY_PATH in QEMU environment qemu-arm -E LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/lib:/usr/lib -L /sysroot ./binary # Or use patchelf to modify binary's rpath patchelf --set-rpath /lib:/usr/lib ./binary ``` ### Docker container can't find libraries ```bash # Inside container, install common dependencies apt-get update && apt-get install -y libcap2 libacl1 # Check what the binary needs # (Run rabin2 -l on host before entering container) ``` ## Version Recommendations | Tool | Minimum | Recommended | |------|---------|-------------| | radare2 | 5.8.0 | Latest | | QEMU | 7.0 | 8.0+ | | GDB | 12.0 | 14.0+ | | Ghidra | 10.3 | 11.0+ | | Frida | 16.0 | Latest | ## Environment Variables Add to `~/.bashrc` or `~/.zshrc`: ```bash # Ghidra export GHIDRA_HOME=/opt/ghidra export PATH=$PATH:$GHIDRA_HOME/support # Default sysroot for QEMU export QEMU_LD_PREFIX=/usr/arm-linux-gnueabihf # Angr virtual environment alias angr-activate='source ~/angr-venv/bin/activate' ``` --- Source attribution: David-Li0406 Original project: https://github.com/David-Li0406/meta-skill-evloving/blob/ca3a335628981df10c36e00cb9850df2c247ab9a/skill-flow/data/skills-refined-36k/skillsmp/binary-retool-setup/SKILL.md License: Apache-2.0 License information: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub. ## Upstream license notice Apache License Version 2.0, January 2004 http://www.apache.org/licenses/ TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION 1. 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See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License. # Mega AI Hub resource metadata Creator / publisher: David-Li0406 Original project: https://github.com/David-Li0406/meta-skill-evloving/blob/ca3a335628981df10c36e00cb9850df2c247ab9a/skill-flow/data/skills-refined-36k/skillsmp/binary-retool-setup/SKILL.md Attribution basis: Source repository record Fields of work: Development & Engineering, Product Management Roles: Backend Developer, Data Engineer, DevOps / SRE, Product Manager, Technical Product Manager Specialties: Backend, DevOps Tools: Binutils, Frida, Gdb, Ghidra, Qemu, Radare2 Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: e10fa47f7d0c1219d64c8f287ca50528e26610cb0a5fa1fd7070f25dff9c533f