Search⌘ K
AI Features

Summary of Code

Explore the key patterns encountered in disassembling x64 Linux programs. Understand function prolog and epilog structures, register roles, parameter passing conventions, and how optimized code impacts debugging. Learn to identify issues in symbol files and backtraces, enabling effective analysis of compiled C code at the assembly level.

Here is a summary of the concepts we encountered in this course.

Function prolog / epilog

Let’s start with function prologs and function epilogs.

Function prolog

The function prolog is composed of these instructions:

Assembly (GAS x86)
push %rbp
mov %rsp,%rbp

Function epilog

The function epilog is composed of these instructions:

Assembly (GAS x86)
mov %rbp,%rsp
pop %rbp
ret

This code is equivalent to:

Assembly (GAS x86)
leave
ret

Some code may not restore %RSP if it does not change:

Assembly (GAS x86)
pop %rbp
ret

Knowing the prolog can help identify incorrect symbol files or function start addresses. For example, suppose we have the ...