Interactive Disassembler
| Original author(s) | Ilfak Guilfanov |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 6.2[1] / Oct 05, 2011 |
| Type | Disassembler |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | http://www.hex-rays.com/products/ida/index.shtml |
The Interactive Disassembler, more commonly known as simply IDA, is a disassembler for computer software which generates assembly language source code from machine-executable code. It supports a variety of executable formats for different processors and operating systems. It also can be used as a debugger for Windows PE, Mac OS X Mach-O, and Linux ELF executables. A decompiler plugin for programs compiled with a C/C++ compiler is available at extra cost. The latest full version of Ida Pro is commercial software; an earlier and less capable version is available for download free of charge (version 5.0 as of November 2011[update]).[2]
IDA performs much automatic code analysis, using cross-references between code sections, knowledge of parameters of API calls, and other information. However, the nature of disassembly precludes total accuracy, and a great deal of human intervention is necessarily required; IDA has interactive functionality to aid in improving the disassembly. A typical IDA user will begin with an automatically generated disassembly listing and then convert sections from code to data and viceversa, rename, annotate, and otherwise add information to the listing, until it becomes clear what it does.
Created as a shareware application by Ilfak Guilfanov, IDA was later sold as a commercial product by DataRescue, a Belgian company, who improved it and sold it under the name IDA Pro. In 2007 Guilfanov founded Hex-Rays to pursue the development of the Hex-Rays Decompiler IDA extension. In January 2008 Hex-Rays assumed the development and support of Datarescue's IDA Pro.
Contents |
[edit] Scripting
"IDC scripts" make it possible to extend the operation of the disassembler. Some helpful scripts are provided, which can serve as the basis for user written scripts. Most frequently scripts are used for extra modification of the generated code. For example, external symbol tables can be loaded thereby using the function names of the original source code. There are websites devoted to IDA scripts and offer assistance for frequently arising problems.
Users have created plugins that allow other common scripting languages to be used instead of, or in addition to, IDC. IdaRUB supports Ruby and IDAPython adds support for Python. As of version 5.4, IDAPython (dependent on Python 2.5) comes preinstalled with IDA Pro.
[edit] Supported systems/processors/compilers
- Operating systems
- Executable file formats
- Processors
- Intel 80x86 family
- ARM, including Thumb code
- Motorola 68xxx/h8
- Zilog Z80
- MOS Technology 6502
- Intel i860
- DEC Alpha
- Analog Devices ADSP218x
- Angstrem KR1878
- Atmel AVR series
- DEC series PDP11
- Fujitsu F2MC16L/F2MC16LX
- Fujitsu FR 32-bit Family
- Hitachi SH3/SH3B/SH4/SH4B
- Hitachi H8: h8300/h8300a/h8s300/h8500
- Intel 196 series: 80196/80196NP
- Intel 51 series: 8051/80251b/80251s/80930b/80930s
- Intel i960 series
- Intel Itanium (ia64) series
- Java virtual machine
- MIPS: mipsb/mipsl/mipsr/mipsrl/r5900b/r5900l
- Microchip PIC: PIC12Cxx/PIC16Cxx/PIC18Cxx
- MSIL
- Mitsubishi 7700 Family: m7700/m7750
- Mitsubishi m32/m32rx
- Mitsubishi m740
- Mitsubishi m7900
- Motorola DSP 5600x Family: dsp561xx/dsp5663xx/dsp566xx/dsp56k
- Motorola ColdFire
- Motorola HCS12
- NEC 78K0/78K0S
- PA-RISC
- PowerPC
- SGS-Thomson ST20/ST20c4/ST7
- SPARC Family
- Samsung SAM8
- Siemens C166 series
- TMS320Cxxx series
- Compiler/libraries (for automatic library function recognition)[3]
- Borland C++ 5.x for DOS/Windows
- Borland C++ 3.1
- Borland C Builder v4 for DOS/Windows
- GNU C++ for Cygwin
- Microsoft C
- Microsoft QuickC
- Microsoft Visual C++
- Watcom C++ (16/32 bit) for DOS/OS2
- ARM C v1.2
- GNU C++ for Unix/common
[edit] References
- Eilam, Eldad (2005). Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering. Wiley Publishing. pp. 595. ISBN 0764574817.
- Eagle, Chris (2008). The IDA Pro Book: The Unofficial Guide to the World's Most Popular Disassembler. No Starch Press. ISBN 9781593271787.
