Table of Contents for
The IDA Pro Book, 2nd Edition

Version ebook / Retour

Cover image for bash Cookbook, 2nd Edition The IDA Pro Book, 2nd Edition by Chris Eagle Published by No Starch Press, 2011
  1. Cover
  2. The IDA Pro Book
  3. PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION OF THE IDA PRO BOOK
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Introduction
  6. I. Introduction to IDA
  7. 1. Introduction to Disassembly
  8. The What of Disassembly
  9. The Why of Disassembly
  10. The How of Disassembly
  11. Summary
  12. 2. Reversing and Disassembly Tools
  13. Summary Tools
  14. Deep Inspection Tools
  15. Summary
  16. 3. IDA Pro Background
  17. Obtaining IDA Pro
  18. IDA Support Resources
  19. Your IDA Installation
  20. Thoughts on IDA’s User Interface
  21. Summary
  22. II. Basic IDA Usage
  23. 4. Getting Started with IDA
  24. IDA Database Files
  25. Introduction to the IDA Desktop
  26. Desktop Behavior During Initial Analysis
  27. IDA Desktop Tips and Tricks
  28. Reporting Bugs
  29. Summary
  30. 5. IDA Data Displays
  31. Secondary IDA Displays
  32. Tertiary IDA Displays
  33. Summary
  34. 6. Disassembly Navigation
  35. Stack Frames
  36. Searching the Database
  37. Summary
  38. 7. Disassembly Manipulation
  39. Commenting in IDA
  40. Basic Code Transformations
  41. Basic Data Transformations
  42. Summary
  43. 8. Datatypes and Data Structures
  44. Creating IDA Structures
  45. Using Structure Templates
  46. Importing New Structures
  47. Using Standard Structures
  48. IDA TIL Files
  49. C++ Reversing Primer
  50. Summary
  51. 9. Cross-References and Graphing
  52. IDA Graphing
  53. Summary
  54. 10. The Many Faces of IDA
  55. Using IDA’s Batch Mode
  56. Summary
  57. III. Advanced IDA Usage
  58. 11. Customizing IDA
  59. Additional IDA Configuration Options
  60. Summary
  61. 12. Library Recognition Using FLIRT Signatures
  62. Applying FLIRT Signatures
  63. Creating FLIRT Signature Files
  64. Summary
  65. 13. Extending IDA’s Knowledge
  66. Augmenting Predefined Comments with loadint
  67. Summary
  68. 14. Patching Binaries and Other IDA Limitations
  69. IDA Output Files and Patch Generation
  70. Summary
  71. IV. Extending IDA’s Capabilities
  72. 15. IDA Scripting
  73. The IDC Language
  74. Associating IDC Scripts with Hotkeys
  75. Useful IDC Functions
  76. IDC Scripting Examples
  77. IDAPython
  78. IDAPython Scripting Examples
  79. Summary
  80. 16. The IDA Software Development Kit
  81. The IDA Application Programming Interface
  82. Summary
  83. 17. The IDA Plug-in Architecture
  84. Building Your Plug-ins
  85. Installing Plug-ins
  86. Configuring Plug-ins
  87. Extending IDC
  88. Plug-in User Interface Options
  89. Scripted Plug-ins
  90. Summary
  91. 18. Binary Files and IDA Loader Modules
  92. Manually Loading a Windows PE File
  93. IDA Loader Modules
  94. Writing an IDA Loader Using the SDK
  95. Alternative Loader Strategies
  96. Writing a Scripted Loader
  97. Summary
  98. 19. IDA Processor Modules
  99. The Python Interpreter
  100. Writing a Processor Module Using the SDK
  101. Building Processor Modules
  102. Customizing Existing Processors
  103. Processor Module Architecture
  104. Scripting a Processor Module
  105. Summary
  106. V. Real-World Applications
  107. 20. Compiler Personalities
  108. RTTI Implementations
  109. Locating main
  110. Debug vs. Release Binaries
  111. Alternative Calling Conventions
  112. Summary
  113. 21. Obfuscated Code Analysis
  114. Anti–Dynamic Analysis Techniques
  115. Static De-obfuscation of Binaries Using IDA
  116. Virtual Machine-Based Obfuscation
  117. Summary
  118. 22. Vulnerability Analysis
  119. After-the-Fact Vulnerability Discovery with IDA
  120. IDA and the Exploit-Development Process
  121. Analyzing Shellcode
  122. Summary
  123. 23. Real-World IDA Plug-ins
  124. IDAPython
  125. collabREate
  126. ida-x86emu
  127. Class Informer
  128. MyNav
  129. IdaPdf
  130. Summary
  131. VI. The IDA Debugger
  132. 24. The IDA Debugger
  133. Basic Debugger Displays
  134. Process Control
  135. Automating Debugger Tasks
  136. Summary
  137. 25. Disassembler/Debugger Integration
  138. IDA Databases and the IDA Debugger
  139. Debugging Obfuscated Code
  140. IdaStealth
  141. Dealing with Exceptions
  142. Summary
  143. 26. Additional Debugger Features
  144. Debugging with Bochs
  145. Appcall
  146. Summary
  147. A. Using IDA Freeware 5.0
  148. Using IDA Freeware
  149. B. IDC/SDK Cross-Reference
  150. Index
  151. About the Author

Appendix A. Using IDA Freeware 5.0

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In December 2010, Hex-Rays released a significant upgrade to its free version of IDA, moving from version 4.9 to version 5.0. The freeware version of IDA is a reduced-capability application that typically lags behind the latest available version of IDA by several generations and contains substantially fewer capabilities than the commercial equivalent of the same version. Thus, not only does the freeware version lack any features introduced in more recent versions of IDA, it also contains fewer capabilities than the commercial version of IDA version 5.0.

The intent of this appendix is to provide an overview of the capabilities of IDA freeware and point out some of the differences in behavior that you may expect to encounter between the freeware version and the uses of IDA described throughout this book (which targets the latest commercial version of IDA). Before getting started, note that Hex-Rays also makes available a demo version of the latest commercial version of IDA that is reduced in functionality in many of the same ways as the freeware version, with the additional hindrance that it is not possible to save your work using a demo version of IDA. Also, the demo version will time out at random intervals, requiring that you restart it (without saving your work!) if you wish to resume the demonstration.

Restrictions on IDA Freeware

If you wish to use the freeware version of IDA, you must abide by (and, perhaps, put up with) the following restrictions and reduced functionality:

  • The freeware version is for noncommercial use only.

  • The freeware version is available only in a Windows GUI version.

  • The freeware version lacks all features introduced in later versions of IDA, including all SDK and scripting features that were introduced in versions 5.1 and later.

  • On startup, a help file page touting the virtues of the latest version of IDA will be displayed. You can disable this feature for subsequent startups.

  • The freeware version ships with substantially fewer plug-ins than the commercial versions.

  • The freeware version can disassemble only x86 code (it has only one processor module).

  • The freeware version ships with only eight loader modules that cover common x86 file types, including PE, ELF, Mach-O, MS-DOS, COFF, and a.out. Loading files in binary format is also supported.

  • The freeware version includes only a few type libraries common to x86 binaries, including those for GNU, Microsoft, and Borland compilers.

  • The freeware version ships with significantly fewer IDC scripts, and it ships with no Python scripts because version 5.0 predates the integration of IDAPython.

  • Add-ons such as the FLAIR tools and the SDK are not included.

  • Debugging is enabled only for local Windows processes/binaries. No remote debugging capability is available.

The look and feel of IDA’s freeware version reflects the look and feel of all commercial versions. For the features that are present in the freeware version, the behaviors are similar, if not identical, to the behaviors described throughout the book regarding the commercial versions of IDA. Thus, IDA freeware is an excellent way to get acquainted with IDA prior to committing to a purchase. In noncommercial settings such as academic environments, IDA freeware offers an outstanding opportunity to learn the basics of disassembly and reverse engineering as long as the restriction to x86 is not a problem.