analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux

analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack. It costs 59 tokens per session (800 once invoked), scanned A, original, Apache-2.0.

A static-analysis guide for Linux ELF files, the standard format for many Linux executables and shared libraries. It examines the file without making it executable or running it.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to inspect ELF headers, sections, memory permissions, dynamic libraries, symbols, strings, static linking, stripping, and signs of packing.
Why use it?
It helps infer what a suspicious Linux program may do from its structure, imports, permissions, and embedded text. It also highlights when stripped symbols or packing make that evidence incomplete.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Written for no agent in particular: nothing here depends on one.

Good fit Use it to inspect ELF headers, sections, memory permissions, dynamic libraries, symbols, strings, static linking, stripping, and signs of packing.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack/analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack --skill analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack/analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack/analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack/analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack/analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack/analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack/analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 59 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 800 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00059 $0.00800
Opus 5 $0.00030 $0.00400
Sonnet 5 $0.00012 $0.00160
Haiku 4.5 $0.00006 $0.00080

Measured 10d ago against content hash 6e61bd93d475, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-09, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 10d ago.

The scan reads SKILL.md. This mod also ships 1 executable file (scripts/analyst.py), listed below but not scanned — reading those needs a real analyzer, not pattern matching.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

skills/analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux/SKILL.md · 100 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 100 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Analyzing ELF Binaries on Linux

When to Use

  • You have a Linux executable or shared object and need to assess it statically.
  • You want to read the ELF header, segments, dynamic symbols, and strings to infer behavior.
  • You are checking for static linking, stripped symbols, or packing.

Do not use symbol absence as proof of nothing — stripped or statically linked Go/Rust binaries hide structure; switch to disassembly when static metadata is thin.

Prerequisites

  • readelf/nm/strings (binutils) or pyelftools (pip install pyelftools).
  • The sample in neutralized form inside the lab.

Safety & Handling

  • Static only: parse the file; do not set it executable or run it.

Workflow

Step 1: Read the ELF header

python scripts/analyst.py analyze sample.elf

Note class (ELF32/64), endianness, type (EXEC/DYN/REL), machine (x86-64, ARM, MIPS), and whether it is stripped.

Step 2: Examine segments and section permissions

Writable+executable segments, or a single large segment, suggest packing or self-modifying code. Compare PT_LOAD permissions against expectations.

Step 3: Inspect dynamic symbols and needed libraries

Imported functions hint at capability: socket/connect (network), ptrace (anti-debug or injection), fork/execve (process control), crypt/EVP_* (encryption).

Step 4: Detect static linking and packing

Static binaries lack a dynamic symbol table and NEEDED entries. High whole-file entropy and a tiny section table suggest a packer (e.g. UPX leaves UPX! markers).

Step 5: Skim strings and constructors

Check .init_array/constructors (code before main), and strings for paths, URLs, and shell commands.

Validation

  • Header type and segment permissions are consistent with the inferred behavior.
  • Imported symbols correspond to plausible capabilities.
  • Packing call (entropy + missing sections) matches the strings observed.

Pitfalls

  • Assuming dynamic symbols are complete — they only cover imported/exported names, not internal functions.
  • Treating a stripped Go binary as "empty"; its structure lives in runtime metadata, not the symbol table.
  • Ignoring constructors/.init_array, which run before main.

Read the full file on GitHub · 100 lines

Files

What ships with it

3 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 10d ago First seen · 100 lines · 59 tokens per session scan A 6e61bd93d475

Subscribe to this mod's changes

analyzing-elf-binaries-on-linux is a skill published in the GitHub repository meltedinhex/analyst-ai-pack (22 stars, last pushed 2mo ago), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 59 tokens to every session and 800 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

Related

Other skills, from other repositories

analyzing-linux-elf-malware

Analyze malicious Linux ELF binaries — botnets, cryptominers, ransomware, and rootkits targeting Linux servers, containers, and cloud infrastructure — through static analysis, dynamic tracing, and reverse engineering of x8664 and ARM samples. Use when investigating Linux malware, triaging a suspicious ELF binary…

mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills · 82 tokens

analyzing-malicious-pdf-with-peepdf

Perform static analysis of malicious PDF documents using peepdf, pdfid, and pdf-parser to extract embedded JavaScript, shellcode, and suspicious objects. Use when triaging a suspicious PDF attachment from a phishing email, analyzing a PDF-based exploit document, or building detection signatures for weaponized PDF…

mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills · 73 tokens

analyzing-malicious-pdf-with-peepdf

A Chinese-language skill for examining suspicious PDF files with peepdf, pdfid, and pdf-parser. It is intended for static malware analysis, which studies a file without running it.

killvxk/cybersecurity-skills-zh · 50 tokens

analyzing-linux-elf-malware

A guide for examining Linux ELF files, the executable format used by Linux programs. It covers static inspection, runtime tracing, and reverse engineering of malware on x86-64, ARM, and MIPS systems.

killvxk/cybersecurity-skills-zh · 117 tokens

analyzing-malicious-pdf-with-peepdf

Perform static analysis of malicious PDF documents using peepdf, pdfid, and pdf-parser to extract embedded JavaScript, shellcode, and suspicious objects.

26zl/cybersec-toolkit · 43 tokens

analyzing-linux-elf-malware

Analyzes malicious Linux ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) binaries including botnets, cryptominers, ransomware, and rootkits targeting Linux servers, containers, and cloud infrastructure. Covers static analysis, dynamic tracing, and reverse engineering of x8664 and ARM ELF samples. Activates for requests involving…

26zl/cybersec-toolkit · 88 tokens