Relro Analysis

RELRO Analysis Skill

This skill helps you understand, check, and work with RELRO (Relocation Read-Only) protections in ELF binaries.

Quick Reference

# Check RELRO status (requires checksec/pwntools)
checksec --file ./binary

# Check RELRO with readelf (always available)
readelf -l ./binary | grep GNU_RELRO
readelf -d ./binary | grep BIND_NOW

# Compile with Full RELRO
gcc -fPIE -pie -Wl,-z,relro,-z,now -o binary source.c

Understanding RELRO

RELRO (Relocation Read-Only) is a linker mitigation that makes the GOT (Global Offset Table) and related sections read-only after relocations are applied. This prevents attackers from overwriting function pointers via buffer overflows or arbitrary write primitives.

Two Protection Levels

Key insight: Full RELRO requires -z now (eager binding) so .got.plt never needs runtime writes and can be made read-only.

Checking RELRO Status

Method 1: checksec (Recommended)

checksec --file ./vuln

Output interpretation:

• RELRO: Full → Complete protection
• RELRO: Partial → GOT.plt still writable
• RELRO: No → No protection

Method 2: readelf (Always available)

# Check for PT_GNU_RELRO segment
readelf -l ./binary | grep GNU_RELRO

# Check for BIND_NOW flag (indicates Full RELRO)
readelf -d ./binary | grep BIND_NOW

Interpretation:

• GNU_RELRO present + BIND_NOW absent = Partial RELRO
• GNU_RELRO present + BIND_NOW present = Full RELRO
• GNU_RELRO absent = No RELRO

Method 3: Check running process

# For a running process (e.g., setuid binary)
readelf -l /proc/$(pgrep process_name)/exe | grep GNU_RELRO

Enabling RELRO in Compilation

GCC/Clang

# Full RELRO with PIE and other hardenings
gcc -fPIE -pie -Wl,-z,relro,-z,now -Wl,--as-needed -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 source.c -o binary

# Breakdown:
# -fPIE -pie          → Position Independent Executable
# -Wl,-z,relro        → Create PT_GNU_RELRO segment
# -Wl,-z,now          → Eager binding (no lazy loading)
# -Wl,--as-needed     → Only link required libraries
# -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 → Buffer overflow protection

CMake (3.18+)

set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS "-Wl,-z,relro,-z,now")
set(CMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS "-Wl,-z,relro,-z,now")
set(CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)

Makefile

LDFLAGS += -Wl,-z,relro,-z,now
CFLAGS += -fPIE
LDFLAGS += -pie

Bypass Techniques

When GOT is Writable (No/Partial RELRO)

1. Direct GOT overwrite - Overwrite .got.plt entry to redirect function calls
2. ret2dlresolve - Craft fake Elf64_Rela and Elf64_Rsym to call _dl_runtime_resolve
3. Function pointer overwrite - Target .fini_array, .init_array, or atexit() handlers

When GOT is Read-Only (Full RELRO)

1. Other writable pointers - C++ vtables, __malloc_hook (glibc < 2.34), __free_hook, custom .data sections
2. Leak + ROP/SROP - Use relative read primitives to leak libc, then ROP into libc functions
3. Format string attacks - Partial pointer overwrite without touching GOT
4. Shared library GOT - libc's own GOT is only Partial RELRO; target it with arbitrary write
5. LD_PRELOAD/DT_RPATH - Inject rogue shared objects (if environment is controllable)

Important Note

Even with Full RELRO, shared libraries like libc have only Partial RELRO because they're already mapped when the loader applies relocations. If you have an arbitrary write primitive targeting another shared object's pages, you can still pivot execution by overwriting libc's GOT entries.

Real-World Example

2024 CTF - pwn.college "enlightened"

• Binary had Full RELRO
• Exploit used off-by-one to corrupt heap chunk size
• Leaked libc via tcache poisoning
• Overwrote __free_hook (outside RELRO segment) with one-gadget
• No GOT write required

Recent Developments (2022-2025)

Common Questions

"Why does my binary show Partial RELRO?"

You're missing -z now. Use both flags: -Wl,-z,relro,-z,now

"Can I still exploit Full RELRO binaries?"

Yes, but you need different primitives:

• Look for writable code pointers outside GOT
• Use format string or partial overwrite
• Target shared library GOT (libc's GOT is Partial RELRO)
• Exploit heap corruption to reach __free_hook or similar

"What's the performance impact?"

• Partial RELRO: Negligible
• Full RELRO: Measurable startup overhead (all symbols resolved at launch), no runtime overhead

"Should I enable RELRO?"

Yes, always. Modern distributions ship with Full RELRO by default. It's a fundamental hardening measure with minimal cost.

References

• Why malloc hooks were removed from glibc
• Binutils bug 30612 - RELRO end alignment
• checksec documentation