Objdump

objdump

Quick static inspection and disassembly without firing up a full GUI. Tiny hammer, surprisingly sharp.

When to use objdump

Use objdump when you need to:

• disassemble code sections quickly from a shell
• inspect headers, sections, relocations, or symbol tables
• dump raw bytes from a section like .rodata or .text
• compare compiler output or verify what a packer/stub changed

Quick Start

# Disassemble executable sections
objdump -d ./chall

# Disassemble all sections, not just code-marked ones
objdump -D ./chall

# Intel syntax on x86/x86-64
objdump -d -Mintel ./chall

High-Value Workflows

Code and symbols

objdump -d -Mintel ./chall
objdump -t ./chall
objdump -T ./chall
objdump -x ./chall

Dump interesting data sections

objdump -s -j .rodata ./chall
objdump -s -j .data ./chall

Mixed source plus assembly for local builds

objdump -S -Mintel ./chall

Practical Notes

• Prefer readelf when you need canonical ELF metadata rather than a friendlier summary.
• -D is useful for hand-marked shellcode regions or strange packer output where section flags lie.
• Pair objdump -s -j .rodata with strings when looking for nearby format strings, keys, or banners.

Caveats

• objdump is a disassembler, not a decompiler.
• Linear disassembly can mislead on embedded data or obfuscated control flow.
• For stripped or heavily optimized code, combine with gdb, strings, and readelf instead of trusting a single view.

Resources

No bundled scripts/, references/, or assets/. Use the GNU binutils manual for architecture-specific -M options and file-format nuances.