I was looking for ELF based malware on https://malwr.com and couldn't help but notice how little analysis gets done on them. More surprising, to me, is that even well known malware like Kaiten gets flagged by very few AV (https://malwr.com/analysis/NThiZTU0MWUwZGI2NDAzYWI5YWU2ZjkzNTJmYTNjZTY/). ELF Parser attempts to move ELF malware analysis forward by quickly providing basic information and static analysis of the binary. The end goal of ELF Parser is to indicate to the analyst if it thinks the binary is malicious / dangerous and if so why.
ELF Parser can be compiled on Windows, OS X, or Linux (demangling and unit tests don't work on Windows). Windows uses the VS 2010 project in the base directory for compilation whereas Linux/OS X uses CMake. Compiling on Linux goes like this:
cd ~/elfparser
mkdir build
cd build/
cmake ..
make
Obviously, you will need to resolve any dependencies. Specifically, Boost is required and Qt is required for the GUI build.
ELF Parser has a number of compilation targets that can be configured by CMakeLists.txt. The targets are:
- Unit tests
- CLI build
- GUI build
- Visual Studios build
The user can pass in a single file (-f) or a directory (-d) of files:
./elfparser-cli --help
options:
--help A list of command line options
--version Display version information
-f [ --file ] arg The ELF file to examine
-d [ --directory ] arg The directory to look through.
-r [ --reasons ] Print the scoring reasons
-c [ --capabilities ] Print the files observed capabilities
-p [ --print ] Print the ELF files various parsed structures.
/elfparser-cli -f /bin/ls -c -r
/bin/ls - Score: 6
---- Scoring Reasons ----
4 -> Process manipulation functions
2 -> Environment variable manipulation
---- Detected Capabilities ----
File Functions
fclose() found
Process Manipulation
raise() found
Environment Variables
getenv() found
./elfparser-cli -f ~/Desktop/malwr.BillGates -r -c
/home/charlie/Desktop/malwr.BillGates - Score: 241
---- Scoring Reasons ----
8 -> Network functions
24 -> Process manipulation functions
8 -> Information gathering
8 -> Environment variable manipulation
3 -> Syslog manipulation functions
20 -> Shell commands
50 -> Packed
60 -> Hard coded IPv4 addresses
10 -> Anti debug techniques
50 -> Dropper functionaltiy
---- Detected Capabilities ----
File Functions
fclose() found
feof() found
fopen() found
funlockfile() found
unlink() found
Network Functions
accept() found
bind() found
connect() found
inet_addr() found
listen() found
recv() found
sendto() found
socket() found
Process Manipulation
clone() found
daemon() found
execve() found
fork() found
kill() found
raise() found
Random Functions
rand() found
random_r() found
srand() found
srandom_r() found
Information Gathering
Examines /proc/cpuinfo
Examines /proc/meminfo
Examines /proc/stat
access() found
fstat() found
getpagesize() found
phys_pages_info() found
uname() found
Environment Variables
clearenv() found
getenv() found
setenv() found
unsetenv() found
System Log
closelog() found
openlog() found
vsyslog() found
Shell
chmod 0755 %s
system() found
Packed
UPX copyright string found
UPX signature found
IP Addresses
1.0.0.0
1.0.0.1
10.0.0.0
10.255.255.255
127.0.0.0
127.0.0.1
127.255.255.255
172.16.0.0
172.31.255.255
192.168.0.0
192.168.255.255
254.255.255.254
255.0.0.0
8.8.4.4
8.8.8.8
Anti-Debug
Fake dynamic symbol table in sections
Dropper
Embedded ELF binary found at file offset 0xb7730 (751408)
This tool has a number of shortcomings. From the standpoint of a programmer I'm unhappy with all of the hardcoded values (ie, detection of BillGates, examination of symbols). If anyone has a better design I'm all ears!
Please report any issues, bugs, or feature requests on Github or contact me at admin@elfparser.com. Feel free to submit pull requests or email patches.
GPLv3. See the LICENSE file.