Simple Script Compiler

This is a powerful tool to turn almost any script to binary, inspired by shc.

ssc itself is not a compiler such as cc, it rather generates c++ source code with script code, then uses c++ compiler to compile the source into a binary which behaves exactly like the original script.

Upon execution, the binary will call real script interpreter (systemwide, bundled or embeded), and fork a child process to pipe script code to the interpreter to execute.

Prerequisite

(Note: g++ version should be 5.2 or above)

For Debian-based Linux distros

g++, perl, binutils
libc-dev, libstdc++-dev (only required by -s flag)
libz-dev (only required by -E flag)
libz-dev, libfuse-dev, git, gcc, make, automake, autoconf, pkg-config, libtool, squashfs-tools (only required by -M flag)

For RedHat-based Linux distros

g++, perl, binutils
glibc-static, libstdc++-static (only required by -s flag)
zlib-devel (only required by -E flag)
zlib-devel, fuse-devel, git, gcc, make, automake, autoconf, pkgconfig, libtool, squashfs-tools (only required by -M flag)

For macOS

Xcode command line tools

For Android Termux

g++, perl, binutils, libandroid-wordexp
libandroid-wordexp-static, ndk-multilib-native-static (only required by -s flag)

For Cygwin

gcc-g++, perl, binutils

For FreeBSD

gcc, binutils

Usage

./ssc script binary

More options

Usage: ./ssc [-u] [-s] [-r] [-e|-E|-M file] [-0] [-n name] [-d date] [-m msg] [-S N] [-c] <script> <binary>

  -u, --untraceable        make untraceable binary
                           enable debugger detection, abort program when debugger is found
  -s, --static             make static binary
                           link statically, binary is more portable but bigger
  -r, --random-key         use random key for rc4 encryption
  -i, --interpreter        override interpreter path
                           the interpreter will be used no matter what shebang is
  -e, --embed-interpreter  embed specified interpreter into binary
                           the interpreter will be used no matter what shebang is
  -E, --embed-archive      embed specified tar.gz archive into binary
                           set relative path in shebang to use an interpreter in the archive
  -M, --mount-squashfs     append specified gzipped squashfs to binary and mount it at runtime
                           linux only, works like AppImage. if a directory is specified, create squashfs from it
  -0, --fix-argv0          try to fix $0, may not work
                           if it doesn't work or causes problems, try -n flag or use $SSC_ARGV0 instead
  -n, --ps-name            change script path in ps output, may contain 'XXXXXX' which will be replaced with a random string
                           upon execution, create a symlink to real path and pass it to the interperter
  -d, --expire-date        expire date, for example, 11/30/2023
  -m, --expire-message     expire message, default to 'script has expired!'
                           if a valid file path is specified, read message from the file
  -S, --segment            split script to multiple segments, default to 1
                           upon execution, decrypt and write script segment by segment, check for debugger before each segment
  -c, --verify-checksum    verify crc32 checksum of the binary at runtime
  -v, --verbose            show debug messages
  -h, --help               display this help and exit

Features

Support Linux/macOS/Android/Cygwin/FreeBSD
Support Shell/Python/Perl/NodeJS/Ruby/PHP/R/Lua and other scripts with custom shebang
Support relative path, environment variable and variable expanding in shebang
Code protection with rc4 encryption
Pipes script code to interpreter to avoid command line exposure
No limitation on script length
Anti-debugging with debugger detection
Support embeding an interpreter or archive into output binary

Limitations

By default, $0 / $ARGV[0] / sys.argv[0] is replaced by /dev/fd/xxx or /tmp/xxxxxx. To workaround this, try -0 flag or -n flag or use $SSC_ARGV0 instead.

Examples

Source code protection

For maximum source code protection, use these flags

./ssc script binary -u -s -r -e file -S N -c

All sensitive string literals are obfuscated with compile time obfuscation, so nothings useful will show with strings command
All debug symbols are stripped and all functions are inlined, increasing the difficulty to decompile and analyze the binary
-u flag enables debugger detection at runtime, prevents tools like gdb strace from tracing read write syscall
-s flag compiles a static binary, prevents function hook with LD_PRELOAD
-r flag generates a random rc4 key (obfuscated), increases the difficulty to decrypt with key directly from binary
-e flag embeds the interpreter to binary (encrypted), prevents source dumping with forged interpreter
-S flag splits script to N segments, checks for debugger and pipe reader before writing each segment to pipe, so at most one segment of source code may be acquired by reading from pipe or dumping memory. Use the largest N value possible unless the speed is unacceptably slow.
-c flag verifies crc32 checksum of the binary at runtime, prevents tampering of the binary file.

Builtin variables

The following builtin variables are available to the script (including shebang):

SSC_INTERPRETER_PATH: actual interpreter path
SSC_EXECUTABLE_PATH: current executable path
SSC_ARGV0: first command line argument (i.e. $0)
SSC_EXTRACT_DIR: temporary extraction directory for embeded file, if -e or -E flag is used
SSC_MOUNT_DIR: temporary mount directory for squashfs, if -M flag is used

Interpreter selection

If the script has no shebang, it's format will be deduced from file extension, and a default interpreter in PATH will be used.

If the script has a shebang, the shebang will be used to launch an interpreter process.

If the script has a relative-path shebang, the interpreter of the path relative to the binary will be used.

If the binary is generated with -i, the interpreter path specified after -i will be used to launch an interpreter process according to the shebang. In this case, the program specified in the shebang will appear as process name, but not be used actually.

If the binary is generated with -e, the interpreter is built into the binary. Upon execution, the interpreter will be extracted to /tmp/ssc/XXXXXX/, then be used to launch an interpreter process according to the shebang. In this case, the program specified in the shebang will appear as process name, but not be used actually.

If the binary is generated with -E, the archive is built into the binary. Upon execution, the archive will be decompressed and extracted to /tmp/ssc/XXXXXX/ with permissions perserved. If the script has a relative-path shebang, the interpreter of the path relative to the extraction directory will be used, otherwise, a system intepreter will be used.

If the binary is generated with -M, the squashfs file is appended to the binary. Upon execution, the squashfs file will be mounted to /tmp/ssc/XXXXXX/. If the script has a relative-path shebang, the interpreter of the path relative to the mount directory will be used, otherwise, a system intepreter will be used.

Cross compiling

Set CROSS_COMPILE variable just like using Makefile.

For example, to compile arm64 binary on x86_64 ubuntu:

apt install g++-aarch64-linux-gnu binutils-aarch64-linux-gnu
CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- ./ssc script binary

Disclaimer

Please read carefully and fully understand the following disclaimer before using this software:

This software is for personal study only, strictly prohibited for commercial or malicious purposes. if you use this software in the process of any illegal behavior, you need to bear the corresponding consequences, the author of the software will not bear any legal responsibility or joint liability.
This software is shared free of charge, any loss caused by using this software will be entirely borne by you, the author of the software will not bear any responsibility.
The copyright of this software statement, its right of modification, update and final interpretation belong to the author of the software.
Using this software means that you have fully understood, recognized and accepted all the terms and contents in this disclaimer.

liberize/ssc