Applying Annotations

This document is organized into five sections describing how to work with types in Binary Ninja:

1. Symbols covers how to work with Symbols in a binary
2. Types is how to create and interact with types through the API
3. Tags is about how to create tags and bookmarks
4. Type Libraries explains how to work with Type Libraries, including multiple sources of information from which Binary Ninja can automatically source for type information from and how you can add to them
5. Signature Libraries explains how to work with the signature library which match statically compiled functions which are then matched with type libraries

Symbols

From an API perspective there are several helper functions, for example to rename a function:

>>> current_function.name
'main'
>>> current_function.name = "newName"
>>> current_function.name
'newName'

Other objects or variables may need a symbol created and applied:

>>> mysym = Symbol(SymbolType.FunctionSymbol, here, "myVariableName")
>>> mysym
<SymbolType.FunctionSymbol: "myVariableName" @ 0x80498d0>
>>> bv.define_user_symbol(mysym)

Note that here and bv are used in many of the previous examples. These shortcuts and several others are only available when running in the Binary Ninja python console and are used here for convenience.

Valid symbol types include:

SymbolType	Description
FunctionSymbol	Symbol for function that exists in the current binary
ImportAddressSymbol	Symbol defined in the Import Address Table
ImportedFunctionSymbol	Symbol for a function that is not defined in the current binary
DataSymbol	Symbol for data in the current binary
ImportedDataSymbol	Symbol for data that is not defined in the current binary
ExternalSymbol	Symbols for data and code that reside outside the BinaryView
LibraryFunctionSymbol	Symbols for external functions outside the library

Tags

The tags API has been reworked in 3.4 to be easier to use an understand.

TagTypes

A TagType is the object that represents the "type" of tag something is. By default, a binary view starts off with several tag types, include "Bugs," "Crashes," "Important," and so on.

Before you can create a tag of a type that's not already in the BinaryView, you need to create the tag type.

Previously you'd have to handle this object and pass it around to other functions, but now you only need to remember its identifier:

>>> bv.create_tag_type("Really good looking code", "🦀")
<tag type Really good looking code: 🦀 >

Where now you won't need the TagType object to create new tags.

Creating Tags

There are three main types of tags: data tags, function tags, and address tags. All three of these use a similar .add_tag API.

Data Tags

Data tags are tags you create on a BinaryView, with a given address and some associated data. It also has optional fields for if you'd like to create this as a auto tag.

These tags can be at any address. If they happen to overlap with the address in a function, it will add the tag to the appropriate lines of disassembly/IL/decompilation. This is not the best way to get tags into a function, however.

>>> bv.add_tag(0xdeadbeef, "Vulnerabilities", "Some associated comment or serialized metadata")

Function and Address Tags

Function tags are tags you create on a Function with some associated data. Function tags appear at the top of a function and are a good way to label an entire function with some information.

>>> bv.add_tag_type("Cheese", "🧀")
<tag type Cheese: 🧀 >
>>> current_function.add_tag("Cheese", "This function smells funny")

If you include an address when you call Function.add_tag, you'll create an address tag. These are good for labeling specific instructions.

>>> current_function.add_tag("Bug", "This is comparing an unsigned number with a signed number!", 0xdeadbeef)

Auto Tags

If you want to create auto tags, as of 3.4, these are no longer in separate APIs. Simply provide the auto=True flag to the above calls.

>>> bv.add_tag(0xdeadbeef, "Vulnerability", "Buffer overflooooowwwww!!!", auto=True)

Types

Binary Ninja provides a flexible API for creating and defining types explicitly. Binary Ninja Type objects are immutable, we provide two different methods for creating them. For simple types there are one-shot APIs that allow you to define the type with a single function call. Some situations are more complex and incremental construction is preferred, so we provide an additional TypeBuilder interface. The TypeBuilder interface is also useful for when you want to modify an existing type.

Simple Type Creation

There are a number of different type objects available for creation:

• Integer Types
• Characters Types (technically an integer)
• Wide Characters Types (also technically an integer)
• Boolean (guess what? also technically an integer)
• Float Types (definitely not an integer)
• Pointers
• Void (like an integer but if its size was zero)
• Functions
• Arrays
• Enumeration (kind of an integer)
• Structures (probably has integers in it)
• Type Definitions

Creating Types Using the Type Parser

Binary Ninja's built-in type parser provides a very convenient way of creating types when you can't remember the exact API to call. The parse_type_string API returns a tuple of Type and string name for the string passed.

>>> bv.parse_type_string("uint64_t")
(<type: uint64_t>, '')

Though convenient it is many orders of magnitude slower than simply calling the APIs directly. For applications where performance is at all desired the following APIs should be used.

Integer Types

Type.int(4) # Creates a 4 byte signed integer
Type.int(8, False) # Creates an 8 bytes unsigned integer
Type.int(2, altName="short") # Creates a 2 byte signed integer named 'short'
# Similarly through their classes directly
IntegerType.create(4)
IntegerType.create(8, False)
IntegerType.create(2, altName="short")

Character Types

Type.char() # This is just a 1 byte signed integer and can be used as such
Type.wideChar(2, altName="wchar_t") # Creates a wide character with the name 'wchar_t'
# Similarly through their classes directly
CharType.create()
WideCharType.create(2)

Boolean

Type.bool()
# Similarly through its class directly
BoolType.create()

Floating-point Types

All floating point numbers are assumed to be signed

Type.float(4) # Creates a 4 byte ieee754 'float'
Type.float(8) # Creates a 8 byte ieee754 'double'
Type.float(10) # Creates a 10 byte ieee754 'long double'
Type.float(16) # Creates a 16 byte ieee754 'float128'
# Similarly through their classes directly
FloatType.create(4)
FloatType.create(8)
FloatType.create(10)
FloatType.create(16)

Void

Type.void() # Create a void type which has zero size
# Similarly through its class directly
VoidType.create()

Pointers

Type.pointer(bv.arch, Type.int(4)) # Create a pointer to a signed 4 byte integer
Type.pointer(type=Type.int(4), width=bv.arch.address_size) # Equivalent to the above but doesn't require an Architecture object be passed around
Type.pointer(bv.arch, Type.void(), const=True, volatile=False) # Creates a constant non volatile void pointer.
# Similarly through their classes directly
PointerType.create(bv.arch, Type.int(4))
PointerType.create(type=Type.int(4), width=bv.arch.address_size)
PointerType.create(bv.arch, Type.void(), const=True, volatile=False)

Arrays

Type.array(Type.int(4), 2) # Create an array of 2 - 4 byte integers
# Similarly through their classes directly
ArrayType.create(Type.int(4), 2)

Function Types

Type.function() # Creates a function with which takes no parameters and returns void
Type.function(Type.void(), [('arg1', Type.int(4))]) # Create a function type which takes an integer as parameter and returns void
Type.function(params=[('arg1', Type.int(4))]) # Same as the above
# Similarly through their classes directly
FunctionType.create()
FunctionType.create(Type.void(), [('arg1', Type.int(4))])
FunctionType.create(params=[('arg1', Type.int(4))])

Create Anonymous Structures/Class/Unions

In Binary Ninja's type system supports anonymous and named structures. Anonymous structures are the simplest to understand, and what most people would expect.

Type.structure(members=[(Type.int(4), 'field_0')], type=StructureVariant.UnionStructureType) # Create a union with one integer members
Type.structure(members=[(Type.int(4), 'field_0'), (Type.int(4), 'field_4')], packed=True) # Created a packed structure containing two integer members
Type.structure(members=[(Type.int(4), 'field_0')], type=StructureVariant.ClassStructureType) # Create a class with one integer members
# Similarly through their classes directly
StructureType.create(members=[(Type.int(4), 'field_0')], type=StructureVariant.UnionStructureType)
StructureType.create(members=[(Type.int(4), 'field_0'), (Type.int(4), 'field_4')], packed=True)
StructureType.create(members=[(Type.int(4), 'field_0')], type=StructureVariant.ClassStructureType)

Create Anonymous Enumerations

Type.enumeration(members=[('ENUM_2', 2), ('ENUM_4', 4), ('ENUM_8', 8)])
Type.enumeration(members=['ENUM_0', 'ENUM_1', 'ENUM_2'])

Accessing Types

You may end up accessing types via a variety of APIs. In some cases, you're already working with a variable, function, or other object that has a type property:

>>> current_function.type
<type: immutable:FunctionTypeClass 'int32_t(int32_t argc, char** argv, char** envp)'>
>>> current_function.parameter_vars[2]
<var char** envp>
>>> current_function.parameter_vars[2].type
<type: immutable:PointerTypeClass 'char**'>

Explicit Type Lookup

Of course, there are also methods to directly access a type independent of its association with any given object in analysis:

>>> bv.types['Elf64_Header']
<type: immutable:StructureTypeClass 'struct Elf64_Header'>
# Or
>>> s = bv.get_type_by_name('Elf64_Header')
>>> s
<type: immutable:StructureTypeClass 'struct Elf64_Header'>
>>> s.members
[<struct Elf64_Ident ident, offset 0x0>, <enum e_type type, offset 0x10>, <enum e_machine machine, offset 0x12>, <uint32_t version, offset 0x14>, <void (* entry)(), offset 0x18>, <uint64_t program_header_offset, offset 0x20>, <uint64_t section_header_offset, offset 0x28>, <uint32_t flags, offset 0x30>, <uint16_t header_size, offset 0x34>, <uint16_t program_header_size, offset 0x36>, <uint16_t program_header_count, offset 0x38>, <uint16_t section_header_size, offset 0x3a>, <uint16_t section_header_count, offset 0x3c>, <uint16_t string_table, offset 0x3e>]

Accessing Data Variable Values

Even more powerful are the APIs when a type is applied to a specific data variable because you can directly query members or values according to the type:

>>> header = bv.get_data_var_at(bv.start)
>>> header
<var 0x0: struct Elf64_Header>
>>> header['ident']
<TypedDataAccessor type:struct Elf64_Ident value:{'signature': b'\x7fELF', 'file_class': 2, 'encoding': 1, 'version': 1, 'os': 0, 'abi_version': 0, 'pad': b'\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00'}>
>>> header['ident']['signature'].value
b'\x7fELF'

Important Concepts

Here's a few useful concepts when working Binary Ninja's type system.

Named Types

In Binary Ninja the name of a class/struct/union or enumeration is separate from its type definition. This is much like how it's done in C. The mapping between a structure's definition and its name is kept in the Binary View. Thus if we want to associate a name with our type we need an extra step.

bv.define_user_type('Foo', Type.structure(members=[(Type.int(4), 'field_0')]))

To reference a named type a NamedTypeReference object must be used. Say we want to add the struct Foo to our a new structure Bar.

t = Type.structure(members=[(Type.int(4), 'inner')])
n = 'Foo'
bv.define_user_type(n, t)
ntr = Type.named_type_from_registered_type(bv, n)
bv.define_user_type('Bar', Type.structure(members=[(ntr, 'outer')]))

The above is equivalent to the following C

struct Foo {
    int32_t inner;
};

struct Bar {
    struct Foo outer;
};

It is also possible to add the type referenced by Foo directly as an anonymous structure and thus there would be no need for a NamedTypeReference

t = Type.structure(members=[(Type.int(4), 'inner')])
bv.define_user_type('Bas', Type.structure(members=[(t, 'outer')]))

Yielding the following C equivalent:

struct Bas
{
    struct { int32_t inner; } outer;
}

Mutable Types

As Type objects are immutable, the Binary Ninja API provides a pure python implementation of types to provide mutability, these all inherit from MutableType and keep the same names as their immutable counterparts minus the Type part. Thus Structure is the mutable version of StructureType and Enumeration is the mutable version of MutableType. Type objects can be converted to MutableType objects using the Type.mutable_copy API and, MutableType objects can be converted to Type objects through the MutableType.immutable_copy API. Generally speaking you shouldn't need the mutable type variants for anything except creation of structures and enumerations, mutable type variants are provided for convenience and consistency. Building and defining a new structure can be done in a few ways. The first way would be the two step process of creating the structure then defining it.

s = StructureBuilder.create(members=[(IntegerType.create(4), 'field_0')])
bv.define_user_type('Foo', s)

A second option for more complicated situations you can opt for incremental initialization of the type:

s = StructureBuilder.create()
s.packed = True
s.append(IntegerType.create(2))
s.append(IntegerType.create(4))
bv.define_user_type('Foo', s)

Finally you can use the built-in context manager which automatically registers the created type with the provided BinaryView (bv) and name(Foo). Additionally when creating TypeLibraries a Type can be passed instead of a BinaryView

with StructureBuilder.builder(bv, 'Foo') as s:
    s.packed = True
    s.append(Type.int(2))
    s.append(Type.int(4))

Type Modification

Sometimes it's desired to modify a type which has already been registered with a Binary View. The hard way would be as follows:

1. Look up the type you want to modify
2. Get a mutable version of that type
3. Modify the type how you wish
4. Register that type with the Binary View again

s = bv.types['Foo'].mutable_copy()
s.append(Type.int(2))
bv.define_user_type('Foo', s)

This is a bit easier by using the builder context manager as follows:

with Type.builder(bv, 'Foo') as s:
    s.append(Type.int(2))

Applying Types

There are 3 categories of object which can have Type objects applied to them.

• Functions
• Variables (i.e. local variables)
• DataVariables (i.e. global variables)

As of the 3.0 API its much easier to apply types to Variables and DataVariables

Applying a type to a Function

Change a functions type to a function which returns void and takes zero parameters:

current_function.type = Type.function(Type.void(), [])

Applying a type to a Variable

Change the parameter of a function's zeroth parameter to a pointer to a character:

current_function.parameter_vars[0].type = Type.pointer(bv.arch, Type.char())

Applying a type to a DataVariable

>>> bv.get_data_var_at(here)
<var 0x408104: void>
>>> bv.get_data_var_at(here).type
<type: immutable:VoidTypeClass 'void'>
>>> bv.get_data_var_at(here).type = Type.char()

Applying a type where non exists yet

In some instances you may need to first create a DataVariable before you can set the type at a given location:

>>> bv.get_data_var_at(here)
# Nothing there yet!
>>> bv.define_user_data_var(here, "char*")
<var 0x22d50787c: char*>

Note that most of the APIs that take a Type object also take a C-style type string as a convenience helper as demonstrated as a difference between the last two examples.

Headers

Importing a header goes through the same code path as parsing source directly. You will just have to read the file and specify the appropriate command-line arguments as an array. See user type guide for directions for choosing arguments.

>>> with open('C:\projects\stdafx.h', 'r') as f:
...     TypeParser.default.parse_types_from_source(f.read(), 'stdafx.h', Platform['windows-x86_64'], [], ['--target=x86_64-pc-windows-msvc', '-x', 'c', '-std', 'c99', r'-isystemC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Professional\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.28.29333\include', r'-isystemC:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Include\10.0.19041.0\ucrt', r'-isystemC:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Include\10.0.19041.0\shared', r'-isystemC:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Include\10.0.19041.0\um'])
(<types: [...], variables: [...], functions: [...]>, [])

Exporting a header uses the TypePrinter.print_all_types api, and outputs a string.

>>> TypePrinter.default.print_all_types(bv.types.items(), bv)
'//------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n// Types for /bin/ls\n//\n// This header file generated by Binary Ninja\n//------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n#ifndef BN_TYPE_PARSER\n#include <stdint.h>\n#include <stddef.h>\n#include <stdlib.h>\n#include <stdbool.h>\n#include <wchar.h>\n\n#define __packed\n#define __noreturn\n#define __convention(name)\n...'

Type Libraries

Type Libraries are collections of type information (structs, enums, function types, etc.) stored in a file with the extension .bntl.

Relative to the binaryninja executable, the default type library location is ../Resources/typelib on macOS and ./typelib on Linux and Windows. Individual .bntl files are organized in subdirectories named for the supported architecture. Users may include their own type libraries

The information in a type library is contained in two key-value stores:

1. named types: key is the type name, value is the type
2. named objects: key is external symbol name, value is the type

How Binary Ninja Loads Type Libraries

When a binary is opened, its platform is determined, all .bntl's are processed, and those matching the platform of the loaded binary are registered. A debug log will show:

Registered library 'libc.so.6' with platform 'linux-x86_64'

Then, those with either a filename or an alternative name matching the exact text of the binary's import command are imported, much like the native linker/loader. For example, in ELF, the .dynstr entry is used.

elf: searching for 'libc.so.6' in type libraries
Type library 'libc.so.6' imported

Type libraries for linux are ideally named after their realname, preserving the library minor version from which they were generated, and the soname in the alternatives list. In practice, naming them after their soname suffices. Using the linkname with no alternatives will prevent your library from loading.

This requested name should be a soname, like "libfoo.so.1" but could be a linkname like "libfoo.so". (The ldconfig tool is responsible for creating symlinks from soname to realnames, like /usr/lib/libfoo.so.1 -> /usr/lib/libfoo.so.1.0. See tldp.org for more information.).

Binary Ninja's logic for determining a match is straightforward:

typelibname.removesuffix('.bntl') == requestedname or requestedname in alternativenames

Therefore, without any alternative names, libc.so.bntl will not be loaded by Binary Ninja if an ELF requests libc.so.6.

We recommend and use the following convention:

Type libraries should be named for the filename from which they were generated with the phrase ".bntl" added. When the source library contains additional minor and release number, like libfoo.so.1.2.3 Binary Ninja would not load the resulting type library libfoo.so.1.2.3.bntl for an ELF requesting soname libfoo.so.1. Therefore the alternative names list should include the most specific version numbers, incrementally stripped down to the soname, and finally a linkname for good measure.

Example:

libfoo.so.1.2.3 is used to generated libfoo.so.1.2.3.bntl

The alternative names list should have:

libfoo.so.1.2.3 <-- includes version, minor, release (most specific)
libfoo.so.1.2   <-- includes version, minor (less specific)
libfoo.so.1     <-- includes version (soname)
libfoo.so       <-- linkname

Acquiring a Handle

The platform class exposes handles to these imported type libraries with its type_libraries list and its get_type_libraries_by_name() function:

>>> bv.platform.type_libraries
[<typelib 'libm.so.6':x86_64':x86_64>, <typelib 'SYSCALLS':x86_64]
>>> bv.platform.get_type_libraries_by_name('libm.so.6')
[<typelib 'libm.so.6':x86_64>]

That requires the type library having been loaded. A more direct way is to load from a file path with the load_from_file() from Typelibrary class from typelibrary module:

>>> typelibrary.TypeLibrary.load_from_file('/path/to/libm_x86_64.so.6.bntl')
<typelib 'libm_x86_64.so.6':x86_64>

Contents of Libraries

The following demonstrates attributes of interest on a loaded type library in variable tl:

    print('           name: %s' % tl.name)
    print('           arch: %s' % tl.arch)
    print('           guid: %s' % tl.guid)
    print('dependency_name: %s' % tl.dependency_name)
    print('alternate_names: %s' % tl.alternate_names)
    print(' platform_names: %s' % tl.platform_names)

    print('  named_objects: %d' % len(tl.named_objects))
    for (key, val) in tl.named_objects.items():
        print('\t"%s" %s' % (str(key), str(val)))

    print('    named_types: %d' % len(tl.named_types))
    for (key,val) in tl.named_types.items():
        print('\t"%s" %s' % (str(key), str(val)))

Named objects (via dictionary .named_objects are functions signatures and a module's exported variables. Named types (via dictionary .named_types) are the textual named you might use to declare a variable. For example,

For example, .named_objects['fegetexceptionflag'] looks up its function prototype: int32_t (fexcept_t* flagp) and .named_types['fexcept_t'] looks up uint16_t, its typedef.

Creating

You may also wish to use the typelib_create.py example script included both online and offline in your installation path.

Types entered by manual entry can be exported from the binary view using export_type_to_library().

Manual creation is achieved by creating a new type library, associating the correct platform and architecture, adding types, finalizing, and writing to a file. Example:

arch = binaryninja.Architecture['x86_64']

struct = Structure()
struct.append(Type.pointer(arch, Type.char()), 'name')
struct.append(Type.int(4), 'age')
struct.append(Type.int(4), 'height')
struct.append(Type.int(4), 'weight')

typelib = binaryninja.typelibrary.TypeLibrary.new(arch, 'test.so.1.4')
typelib.add_named_type('human', binaryninja.types.Type.structure_type(struct))
typelib.add_alternate_name('test.so.1') #don't forget this step!
typelib.add_alternate_name('test.so')
typelib.finalize()
typelib.write_to_file('test.so.1.bntl')

Other Type Library Questions

What's a named type vs. just a type?

Some variable definitions have type information, but don't produce a type name useful for future definitions, examples:

• enum {A=1,B=2} foo; : foo has type with no type name (it does have a variable name)
• struct {int A; int B;} bar; : bar has type with no type name

In C, enum and struct definitions can create a new type name as a byproduct of a definition by using a "tag name":

• enum MyEnum {A=1,B=2} foo; : foo has the type named MyEnum
• struct MyStruct {int A; int B;} bar; : bar has the type named MyStruct

In the second set of examples, the types are named, and that name could be used to declare other variables, like enum MyEnum bar2; and struct MyStruct bar2.

Functions' types are not named. The function name is considered the name of a function object, and the function's type is anonymous.

In summary:

typedef int foo; // type:int, name:foo

// structs, without and with a "tag name"
struct {int A; int B;} foo; // type:struct{int A, intB;}, name:<anonymous>
struct MyStruct {int A; int B;} foo; // type:struct{int A, intB;}, name:MyStruct

// enumerations, without and with a "tag name"
enum {A=1,B=2} foo; // type:enum{A=1,B=2}, name:<anonymous>
enum MyEnum {A=1,B=2} foo; // type:enum{A=1,B=2}, name:MyEnum

// functions
int main(int ac, char **av); // type int ()(int, char **), name:<anonymous>
typedef int (MyFunc)(int ac, char **av); // type int ()(int, char **), name:MyFunc

How does Binary Ninja decide when to use a typelibrary (.bntl) file?

Type Libraries are loaded when the corresponding library is imported by a BinaryView. (i.e. if an exe imports ntdll.dll, binja will look in the bv's platform for type libraries named ntdll.bntl and load the first one it finds)

What's the difference between a named type and a named object?

A named type is a type with a name that can identify it. For example, color is the name of type enum {RED=0, ORANGE=1, YELLOW=2, ...}.

A named object is the name of an external/imported symbol for which the type library has type information. For example, MessageBoxA is the name of a function whose type is int ()(HWND, LPCSTR, LPCSTR, UINT).

How do I find what type of type a type object is? How many are there?

I've seen "types of types", "sorts of types", "kinds of types", "classes of types" used to differentiate the varieties of possible types, and there are probably more. Binary Ninja uses "class", example:

>>> type_obj.type_class
<TypeClass.FunctionTypeClass: 8>

In enums.py we can see Binary Ninja currently thinks of types falling into 13 classes: Void, Bool, Integer, Float, Structure, Enumeration, Pointer, Array, Function, VarArgs, Value, NamedTypeReference, WideCharType.

Compare this to LLDB, which also uses the term "class", and currently has 19 of them: Array, BlockPointer, Builtin, Class, ComplexFloat, ComplexInteger, Enumeration, Function, MemberPointer, ObjCObject, ObjCInterface, ObjCObjectPointer, Pointer, Reference, Struct, Typedef, Union, Vector, Other.

Compare this to GDB, which uses the term "type code" and has 25 of them.

Where are function parameter names stored?

While technically not part of the type, having names of function parameters is very useful and can thus be optionally stored in a type.

Function types (types with .type_class == FunctionTypeClass) have a .parameters attribute, a list of FunctionParameter objects. When those objects have .name=='' you get the bare bones function types like int ()(int, char **). When those objects have their .name populated you get the more meaningful int ()(int argc, char **argv).

How do I manually load a type library?

>>> bv.add_type_library(TypeLibrary.load_from_file('test.bntl'))

How can I manually load a type object?

>>> bv.import_library_object('_MySuperComputation')
<type: int32_t (int32_t, int32_t, char*)>

Why doesn't the types view show the types imported from type libraries?

Because the type libraries added to a binary view only makes their type information available for use. The types view will show a type from a type library only after it is used (on demand).

Try this experiment:

• note bv.type_libraries, bv.types
• add a type library with bv.add_type_library(TypeLibrary.load_from_file('test.bntl'))
• note that bv.type_libraries is extended, but bv.types is unchanged!
• note bv.get_type_by_name('Rectangle') returns nothing
• set the type of some data to struct Rectangle (using y in linear view or via any other method described above)
• bv.types is extended, and the types view shows struct Rectangle in the auto types

What's a named type reference?

Named Type References are a way to refer to a type by name without having its declaration immediately available.

For example, examine this struct from typelib_create.py:

struct Rectangle2 {
  int width;
  int height;
  struct Point center;
}

We don't know at this moment what a struct Point is. Maybe we've already added it. Maybe we'll add it later. Maybe it's in another type library. But we want to add a Rectangle now. So we leave the center field as a reference to the named type struct Point.

Load the resulting test.bntl in your binary and try to set some data to type struct Rectangle2 and you'll be met with this message:

TypeLibrary: failed to import type 'Point'; referenced but not present in library 'libtest.so.1`

This makes sense! Now go to types view and define struct Point { int x; int y; } and try again, success!

100001000  struct rectangle_unresolved data_100001000 =
100001000  {
100001000      int32_t width = 0x5f0100
100001004      int32_t height = 0x5f030005
100001008      struct Point center =
100001008      {
100001008          int32_t x = 0x655f686d
10000100c          int32_t y = 0x75636578
100001010      }
100001008  }

You should repeat the experiment using struct Rectangle and see that you're allowed to create variables with type containing pointers to unresolved type references.

How are types represented?

By a hierarchy of objects from api/python/types.py referencing one another. The "glue" object is binaryninja.types.Type and depending on the complexity of the type it represents (stored in its .type_class attribute), it could have an attribute with more information. For instance, if the binaryninja.types.Type has .type_class == FunctionTypeClass then its .parameters attribute is a list of binaryninja.types.FunctionParameter. See typelib_dump.py for how this can work.

As an example, here is the hierarchical representation of type struct Rectangle from typelib_create.py

typelib.named_types["Rectangle"] =
----------------------------------
Type class=Structure
  Structure
    StructureMember "width"
      Type class=Integer width=4
    StructureMember "height"
      Type class=Integer width=4
    StructureMember "center"
      Type class=Pointer
        Type class=NamedTypeReference
          NamedTypeReference <named type: struct Point>

Here is the representation of type int ()(int, int) named MyFunctionType from typelib_create.py:

When do named objects get used?

When a binary is loaded and its external symbols is processed, the symbol names are searched against the named objects from type libraries. If there is a match, it obeys the type from the type library. Upon success, you'll see a message like:

type library test.bntl found hit for _DoSuperComputation

At this moment, there is no built in functionality to apply named objects to an existing Binary Ninja database.

Signature Library

While many signatures are built-in and require no interaction to automatically match functions, you may wish to add or modify your own. First, install the SigKit plugin from the plugin manager.

Running the signature matcher

The signature matcher runs automatically by default once analysis completes. You can turn this off in Settings > Analysis > Autorun Function Signature Matcher (or, analysis.signatureMatcher.autorun in Settings).

You can also trigger the signature matcher to run from the menu Tools > Run Analysis Module > Signature Matcher.

Once the signature matcher runs, it will print a brief report to the console detailing how many functions it matched and will rename matched functions. For example:

1 functions matched total, 0 name-only matches, 0 thunks resolved, 33 functions skipped because they were too small

Generating signature libraries

To generate a signature library for the currently-open binary, use Tools > Signature Library > Generate Signature Library. This will generate signatures for all functions in the binary that have a name attached to them. Note that functions with automatically-chosen names such as sub_401000 will be skipped. Once it's generated, you'll be prompted where to save the resulting signature library.

For headless users, you can generate signature libraries by using the sigkit API (examples and documentation). For more detailed information, see our blog post describing signature generation.

If you are accessing the sigkit API through the Binary Ninja GUI and you've installed the sigkit plugin through the plugin manager, you will need to import sigkit under a different name:

import Vector35_sigkit as sigkit

Installing signature libraries

Binary Ninja loads signature libraries from 2 locations:

• $INSTALL_DIR/signatures/$PLATFORM
• $USER_DIR/signatures/$PLATFORM

Warning

Always place your signature libraries in your user directory. The install path is wiped whenever Binary Ninja auto-updates. You can locate it with Open Plugin Folder in the command palette and navigate "up" a directory.

Inside the signatures folder, each platform has its own folder for its set of signatures. For example, windows-x86_64 and linux-ppc32 are two sample platforms. When the signature matcher runs, it uses the signature libraries that are relevant to the current binary's platform. (You can check the platform of any binary you have open in the UI using the console and typing bv.platform)

Manipulating signature libraries

You can edit signature libraries programmatically using the sigkit API. A very basic example shows how to load and save signature libraries. Note that Binary Ninja only supports signatures in the .sig format; the other formats are for debugging. The easiest way to load and save signature libraries in this format are the sigkit.load_signature_library() and sigkit.save_signature_library() functions.

To help debug and optimize your signature libraries in a Signature Explorer GUI by using Tools > Signature Library > Explore Signature Library. This GUI can be opened through the sigkit API using sigkit.signature_explorer() and sigkit.explore_signature_library().

For a text-based approach, you can also export your signature libraries to JSON using the Signature Explorer. Then, you can edit them in a text editor and convert them back to a .sig using the Signature Explorer afterwards. Of course, these conversions are also accessible through the API as the sigkit.sig_serialize_json module, which provides a pickle-like interface. Likewise, sigkit.sig_serialize_fb provides serialization for the standard .sig format.