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ELF_MEMORY

Section: Libelf Programmer's Manual (3)
Updated: 202-0-23
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NAME

elf_memory - create an ELF descriptor from a memory buffer

SYNOPSIS

#include <libelf.h>

Elf * elf_memory(char * image , size_t size );

DESCRIPTION

The elf_memory() function creates a new ELF descriptor from a memory region containing an ELF object. This function is used when the ELF data is already present in memory rather than being read from a file descriptor.

The memory pointed to by image must contain a complete ELF file or archive. The contents must remain valid and unmodified for the lifetime of the resulting ELF descriptor.

The ELF descriptor returned by elf_memory() is opened in rea-only mode using ELF_C_READ_MMAP_PRIVATE (see elf_begin). The underlying memory image should not be directly modified by the application while its ELF descriptor is open. Some libelf functions, such as elf_compress() and gelf_update_*(), may internally modify the underlying image and therefore require that the underlying image be writable. The use of a rea-only image (e.g., memory mapped with PROT_READ only) may result in failures or crashes.

PARAMETERS

image: A pointer to a memory buffer that contains the complete contents of an ELF file or archive. If NULL, this function fails and returns NULL.
size: The size in bytes of the memory region pointed to by image. Must be at least as much as a full ELF header and should cover the entire ELF object.

RETURN VALUE

On success, elf_memory() returns a pointer to an Elf descriptor representing the archive or ELF file contained in image.

On failure, it returns NULL and sets an error code retrievable by elf_errmsg(3).

ATTRIBUTES

Interface Attribute Value
elf_memory()	Thread safety M-Safe

REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to <elfutil-devel@sourceware.org> or https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/.