LLVM-READELF(1)

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version 18.1.8 · 10 versions
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💅 LLVM-READELF(1) 💅

okay so bestie, this is a page from the LLVM manual set — yes, that LLVM — and it's all about llvm-readelf, the GNU-style object reader. pull up a chair, we're getting into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

llvm-readelf — the GNU-style LLVM object reader, aka the lil tool that spills the tea on your object files 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

llvm-readelf [options] [input...]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so llvm-readelf shows you low-level, format-specific info about one or more object files. it's giving x-ray vision for binaries, no cap 🔥

and if input is -, it reads from standard input. otherwise? it reads from the filenames you gave it, periodt.

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • --all, -a — literally the "give me everything" option: same as spelling out all the main display options that are relevant to whatever file format you're looking at 👑
  • --addrsig — shows the address-significance table ✨
  • --arch-specific, -A — shows architecture-specific info, like the ARM attributes section on ARM 🦋
  • --bb-addr-map — shows what's inside the basic block address map section(s) — those contain the address of each function plus the relative offset of each basic block 📍
  • --decompress, -z — dumps the decompressed section content when you use it with -x or -p. if the section(s) weren't compressed in the first place, they just get displayed as-is, no drama 💜
  • --demangle, -C — shows demangled symbol names in the output (the readable ones, bestie 😌)
  • --dependent-libraries — shows the dependent libraries section 🍓
  • --dyn-relocations — shows the dynamic relocation entries 🌈
  • --dyn-symbols, --dyn-syms — shows the dynamic symbol table ⭐
  • --dynamic-table, --dynamic, -d — shows the dynamic table 💫
  • --cg-profile — shows the callgraph profile section 📊
  • --histogram, -I — shows a bucket list histogram for dynamic symbol hash tables 🪣
  • --elf-linker-options — shows the linker options section 🔗
  • --elf-output-style=<value> — formats ELF info in the style you picked. valid values are LLVM, GNU, and JSON. LLVM is an expanded, structured format. GNU (which is the default) mimics the equivalent GNU readelf output. JSON is JSON formatted output, intended for machines to consume 🤖
  • --extra-sym-info — shows extra info (the section name) when showing symbols 👀
  • --section-groups, -g — shows section groups 🧚
  • --expand-relocs — when used with --relocations, shows each relocation in an expanded, multi-line format 📜
  • --file-header, -h — shows file headers 🗂️
  • --gnu-hash-table — shows the GNU hash table for dynamic symbols 🧮
  • --hash-symbols — shows the expanded hash table with dynamic symbol data 🎁
  • --hash-table — shows the hash table for dynamic symbols 🔢
  • --headers, -e — same as setting --file-header, --program-headers, and --sections all at once 💥
  • --help — shows a summary of the command line options 🆘
  • --hex-dump=<section[,section,...]>, -x — shows the specified section(s) as hexadecimal bytes. section can be a section index or a section name 🔤
  • --memtag — shows info about memory tagging present in the binary. this includes various memtag-specific dynamic entries, decoded global descriptor sections, and decoded Android-specific ELF notes 🏷️
  • --needed-libs — shows the needed libraries 📚
  • --no-demangle — does not show demangled symbol names in the output. on by default 🙈
  • --notes, -n — shows all notes 📝
  • --pretty-print — when used with --elf-output-style, the JSON output gets formatted in a more readable way 💖
  • --program-headers, --segments, -l — shows the program headers 🧩
  • --raw-relr — does not decode relocations in RELR relocation sections when displaying them 🪨
  • --relocations, --relocs, -r — shows the relocation entries in the file 🔄
  • --sections, --section-headers, -S — shows all sections 🧱
  • --section-data — when used with --sections, shows section data for each section shown. heads up: this option has no effect for GNU style output ⚠️
  • --section-details, -t — shows all section details. used as an alternative to --sections 🔍
  • --section-mapping — shows the section to segment mapping 🗺️
  • --section-relocations — when used with --sections, shows relocations for each section shown. again: no effect for GNU style output ⚠️
  • --section-symbols — when used with --sections, shows symbols for each section shown. and again: no effect for GNU style output ⚠️
  • --stackmap — shows the contents of the stackmap section 🥞
  • --stack-sizes — shows the contents of the stack sizes section(s), i.e. pairs of function names and the size of their stack frames. ngl, currently only implemented for GNU style output 🫶
  • --string-dump=<section[,section,...]>, -p — shows the specified section(s) as a list of strings. section may be a section index or a section name 🧵
  • --symbols, --syms, -s — shows the symbol table. it also shows the dynamic symbol table when you're using GNU output style for ELF 🔠
  • --unwind, -u — shows unwind information 🌀
  • --version — shows the version of the llvm-readelf executable 🏷️
  • --version-info, -V — shows version sections 📦
  • --wide, -W — ignored for GNU readelf compatibility. the output is already similar to when you use -W with GNU readelf 💀
  • @<FILE> — reads command-line options from the response file <FILE> 📄

⭐ EXIT STATUS ⭐

llvm-readelf returns 0 under normal operation. it returns a non-zero exit code if there were any errors 😭

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

💜 Author 💜

maintained by the LLVM Team (https://llvm.org/) — icons, the whole squad 🫶

2003-2026, LLVM Project

and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 version 15, dated 2026-09-09, filed under LLVM-READELF(1) — go forth and read those ELF files, you absolute icon 👑✨

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