ELFEDIT(1)

📦 version 2.47, in arch rolling

💖 NAME 💖

elfedit — update ELF header and program property of ELF files

okay so this is the ELFEDIT(1) page from the GNU Development Tools besties, and she is literally the little tool that goes in and edits the ELF header + program property of your ELF files. no cap. 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

elfedit [--input-mach=machine]
        [--input-type=type]
        [--input-osabi=osabi]
        [--input-abiversion=version]
        --output-mach=machine
        --output-type=type
        --output-osabi=osabi
        --output-abiversion=version
        --enable-x86-feature=feature
        --disable-x86-feature=feature
        [-v|--version]
        [-h|--help]
        elffile...

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

elfedit updates the ELF header and program property of ELF files that have the matching ELF machine and file types. the options control how and which fields in the ELF header and program property get updated. main character energy tbh 👑

elffile... are the ELF files to be updated. 32-bit and 64-bit ELF files are supported, and so are archives containing ELF files. we love an inclusive queen 🫶

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

the long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are equivalent — pick whichever one vibes with you. at least one of the --output-mach, --output-type, --output-osabi, --output-abiversion, --enable-x86-feature and --disable-x86-feature options must be given. like, you actually have to do something, bestie 😭

  • --input-mach=machine — sets the matching input ELF machine type to machine. if --input-mach isn't specified, it'll match any ELF machine types (she's not picky 💅).

the supported ELF machine types are i386, IAMCU, L1OM, K1OM and x86-64.

  • --output-mach=machine — changes the ELF machine type in the ELF header to machine. the supported ELF machine types are the same as --input-mach. glow-up for your header ✨
  • --input-type=type — sets the matching input ELF file type to type. if --input-type isn't specified, it'll match any ELF file types.

the supported ELF file types are rel, exec and dyn.

  • --output-type=type — changes the ELF file type in the ELF header to type. the supported ELF types are the same as --input-type.
  • --input-osabi=osabi — sets the matching input ELF file OSABI to osabi. if --input-osabi isn't specified, it'll match any ELF OSABIs.

the supported ELF OSABIs are none, HPUX, NetBSD, GNU, Linux (alias for GNU), Solaris, AIX, Irix, FreeBSD, TRU64, Modesto, OpenBSD, OpenVMS, NSK, AROS and FenixOS. that's a whole friend group right there 😌

  • --output-osabi=osabi — changes the ELF OSABI in the ELF header to osabi. the supported ELF OSABI are the same as --input-osabi.
  • --input-abiversion=version — sets the matching input ELF file ABIVERSION to version. version must be between 0 and 255. if --input-abiversion isn't specified, it'll match any ELF ABIVERSIONs.
  • --output-abiversion=version — changes the ELF ABIVERSION in the ELF header to version. version must be between 0 and 255. yes, both of these are strict about it, don't test her 🙈
  • --enable-x86-feature=feature — sets the feature bit in program property in exec or dyn ELF files with machine types of i386 or x86-64. the supported features are ibt, shstk, lam_u48 and lam_u57. ate. 💅
  • --disable-x86-feature=feature — clears the feature bit in program property in exec or dyn ELF files with machine types of i386 or x86-64. the supported features are the same as --enable-x86-feature.
note: --enable-x86-feature and --disable-x86-feature are available only on hosts with mmap support. if your host doesn't have it, these two are simply not invited to the party 😭
  • -v, --version — display the version number of elfedit. she's telling you how old she is, be nice.
  • -h, --help — display the command-line options understood by elfedit. the full lore drop 🧚
  • @file — read command-line options from file. the options read are inserted in place of the original @file option. if file does not exist, or cannot be read, then the option will be treated literally, and not removed. lowkey passive-aggressive but okay 💀

options in file are separated by whitespace. a whitespace character may be included in an option by surrounding the entire option in either single or double quotes. any character (including a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be included with a backslash. the file may itself contain additional @file options; any such options will be processed recursively. it's giving inception, it's giving nesting dolls 🎀

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

readelf(1), and the Info entries for binutils.

Copyright (c) 1991-2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

and that's the whole page, bestie — no notes, no skips, every flag accounted for 💜 this little love letter shipped as binutils-2.47 on 2026-08-31, so if you're reading it any other way, hi, you're in a time machine 🌈⭐ mwah 💋

📦 where this page comes from