ELF_RAWDATA(3)

✨ ELF_RAWDATA 💅

okay bestie, welcome to elf_rawdata — it lives in the Libelf Programmer's Manual and it is literally the "give me the section exactly as it sat on disk, no glow-up, no filter" function 🎀

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <libelf.h>

Elf_Data *elf_rawdata(Elf_Scn *scn, Elf_Data *data);

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so. elf_rawdata() hands you back a pointer to an Elf_Data structure, and inside that structure is the unprocessed (raw) contents of the section that scn is pointing at. no cap.

and when we say raw, we mean raw raw — this view is the exact on-disk binary layout of the ELF file, with zero modifications made for endianness or memory alignment. it's the section in its natural habitat, before anyone touched it 🦋

if you actually want the data translated into the in-memory format, that's a different function, babe — go use elf_getdata(3). that's the one that does the translation. this one does not. periodt.

now, the data parameter, and this matters:

• if data is NULL, the raw data of the section is returned.
• if data is not NULL and raw data has not been initialized, the call fails. 😭

compressed sections? bestie, listen. for compressed sections (i.e., ones with the SHF_COMPRESSED flag), the returned Elf_Data contains the compressed form, and its d_type is ELF_T_CHDR. it does not unzip anything for you, it's just handing you the compressed vibe as-is.

for sections of type SHT_NOBITS, the d_buf pointer is NULL. no buffer, no drama.

⚠️ important, and I need you to hear me on this one: the Elf_Data * returned by this function and its d_buf are owned by libelf and should not be freed. they're only valid until elf_end(3) is called on the Elf descriptor associated with scn. so don't free them, don't hoard them, don't keep them past elf_end. that's it, that's the rule 💀

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🫶 PARAMETERS 🫶

• scn — a section descriptor returned from elf_getscn(3) or elf_nextscn(3). and if it's NULL? then this function returns NULL. it's giving "you get nothing, respectfully" 🙈
• data — must be NULL on the initial invocation. any other use is not supported. that's not me being mean, that's just the facts 💅

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👑 RETURN VALUE 👑

it returns a pointer to an Elf_Data descriptor describing the raw contents of the section. if something goes wrong, NULL is returned and elf_errno is set. so like, always check your elf_errno, bestie, that's the whole plot twist 🌈

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• elf_getdata(3)
• elf_getscn(3)
• elf_compress(3)
• libelf(3)
• elf(5)

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⭐ ATTRIBUTES ⭐

• Interface: elf_rawdata()
• Attribute: Thread safety
• Value: MT-Safe

(yes bestie, it's MT-Safe. multi-threaded and unbothered. main character energy fr fr ✨)

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🐛 REPORTING BUGS 🐛

found a bug? don't gatekeep it, report it to <elfutils-devel@sourceware.org> or over at https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/. the maintainers will literally be obsessed with you for it 🍓

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! this was Libelf, dated 2025-06-30 — go forth, read your raw section bytes, and do not free that pointer. iykyk 💜🧚