ELF_RAWFILE(3)

✨ ELF_RAWFILE(3) ✨

okay bestie, welcome to the libelf programmer's manual 💖 this one's short and sweet and honestly kind of iconic.

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🌸 NAME 🌸

elf_rawfile — grab a pointer to the entire raw ELF file image 🦋

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <libelf.h>

char *elf_rawfile(Elf *elf, size_t *ptr);

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so like. elf_rawfile() hands you back a pointer to the whole entire contents of the ELF file that elf is representing. not a section, not a segment, the whole thing. it's unprocessed data too — it starts at the ELF header and runs allll the way to the final byte. the full meal, no cap 🍓

here's the tea on where that pointer actually comes from:

• if the ELF descriptor was opened from memory, or the file has already been memory-mapped or fully read, you just get a pointer to the internal buffer. easy peasy.
• if the ELF data hasn't been read or mapped yet? it gets loaded on demand, bestie. it'll show up when you need it ✨

and if ptr is non-NULL, the total size in bytes of the raw file gets stashed in *ptr. so you always know how much you're working with 💜

⚠️ okay this part is IMPORTANT: the buffer you get back is read-only and it's managed internally by libelf. do NOT modify it, do NOT free it. that's not your buffer, that's libelf's buffer, hands off 🙈

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🫶 PARAMETERS 🫶

• elf — a handle you already got from elf_begin(3). the main character of this whole operation 👑
• ptr — if it's not NULL, it receives the size in bytes of the ELF file. if you pass NULL, that's fine too, you just don't get the size 🌈

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⭐ RETURN VALUE ⭐

returns a pointer to the start of the ELF file data. if things go wrong, you get NULL back — and if ptr was non-NULL, *ptr gets set to 0. sad girl hours but at least it's consistent 😭

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• libelf(3)
• elf(5)

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💀 ATTRIBUTES 💀

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

so yeah, she's thread safe. go off 💅

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🧚 REPORTING BUGS 🧚

found a bug? don't just sit there, tell someone! report it to <elfutils-devel@sourceware.org> or hit up https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/ 🐛✨

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that's the whole page bestie, go forth and read your raw files 🦋💖

signing off — Libelf, dated 2025-06-30 🎀