CODEWITHSUNDEEP
elf
Kouros
Kouros

Reputation: 361

use program or section headers to load an ELF

I'm writing an EFI application that loads an ELF into memory and jumps to it, but I don't know what header I should analyse first (program or section header). I have a function that reads the program headers to load the ELF into memory (which works) and a function that reads the section headers to load the ELF into memory (which also works).

Upvotes: 1

Views: 458

Answers (1)

Florian Weimer
Florian Weimer

Reputation: 33719

The program loader should look at the program header only. The section headers are for tools such as debuggers. I don't think this is spelled out explicitly in the original ELF specification or the System V ABI specification, but it is very much implied:

Even today, when new features are defined which are used by the dynamic linker, references are added the dynamic to the dynamic section, even though in theory, the information could also be obtained from the section header (but there are probably some exceptions for certain architectures).

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions