How does a debug build make reverse engineering easy?

Posted by danny on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by danny
Published on 2010-12-07T09:56:49Z Indexed on 2011/01/16 1:53 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 523

Filed under:

c++

|

debugging

|

reverse-engineering

|

information

Some answer here stated that debug info would make it easier to reverse engineer the software. When I use Visual C++ and distribute an executable with debugging information but without other files (.pdb), will it contain any interesting things?

I looked to the executable with a hex editor and found nothing like symbol names, for now I assume the .exe file just links to information in the .pdb files, right?

Do you know whether it contains

variable names?
function/member names?
line numbers?
anything interesting?

Thanks!

© Stack Overflow or respective owner

Related posts about c++

Which C++ book shold I get between "C++ Primer" vs "C++ Primer Plus"

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I want to learn C++ by using Vim and MinGW as compiler. I'm interesting at "C++ Primer (4th Edition)" and "C++ Primer Plus (5th Edition)" but I don't know how about it different. It has no book store that I can review those books, so I want to know, what is the different between those book and which… >>> More
C++ : C++ Primer (Stanley Lipmann) or The C++ programming language (special edition)

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I have a Computer Science degree (long2 time ago) .. I do know Java OOP but i am now trying to pick up C++. I do have C and of course data structure using C or pascal. I have started reading Bjarne Stroustrup book (The C++ Programming Language - Special Edition) but find it extremely difficult esp… >>> More
I need help on my C++ assignment using MS Visual C++

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Ok, so I don't want you to do my homework for me, but I'm a little lost with this final assignment and need all the help I can get. Learning about programming is tough enough, but doing it online is next to impossible for me... Now, to get to the program, I am going to paste what I have so far. This… >>> More
Managed c++ std::string not accessible in unmanaged c++

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
In unmanaged c++ dll i have a function which takes constant std::string as argument Prototype : void read ( const std::string &imageSpec_ ) I call this function from managed c++ dll by passing a std::string. When i debug the unmanaged c++ code the parameter imageSpec_ shows the value correctly… >>> More
The Definitive C++ Book Guide and List

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
After more than a few questions about deciding on C++ books I thought we could make a better community wiki version. Providing QUALITY books and an approximate skill level. Maybe we can add a short blurb/description about each book that you have personally read / benefited from. Feel free to debate… >>> More

Related posts about debugging

I need help debugging apache with gdb (no debugging symbols found)

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I'm trying to debug a segfault in PHP/Apache running on RHEL4. This is a production server, so I'm trying to install a separate copy of apache and php, and run apache through gdb. When I load httpd through gdb and then do run -X, I get the error (no debugging symbols found)...Error while reading… >>> More
debugging C++ when compared to debugging C

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
HI, I am normally a C programmer. I do regularly debug C programs on unix environment using tools like gdb,dbx. i have never done debugging of big applications of C++. Is that much different from how we debug in C. theoretically i am quite good in C++ but have never got a chance to debug C++ programs… >>> More
How to fix Ogre3d segfault with std::_Rb_tree_insert_and_rebalance ?

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
Hello all. I'm working on a 3d music visualizer using Ogre3d, basically it's a spectrum analizer, a lot like the old xmms plugin: (http)://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6NKBiwYN24 It works well, the bars are drawn and updated, there are no framerate issues, but it crashes randomly. Sometimes it can run… >>> More
Will logging debugging incur a performance hit if I don't turn debugging on?

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
On a Cisco device, I know that enabling debugging can incur a performance hit since debugging has such a high priority on the CPU. I know that to log debugging, you have to set logging up to the debugging level (logging buffered 4096 debugging, for example) and also enable debugging on some feature… >>> More
Debugging unmanaged code while debugging managed code

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, The .NET 3.5 application I am working on consists of bunch of different solutions. Some of these solutions consist of managed code(C#) and others have unmanaged code(C++). Methods written in C# communicate with the ones written in C++. I am trying to trace the dependencies between these various… >>> More