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Tool

GEF (GDB Enhanced Features)

Single-file Python extension, gef.py, that adds dynamic-analysis commands to GDB. Each stop shows a context view of registers, stack, code, threads and call trace, and commands cover memory maps, pointer dereferencing, searching process memory for patterns, ELF and security-property information, process status and glibc heap inspection. An architecture abstraction layer covers x86-32/64, ARMv5–v7, AArch64, SPARC, MIPS and PowerPC, and gef-remote enriches remote sessions through gdbserver or the GDB stubs of qemu-user and qemu-system.

Targets
Binary
Category
Debugging and dynamic analysis
Relationship
Foundation tool
Sources reviewed

Requirements & limits

  • Needs GDB 10.0+ built with Python 3.10+, the baseline since GEF 2025.01 in the compatibility table, plus file, readelf, nm, ps and python3 on the host; Python 2 users are pointed to the separate gef-legacy. The README installs it by downloading gef.py, through an install script or manually, and sourcing it from the user's .gdbinit file.
  • Release at review: 2026.01, published 2026-02-02 without binary assets; the reviewed main commit is 12 commits ahead, adding glibc 2.42/2.43 heap support and removing unmaintained commands. More commands live in the separate GEF-Extras repository.
  • GEF relies on the GDB API and Linux-specific sources such as /proc/<pid>, so some features may not work on custom or hardened systems, and heap commands support only the glibc allocator. qemu mode needs a local copy of the debugged binary because QEMU's GDB stub cannot transfer files. The README aims it at exploit developers and reverse engineers.
  • MIT license. Tests run with pytest under the Python version GDB was built against.

About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.

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Primary sources

  1. README.md GitHub · hugsy/gef · Revision 49c07dc
  2. gef.py#L8-L28 GitHub · hugsy/gef · Revision 49c07dc
  3. gef.py#L130-L131 GitHub · hugsy/gef · Revision 49c07dc
  4. docs/install.md GitHub · hugsy/gef · Revision 49c07dc
  5. docs/compat.md GitHub · hugsy/gef · Revision 49c07dc
  6. docs/commands/gef-remote.md GitHub · hugsy/gef · Revision 49c07dc
  7. docs/commands/heap.md GitHub · hugsy/gef · Revision 49c07dc
  8. docs/index.md#L83-L85 GitHub · hugsy/gef · Revision 49c07dc
  9. docs/testing.md GitHub · hugsy/gef · Revision 49c07dc
  10. LICENSE GitHub · hugsy/gef · Revision 49c07dc
  11. https://github.com/hugsy/gef/releases/tag/2026.01

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