bin2elf

Convert a raw binary blob (e.g., a firmware dump) into a minimal ARM ELF file with a chosen load address - handy for disassemblers, debuggers, and reverse-engineering tools that expect ELF.

macOS & Linux systems (Windows supported via WSL).

This package provides a single CLI command:

bin2elf

It wraps GNU binutils (arm-none-eabi-*) in a tiny pipeline that:

1. wraps your raw bytes into a relocatable ELF,
2. marks the bytes as executable code,
3. links it at the address you provide, and
4. strips symbols for a clean, minimal output.

Highlights

• 🔧 Choose endianness: little or big (-EL / -EB).
• 📍 Explicit base address: place .text exactly at --load_addr (e.g., 0x08000000).
• 🧰 Pure binutils under the hood: predictable and portable.

Requirements

• Python = 3.7

• GNU ARM Embedded binutils available on your PATH:

  • arm-none-eabi-ld
  • arm-none-eabi-objcopy
  • arm-none-eabi-strip

Tip: Package names you might look for on your OS:

• Debian/Ubuntu: binutils-arm-none-eabi (or the full gcc-arm-none-eabi toolchain)
• Arch: arm-none-eabi-binutils
• macOS (Homebrew): arm-none-eabi-binutils
• Windows: use WSL or an ARM embedded toolchain (ensure arm-none-eabi-* tools are in PATH).

Installation

pip install bin2elf

Usage

bin2elf <input.bin> <output.elf> <load_addr> [--endian little|big] [--prefix arm-none-eabi-]

Positional arguments

• input – path to the raw binary file.
• output – desired ELF output path.
• load_addr – load address (e.g., 0x08000000; accepts 0x hex or decimal).

Options

• --endian {little,big} – important, target endianness (default: little).
• --prefix – toolchain prefix (default: arm-none-eabi-).

Examples

Little-endian blob at 0x08000000:

bin2elf firmware.bin firmware.elf 0x08000000

Big-endian blob at 0x00100000:

bin2elf image.bin image_be.elf 0x00100000 --endian big

Analyze the result:

arm-none-eabi-readelf -h -S -l firmware.elf
arm-none-eabi-objdump -D firmware.elf | less

Exit codes

• 0 – success
• 1 – an external tool returned an error (you’ll see the message on stderr)

Security

This tool does not execute your binary; it just wraps bytes into an ELF container. Still, be mindful when opening unknown binaries in debuggers or emulators. Happy reversing! 🛠️📦

Tim Abdiukov