GDB Help

This page contains a few notes about gdb that you may find useful for the zoo-escape and buffer-overflow assignments.

Miscellaneous

Note that in the commands below, $ refers to the regular shell prompt (e.g., the bash prompt) and (gdb) refers to the prompt for commands while running GDB. Also, [Enter] refers to hitting the Enter/Return key on the keyboard.

Command
 Description
$ gcc -g ... include symbols (e.g., function and variable names) in the executable
$ gdb executable run gdb on the specified executable
$ gdb sourcefile.c nope; doesn’t work
(gdb) [Enter] run the previous command again
(gdb) [Ctrl-L] clean up the “layout” display when it gets corrupted
(gdb) help name-of-command get help on a specific command
(gdb) kill stop your program
(gdb) quit exit gdb

All remaining commands on this page are assumed to be within gdb, so the (gdb) will be ommitted.

GDB commands

Looking at code

list view the code wherever you last left off
layout src 2-panel display, with C on top and (gdb) prompt on the bottom
layout asm 2-panel display, with assembly on top

Breakpoints

br 314 set a breakpoint at line 314 of the C source code
br zoo.c:314 set a breakpoint at line 314 of the C source code in the file zoo.c
clear zoo.c:314 remove the breakpoint at line 314 of the C source code in the file zoo.c
br *0x403444 set a breakpoint at the instruction at address 0x403444
maintenance info breakpoints show all breakpoints
main i br show all breakpoints

Running and stepping through code

run start the program from the beginning
r same as run
r [args...] start the program from the beginning, with command-line arguments
continue continue execution from a breakpoint
c continue execution from a breakpoint
stepi execute one instruction (step into function calls)
si same as stepi
nexti execute one instruction (step over function calls)
ni same as nexti
finish step out of the current function
fi same as finish

Examining registers

info reg view all register contents
i r same as info reg
i r rax rbx view the contents of specified registers (%rax and %rbx in this case)
i r eax view the contents of the specified register (%eax in this case)
i r eflags view which bits are set in the EFLAGS register

Examining memory

The command x/nfu addr allows us to examine memory starting at addr. In this command:

  • n = number of chunks of memory to examine
  • f = format in which to display the chunks (defaults to x for hexadecimal)
  • u = size unit of each chunk (defaults to w for four-byte “words”); choices are b for byte, h for “halfwords” (two bytes), w for “words” (four bytes), and g for “giant words” (eight bytes)

For example, you can use the command x/2g 0x403444 to view 2 8-byte “giant” words starting at memory address 0x403444.

You can use help x to list all possible values of f and u.

More examples:

  • x/1ss addr: view a null-terminated string
  • x/5xw addr: view the five 4-byte words starting at addr, formatted in hexadecimal
  • x/5xg addr: view the five 8-byte “giant” words starting at addr