Tool Interface Standard (TIS)
Executable and Linking Format (ELF)
Specification
Version 1.2

TIS Committee
May 1995

The TIS Committee grants you a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use the information disclosed in this Specification
to make your software TIS-compliant; no other license, express or implied, is granted or intended hereby.
The TIS Committee makes no warranty for the use of this standard.
THE TIS COMMITTEE SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS AND IMPLIED, AND ALL LIABILITY, INCLUDING CONSEQUENTIAL AND OTHER INDIRECT DAMAGES, FOR THE USE OF THESE SPECIFICATION AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT, INCLUDING LIABILITY FOR INFRINGEMENT OF ANY PROPRIETARY RIGHTS. THE TIS COMMITTEE
DOES NOT ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY ERRORS THAT MAY APPEAR IN THE SPECIFICATION, NOR ANYRESPONSIBILITY TO UPDATE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THEM.
The TIS Committee retains the right to make changes to this specification at any time without notice.
IBM is a registered trademark and OS/2 is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
The Intel logo is a registered trademark and i386 and Intel386 are trademarks of Intel Corporation and may be used only to identify
Intel products.
Microsoft, Microsoft C, MS, MS-DOS, Windows, and XENIX are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
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UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Limited.
* Other brands and names are the property of their respective owners.

iPreface
This Executable and Linking Format Specification, Version 1.2, is the result of the work of theTool Interface Standards (TIS) Committee--an association of members of the microcomputerindustry formed to work toward standardization of the software interfaces visible todevelopment tools for 32-bit Intel Architecture operating environments. Such interfaces
include object module formats, executable file formats, and debug record information andformats.
The goal of the committee is to help streamline the software development process throughout
the microcomputer industry, currently concentrating on 32-bit operating environments. To that
end, the committee has developed specifications--some for file formats that are portable acrossleading industry operating systems, and others describing formats for 32-bit Windows*
operating systems. Originally distributed collectively as the TIS Portable Formats
Specifications Version 1.1, these specifications are now separated and distributed individually.
TIS Committee members include representatives from Absoft, Autodesk, Borland International
Corporation, IBM Corporation, Intel Corporation, Lahey, Lotus Corporation, MetaWare
Corporation, Microtec Research, Microsoft Corporation, Novell Corporation, The Santa Cruz
Operation, and WATCOM International Corporation. PharLap Software Incorporated andSymantec Corporation also participated in the specification definition efforts.
This specification like the others in the TIS collection of specifications is based on existing,proven formats in keeping with the TIS Committee's goal to adopt, and when necessary, extend
existing standards rather than invent new ones.

About ELF: Executable and Linking Format
The Executable and Linking Format was originally developed and published by UNIX System
Laboratories (USL) as part of the Application Binary Interface (ABI). The Tool Interface
Standards committee (TIS) has selected the evolving ELF standard as a portable object fileformat that works on 32-bit Intel Architecture environments for a variety of operating systems.
The ELF standard is intended to streamline software development by providing developers
with a set of binary interface definitions that extend across multiple operating environments.
This should reduce the number of different interface implementations, thereby reducing theneed for recoding and recompiling code.

About This Document
This document is intended for developers who are creating object or executable files on various
32-bit environment operating systems. In order to extend ELf into different operating systems,
the current ELF version 1.2 document has been reorganized based on operating system-specificinformation. It is divided into the following three books:• Book I: Executable and Linking Format, describes the object file format called ELF. This bookalso contains an appendix that describes historical references and lists processor and operating
system reserved names and words.

• Book II: Processor Specific (Intel Achitecture), conveys hardware-specific ELF information,such as Intel Architecture information.

• Book III: Operating System Specific, describes ELF information that is operating systemdependent, such as System V Release 4 information. This book also contains an appendix that
describes ELF information that is both operating system and processor dependent.
iii

Contents

PrefaceBook I: Executable and Linking Format (ELF)
1. Object Files
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1-1
File Format ........................................................................................................ 1-1
ELF Header ....................................................................................................... 1-4
ELF Identification ............................................................................................... 1-6
Sections ............................................................................................................. 1-9
Special Sections ................................................................................................ 1-15
String Table ....................................................................................................... 1-18
Symbol Table..................................................................................................... 1-19
Symbol Values................................................................................................... 1-22
Relocation.......................................................................................................... 1-23

2. Program Loading and Dynamic Linking
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 2-1
Program Header ................................................................................................ 2-2
Program Loading ............................................................................................... 2-7
Dynamic Linking ................................................................................................ 2-8

A. Reserved Names
Introduction ........................................................................................................ A-1
Special Sections Names.................................................................................... A-2
Dynamic Section Names ................................................................................... A-3
Pre-existing Extensions ..................................................................................... A-4

Book II: Processor Specific (Intel Architecture)
1. Object Files
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1-1
ELF Header ....................................................................................................... 1-2
Relocation.......................................................................................................... 1-3

Contentsv

Contents

Book III: Operating System Specific(UNIX System V Release 4)
1. Object Files
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1-1
Sections ............................................................................................................. 1-2
Symbol Table..................................................................................................... 1-5

2. Program Loading and Dynamic Linking
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 2-7
Program Header ................................................................................................ 2-8
Dynamic Linking ................................................................................................ 2-12

3. Intel Architecture and System V Release 4 Dependencies
Introduction ........................................................................................................ A-1
Sections ............................................................................................................. A-2
Symbol Table..................................................................................................... A-3
Relocation.......................................................................................................... A-4
Program Loading and Dynamic Linking............................................................. A-7

vi

List of Figures
Book I: Executable and Linking Format (ELF)
Figure 1-1. Object File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Figure 1-2. 32-Bit Data Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Figure 1-3. ELF Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Figure 1-4. e_ident[] Identification Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Figure 1-5. Data Encoding ELFDATA2LSB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Figure 1-6. Data Encoding ELFDATA2MSB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Figure 1-7. Special Section Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Figure 1-8. Section Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
Figure 1-9. Section Types, sh_type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Figure 1-10. Section Header Table Entry: Index 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Figure 1-11. Section Attribute Flags, sh_flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Figure 1-12. sh_link and sh_info Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Figure 1-13. Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15
Figure 1-14. String Table Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18
Figure 1-15. Symbol Table Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-19
Figure 1-16. Symbol Binding, ELF32_ST_BIND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-20
Figure 1-17. Symbol Types, ELF32_ST_TYPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-21
Figure 1-18. Symbol Table Entry: Index 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-22
Figure 1-19. Relocation Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-23
Figure 2-1. Program Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Figure 2-2. Segment Types, p_type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Figure 2-3. Note Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Figure 2-4. Example Note Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Figure A-1. Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Figure A-2. Dynamic Array Tags, d_tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3

Book II: Processor Specific (Intel Architecture)
Figure 1-1. Intel Identification, e_ident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Figure 1-2. Relocatable Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Figure 1-3. Relocation Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Table of Contentsvii

Book III: Operating System Specific(UNIX System V Release 4)
Figure 1-1. sh_link and sh_info Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Figure 1-2. Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Figure 2-1. Segment Types, p_type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Figure 2-2. Segment Flag Bits, p_flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Figure 2-3. Segment Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Figure 2-4. Text Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Figure 2-5. Data Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Figure 2-6. Dynamic Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Figure 2-7. Dynamic Array Tags, d_tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Figure 2-8. Symbol Hash Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
Figure 2-9. Hashing Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
Figure 2-10. Initialization Ordering Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Figure A-1. Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Figure A-2. Relocatable Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4
Figure A-3. Relocation Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-5
Figure A-4. Executable File Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7
Figure A-5. Program Header Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8
Figure A-6. Process Image Segments Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-9
Figure A-7. Shared Object Segment Addresses Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10
Figure A-8. Global Offset Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11
Figure A-9. Absolute Procedure Linkage Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-12
Figure A-10. Position-Independent Procedure Linkage Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13

viii

Table of Contents

Book I:
Executable and Linking Format (ELF)

Contents

Book I: Executable and Linking Format (ELF)
1

Object Files
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Data Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Character Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
ELF Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
ELF Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15
String Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18
Symbol Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-19
Symbol Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-22
Relocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-23

2

Program Loading and Dynamic Linking
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Program Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Note Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Program Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
Dynamic Linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8

A

Reserved Names
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Special Sections Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Dynamic Section Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Pre-existing Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4

Table of ContentsxiContents

xii

Book I: Executable and Linking Format (ELF)Figures1-1. Object File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-1
1-2. 32-Bit Data Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-2
1-3. ELF Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-4
1-4. e_ident[] Identification Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-6
1-5. Data Encoding ELFDATA2LSB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-8
1-6. Data Encoding ELFDATA2MSB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-8
1-7. Special Section Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-9
1-8. Section Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-10
1-9. Section Types, sh_type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-11
1-10. Section Header Table Entry: Index 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-13
1-11. Section Attribute Flags, sh_flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-14
1-12. sh_link and sh_info Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-14
1-13. Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-15
1-14. String Table Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-18
1-15. Symbol Table Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-19
1-16. Symbol Binding, ELF32_ST_BIND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-20
1-17. Symbol Types, ELF32_ST_TYPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-21
1-18. Symbol Table Entry: Index 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-22
1-19. Relocation Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-23
2-1. Program Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-2
2-2. Segment Types, p_type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-3
2-3. Note Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-5
2-4. Example Note Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-6
A-1. Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-2
A-2. Dynamic Array Tags, d_tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-3

Table of Contents

xiiiIntroduction
This chapter describes the object file format, called ELF (Executable and Linking Format).
There are three main types of object files.

• A relocatable file holds code and data suitable for linking with other object files to create an
executable or a shared object file.

• An executable file holds a program suitable for execution.
• A shared object file holds code and data suitable for linking in two contexts. First, the link
editor may process it with other relocatable and shared object files to create another object file.
Second, the dynamic linker combines it with an executable file and other shared objects tocreate a process image.
Created by the assembler and link editor, object files are binary representations of programs
intended to execute directly on a processor. Programs that require other abstract machines are
excluded.
After the introductory material, this chapter focuses on the file format and how it pertains tobuilding programs. Chapter 2 also describes parts of the object file, concentrating on theinformation necessary to execute a program.

File Format
Object files participate in program linking (building a program) and program execution(running a program). For convenience and efficiency, the object file format provides parallelviews of a file's contents, reflecting the differing needs of these activities. Figure 1-1 shows
an object file's organization.
Figure 1-1. Object File Format
Linking View

Execution View

ELF Header

ELF Header

Program Header Table
optional

Program Header Table

Section 1

Segment 1...
Section n

Segment 2

...
...

...

Section Header Table

Section Header Table
optional
OSD1980

OBJECT FILES

1-1

Introduction

An ELF header resides at the beginning and holds a "road map'' describing the file'sorganization. Sections hold the bulk of object file information for the linking view: instructions,data, symbol table, relocation information, and so on. Descriptions of special sections appear
later in this section. Chapter 2 also describes segments and the program execution view of the
file.
A program header table, if present, tells the system how to create a process image. Files used
to build a process image (execute a program) must have a program header table; relocatable
files do not need one. A section header table contains information describing the file's sections.
Every section has an entry in the table; each entry gives information such as the section name,the section size, and so on. Files used during linking must have a section header table; otherobject files may or may not have one.

NOTE. Although the figure shows the program header table immediately after the
ELF header, and the section header table following the sections, actual
files may differ. Moreover, sections and segments have no specified
order. Only the ELF header has a fixed position in the file.

Data Representation
As described here, the object file format supports various processors with 8-bit bytes and 32-bit
architectures. Nevertheless, it is intended to be extensible to larger (or smaller) architectures.
Object files therefore represent some control data with a machine-independent format, making
it possible to identify object files and interpret their contents in a common way. Remaining
data in an object file use the encoding of the target processor, regardless of the machine on
which the file was created.
Figure 1-2. 32-Bit Data Types
Name

Size

Alignment

PurposeElf32_Addr

44

Unsigned program address

Elf32_Half2

2

Unsigned medium integer

Elf32_Off

4

4

Unsigned file offset

Elf32_Sword

44

Signed large integer

Elf32_Word4

4

Unsigned large integer

unsigned char

1

1

Unsigned small integer

All data structures that the object file format defines follow the "natural'' size and alignment
guidelines for the relevant class. If necessary, data structures contain explicit padding to ensure
4-byte alignment for 4-byte objects, to force structure sizes to a multiple of 4, and so on. Dataalso have suitable alignment from the beginning of the file. Thus, for example, a structure
containing an Elf32_Addr member will be aligned on a 4-byte boundary within the file.
For portability reasons, ELF uses no bit fields.

1-2Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Introduction

Character Representations
This section describes the default ELF character representation and defines the standard
character set used for external files that should be portable among systems. Several external
file formats represent control information with characters. These single-byte characters use the7-bit ASCII character set. In other words, when the ELF interface document mentions character
constants, such as, ‘/’ or ‘\n’ their numerical values should follow the 7-bit ASCII guidelines.
For the previous character constants, the single-byte values would be 47 and 10, respectively.
Character values outside the range of 0 to 127 may occupy one or more bytes, according to thecharacter encoding. Applications can control their own character sets, using different character
set extensions for different languages as appropriate. Although TIS-conformance does not
restrict the character sets, they generally should follow some simple guidelines.

• Character values between 0 and 127 should correspond to the 7-bit ASCII code. That is,character sets with encodings above 127 should include the 7-bit ASCII code as a subset.

• Multibyte character encodings with values above 127 should contain only bytes with values
outside the range of 0 to 127. That is, a character set that uses more than one byte per charactershould not "embed'' a byte resembling a 7-bit ASCII character within a multibyte, non-ASCII
character.

• Multibyte characters should be self-identifying. That allows, for example, any multibyte
character to be inserted between any pair of multibyte characters, without changing thecharacters' interpretations.
These cautions are particularly relevant for multilingual applications.

NOTE. There are naming conventions for ELF constants that have processor
ranges specified. Names such as DT_, PT_, for processor specificextensions, incorporate the name of the processor: DT_M32_SPECIAL,
for example. However, pre-existing processor extensions not using thisconvention will be supported.

Pre-existing Extensions
DT_JMP_RELOBJECT FILES

1-3

ELF Header
Some object file control structures can grow, because the ELF header contains their actual sizes.
If the object file format changes, a program may encounter control structures that are larger orsmaller than expected. Programs might therefore ignore "extra" information. The treatment of"missing" information depends on context and will be specified when and if extensions aredefined.
Figure 1-3. ELF Header#define EI_NIDENT

16

typedef struct {unsigned charElf32_Half
Elf32_Half
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Addr
Elf32_Off
Elf32_Off
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Half
Elf32_Half
Elf32_Half
Elf32_Half
Elf32_Half
Elf32_Half} Elf32_Ehdr;

e_ident[EI_NIDENT];
e_type;e_machine;e_version;
e_entry;e_phoff;e_shoff;
e_flags;
e_ehsize;e_phentsize;
e_phnum;
e_shentsize;e_shnum;
e_shstrndx;

e_ident

The initial bytes mark the file as an object file and provide machine-independent
data with which to decode and interpret the file's contents. Complete descriptions
appear below, in "ELF Identification.''e_typeThis member identifies the object file type.
Name

Meaning

ET_NONE0

No file type

ET_REL1

Relocatable file

ET_EXEC

2

Executable file

ET_DYN

3

Shared object file4

Core file

ET_CORE

1-4

Value

ET_LOPROC

0xff00

Processor-specific

ET_HIPROC

0xffffProcessor-specificBook I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

ELF Header

Although the core file contents are unspecified, type ET_CORE is reserved to markthe file type. Values from ET_LOPROC through ET_HIPROC (inclusive) arereserved for processor-specific semantics. Other values are reserved and will beassigned to new object file types as necessary.
e_machine

This member's value specifies the required architecture for an individual file.
Name

Value

Meaning

ET_NONE0No machine

EM_M32

1

AT&T WE 32100

EM_SPARC

2

SPARC

EM_386

3

Intel Architecture

EM_68K

4

Motorola 68000

EM_88K

5

Motorola 88000

EM_8607Intel 80860

EM_MIPS

8

MIPS RS3000 Big-Endian

EM_MIPS_RS4_BE

10

MIPS RS4000 Big-Endian

11-16

Reserved for future use

RESERVED

Other values are reserved and will be assigned to new machines as necessary.
Processor-specific ELF names use the machine name to distinguish them. For
example, the flags mentioned below use the prefix EF_; a flag named WIDGET for
the EM_XYZ machine would be called EF_XYZ_WIDGET.
e_version

This member identifies the object file version.
Name

Value

Meaning

EV_NONE

0

Invalid versionn

EV_CURRENT

1Current version

The value 1 signifies the original file format; extensions will create new versions
with higher numbers. The value of EV_CURRENT, though given as 1 above, willchange as necessary to reflect the current version number.
e_entryThis member gives the virtual address to which the system first transfers control,
thus starting the process. If the file has no associated entry point, this member holds
zero.

e_phoff

This member holds the program header table's file offset in bytes. If the file has noprogram header table, this member holds zero.

e_shoff

This member holds the section header table's file offset in bytes. If the file has no
section header table, this member holds zero.

e_flags

This member holds processor-specific flags associated with the file. Flag names
take the form EF_machine_flag.

e_ehsizeThis member holds the ELF header's size in bytes.

OBJECT FILES

1-5

ELF Header

e_phentsize This member holds the size in bytes of one entry in the file's program header table;
all entries are the same size.

This member holds the number of entries in the program header table. Thus the
product of e_phentsize and e_phnum gives the table's size in bytes. If a file
has no program header table, e_phnum holds the value zero.

e_phnum

e_shentsize This member holds a section header's size in bytes. A section header is one entry
in the section header table; all entries are the same size.

This member holds the number of entries in the section header table. Thus the
product of e_shentsize and e_shnum gives the section header table's size inbytes. If a file has no section header table, e_shnum holds the value zero.

e_shnum

e_shstrndx This member holds the section header table index of the entry associated with thesection name string table. If the file has no section name string table, this member
holds the value SHN_UNDEF. See "Sections" and "String Table" below for more
information.

ELF Identification
As mentioned above, ELF provides an object file framework to support multiple processors,
multiple data encodings, and multiple classes of machines. To support this object file family,
the initial bytes of the file specify how to interpret the file, independent of the processor onwhich the inquiry is made and independent of the file's remaining contents.
The initial bytes of an ELF header (and an object file) correspond to the e_ident member.
Figure 1-4. e_ident[] Identification Indexes
Name

1-6

Value

Purpose

EI_MAG00File identification

EI_MAG1

1

File identification

EI_MAG22File identification

EI_MAG33File identification

EI_CLASS

4

File class

EI_DATA

5

Data encoding

EI_VERSION

6

File version

EI_PAD

7

Start of padding bytes

EI_NIDENT

16

Size of e_ident[]

Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

ELF Header

These indexes access bytes that hold the following values.
EI_MAG0 to EI_MAG3 A file's first 4 bytes hold a "magic number," identifying the file as an ELF
object file.
Name

EI_CLASS

Value

Meaning

ELFMAG0

0x7f

e_ident[EI_MAG0]

ELFMAG1’E’

e_ident[EI_MAG1]

ELFMAG2’L’

e_ident[EI_MAG2]

ELFMAG3’F’

e_ident[EI_MAG3]

The next byte, e_ident[EI_CLASS], identifies the file's class, or
capacity.
Name

Value

Meaning

ELFCLASSNONE

0

Invalid class

ELFCLASS32

132-bit objects

ELFCLASS64

264-bit objects

The file format is designed to be portable among machines of various sizes, without
imposing the sizes of the largest machine on the smallest. Class ELFCLASS32
supports machines with files and virtual address spaces up to 4 gigabytes; it uses
the basic types defined above.
Class ELFCLASS64 is incomplete and refers to the 64-bit architectures. Its
appearance here shows how the object file may change. Other classes will be definedas necessary, with different basic types and sizes for object file data.
EI_DATA

Byte e_ident[EI_DATA]specifies the data encoding of theprocessor-specific data in the object file. The following encodings are
currently defined.
Name

Value

Meaning

ELFDATANONE

0

Invalid data encoding

ELFDATA2LSB

1

See below

ELFDATA2MSB

2

See below

More information on these encodings appears below. Other values arereserved and will be assigned to new encodings as necessary.
EI_VERSION

Byte e_ident[EI_VERSION] specifies the ELF header version number.
Currently, this value must be EV_CURRENT, as explained above for
e_version.

EI_PAD

This value marks the beginning of the unused bytes in e_ident. These
bytes are reserved and set to zero; programs that read object files should
ignore them. The value of EI_PAD will change in the future if currently
unused bytes are given meanings.

OBJECT FILES

1-7

ELF Header

A file's data encoding specifies how to interpret the basic objects in a file. As described above,class ELFCLASS32 files use objects that occupy 1, 2, and 4 bytes. Under the defined encodings,
objects are represented as shown below. Byte numbers appear in the upper left corners.
Encoding ELFDATA2LSB specifies 2's complement values, with the least significant byte
occupying the lowest address.
Figure 1-5. Data Encoding ELFDATA2LSB
0

0x01

01

0

0x0102102

00x01020304

01

1

04

2

03

3

02

01

OSD1981

Encoding ELFDATA2MSB specifies 2's complement values, with the most significant byte
occupying the lowest address.
Figure 1-6. Data Encoding ELFDATA2MSB
0

01

0x01

0

1

01

0x010200x01020304

02

1

01

2

02

3

03

04

OSD19821-8Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Sections
An object file's section header table lets one locate all the file's sections. The section header
table is an array of Elf32_Shdr structures as described below. A section header table index
is a subscript into this array. The ELF header's e_shoff member gives the byte offset fromthe beginning of the file to the section header table; e_shnum tells how many entries thesection header table contains; e_shentsize gives the size in bytes of each entry.
Some section header table indexes are reserved; an object file will not have sections for these
special indexes.
Figure 1-7. Special Section Indexes
Name
SHN_UNDEF

SHN_UNDEF

Value
0

SHN_LORESERVE

0xff00SHN_LOPROC

0xff00SHN_HIPROC

0xff1f

SHN_ABS

0xfff1

SHN_COMMON

0xfff2

SHN_HIRESERVE

0xffffThis value marks an undefined, missing, irrelevant, or otherwise
meaningless section reference. For example, a symbol "defined'' relative tosection number SHN_UNDEF is an undefined symbol.

NOTE. Although index 0 is reserved as the undefined value, the section header
table contains an entry for index 0. That is, if the e_shnum member ofthe ELF header says a file has 6 entries in the section header table, they
have the indexes 0 through 5. The contents of the initial entry are specified
later in this section.

SHN_LORESERVEThis value specifies the lower bound of the range of reserved indexes.

SHN_LOPROC through Values in this inclusive range are reserved for processor-specific semantics.
SHN_HIPROC
SHN_ABSThis value specifies absolute values for the corresponding reference. For
example, symbols defined relative to section number SHN_ABS haveabsolute values and are not affected by relocation.

SHN_COMMON

Symbols defined relative to this section are common symbols, such as
FORTRAN COMMON or unallocated C external variables.

OBJECT FILES

1-9

Sections

SHN_HIRESERVEThis value specifies the upper bound of the range of reserved indexes. The
system reserves indexes between SHN_LORESERVE andSHN_HIRESERVE, inclusive; the values do not reference the section header
table.That is, the section header table does not contain entries for the
reserved indexes.

Sections contain all information in an object file, except the ELF header, the program header
table, and the section header table. Moreover, object files' sections satisfy several conditions.

• Every section in an object file has exactly one section header describing it. Section headers may
exist that do not have a section.

• Each section occupies one contiguous (possibly empty) sequence of bytes within a file.
• Sections in a file may not overlap. No byte in a file resides in more than one section.
• An object file may have inactive space. The various headers and the sections might not "cover''every byte in an object file. The contents of the inactive data are unspecified.
A section header has the following structure.
Figure 1-8. Section Header
typedef struct {Elf32_Word
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Addr
Elf32_Off
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Word} Elf32_Shdr;

1-10

sh_name;sh_type;sh_flags;
sh_addr;sh_offset;
sh_size;
sh_link;
sh_info;sh_addralign;
sh_entsize;

sh_nameThis member specifies the name of the section. Its value is an index into
the section header string table section [see "String Table'' below], giving
the location of a null-terminated string.

sh_typeThis member categorizes the section's contents and semantics. Section
types and their descriptions appear below.

sh_flags

Sections support 1-bit flags that describe miscellaneous attributes. Flag
definitions appear below.

sh_addrIf the section will appear in the memory image of a process, this member
gives the address at which the section's first byte should reside. Otherwise,
the member contains 0.

Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Sectionssh_offset

This member's value gives the byte offset from the beginning of the file tothe first byte in the section. One section type, SHT_NOBITS described
below, occupies no space in the file, and its sh_offset member locatesthe conceptual placement in the file.

sh_size

This member gives the section's size in bytes. Unless the section type is
SHT_NOBITS, the section occupies sh_size bytes in the file. A sectionof type SHT_NOBITS may have a non-zero size, but it occupies no spacein the file.

sh_link

This member holds a section header table index link, whose interpretation
depends on the section type. A table below describes the values.

sh_infoThis member holds extra information, whose interpretation depends on thesection type. A table below describes the values.

sh_addralignSome sections have address alignment constraints. For example, if a section
holds a doubleword, the system must ensure doubleword alignment for theentire section. That is, the value of sh_addr must be congruent to 0,
modulo the value of sh_addralign. Currently, only 0 and positive
integral powers of two are allowed. Values 0 and 1 mean the section has noalignment constraints.

sh_entsize

Some sections hold a table of fixed-size entries, such as a symbol table. For
such a section, this member gives the size in bytes of each entry. The
member contains 0 if the section does not hold a table of fixed-size entries.

A section header's sh_type member specifies the section's semantics.
Figure 1-9. Section Types, sh_type
Name

OBJECT FILESValue

SHT_NULL0

SHT_PROGBITS1SHT_SYMTAB

2

SHT_STRTAB3

SHT_RELA

4

SHT_HASH

5

SHT_DYNAMIC

6

SHT_NOTE

7

SHT_NOBITS

8SHT_REL9

SHT_SHLIB

10SHT_DYNSYM

11

SHT_LOPROC

0x70000000

SHT_HIPROC

0x7fffffff

SHT_LOUSER

0x80000000

SHT_HIUSER

0xffffffff

1-11

Sections

1-12

SHT_NULL

This value marks the section header as inactive; it does not have anassociated section. Other members of the section header have undefinedvalues.

SHT_PROGBITSThe section holds information defined by the program, whose format andmeaning are determined solely by the program.

SHT_SYMTAB and
SHT_DYNSYM

These sections hold a symbol table.

SHT_STRTAB

The section holds a string table.

SHT_RELA

The section holds relocation entries with explicit addends, such as typeElf32_Rela for the 32-bit class of object files. An object file may havemultiple relocation sections. See "Relocation'' below for details.

SHT_HASH

The section holds a symbol hash table.

SHT_DYNAMIC

The section holds information for dynamic linking.

SHT_NOTEThis section holds information that marks the file in some way.

SHT_NOBITS

A section of this type occupies no space in the file but otherwise resembles
SHT_PROGBITS. Although this section contains no bytes, thesh_offset member contains the conceptual file offset.

SHT_REL

The section holds relocation entries without explicit addends, such as typeElf32_Rel for the 32-bit class of object files. An object file may havemultiple relocation sections. See "Relocation'' below for details.

SHT_SHLIBThis section type is reserved but has unspecified semantics.

Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Sections

SHT_LOPROC through Values in this inclusive range are reserved for processor-specific semantics.
SHT_HIPROC
SHT_LOUSER

This value specifies the lower bound of the range of indexes reserved for
application programs.

SHT_HIUSER

This value specifies the upper bound of the range of indexes reserved for
application programs. Section types between SHT_LOUSER and
SHT_HIUSER may be used by the application, without conflicting withcurrent or future system-defined section types.

Other section type values are reserved. As mentioned before, the section header for index 0(SHN_UNDEF) exists, even though the index marks undefined section references. This entry
holds the following.
Figure 1-10. Section Header Table Entry: Index 0
Name

Value

Note

sh_name0

No namesh_type

SHT_NULL

Inactivesh_flags0

No flags

sh_addr0

No address

sh_offset

0

No file offset

sh_size0

No size

sh_link

SHN_UNDEF

sh_info0

No auxiliary information

sh_addralign0

No alignment

sh_entsize

0

No entries

No link information

A section header's sh_flags member holds 1-bit flags that describe the section's attributes.
Defined values appear below; other values are reserved.
Figure 1-11. Section Attribute Flags, sh_flags
Name

Value

SHF_WRITE

0x1

SHF_ALLOC

0x2

SHF_EXECINSTR

0x4

SHF_MASKPROC

0xf0000000

If a flag bit is set in sh_flags, the attribute is "on'' for the section. Otherwise, the attributeis "off" or does not apply. Undefined attributes are set to zero.
SHF_WRITEOBJECT FILES

The section contains data that should be writable during process execution.
1-13

Sections

SHF_ALLOC

The section occupies memory during process execution. Some control
sections do not reside in the memory image of an object file; this attribute
is off for those sections.

SHF_EXECINSTR

The section contains executable machine instructions.

SHF_MASKPROC

All bits included in this mask are reserved for processor-specific semantics.

Two members in the section header, sh_link and sh_info, hold special information,
depending on section type.
Figure 1-12. sh_link and sh_info Interpretation
sh_typesh_link

sh_info

SHT_DYNAMIC

The section header index
of the string table used byentries in the section.

0

SHT_HASH

The section header index
of the symbol table towhich the hash tableapplies.

0

SHT_RELSHT_RELA

The section header index
of the associated symbol
table.

The section header index
of the section to which therelocation applies.

SHT_SYMTABSHT_DYNSYMThis information is
operating system specific.

This information is
operating system specific.

other

SHN_UNDEF

0

Special Sections
Various sections in ELF are pre-defined and hold program and control information. These
Sections are used by the operating system and have different types and attributes for different
operating systems.
Executable files are created from individual object files and libraries through the linking
process. The linker resolves the references (including subroutines and data references) among
the different object files, adjusts the absolute references in the object files, and relocates
instructions. The linking and loading processes, which are described in Chapter 2, require
information defined in the object files and store this information in specific sections such as.dynamic.
Each operating system supports a set of linking models which fall into two categories:

1-14

StaticA set of object files, system libraries and library archives are staticallybound, references are resolved, and an executable file is created that iscompletely self contained.

Dynamic

A set of object files, libraries, system shared resources and other sharedlibraries are linked together to create the executable. When this executable
is loaded, other shared resources and dynamic libraries must be madeavailable in the system for the program to run successfully.
Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Sections

The general method used to resolve references at execution time for a
dynamically linked executable file is described in the linkage model usedby the operating system, and the actual implementation of this linkage
model will contain processor-specific components.
There are also sections that support debugging, such as .debug and .line, and program
control, including .bss, .data, .data1, .rodata, and .rodata1.
Figure 1-13. Special Sections
Name

Type

Attributes.bss

SHT_NOBITSSHF_ALLOC+SHF_WRITE.comment

SHT_PROGBITS

none

.data

SHT_PROGBITSSHF_ALLOC + SHF_WRITE.data1

SHT_PROGBITSSHF_ALLOC + SHF_WRITE.debug

SHT_PROGBITS

none.dynamic

SHT_DYNAMIC

see below.hash

SHT_HASH

SHF_ALLOC.line

SHT_PROGBITS

none

.note

SHT_NOTE

none.rodata

SHT_PROGBITSSHF_ALLOC.rodata1

SHT_PROGBITSSHF_ALLOC.shstrtab

SHT_STRTAB

none.strtabSHT_STRTAB

see below.symtabSHT_SYMTAB

see below.text

SHT_PROGBITSSHF_ALLOC + SHF_EXECINSTR.bss

This section holds uninitialized data that contribute to the program's
memory image. By definition, the system initializes the data with zeros
when the program begins to run. The section occupies no file space, as
indicated by the section type, SHT_NOBITS.

.comment

This section holds version control information.

.data and .data1

These sections hold initialized data that contribute to the program's memory
image.

.debugThis section holds information for symbolic debugging. The contents areunspecified. All section names with the prefix .debug are reserved for
future use.

.dynamic

This section holds dynamic linking information and has attributes such as
SHF_ALLOC and SHF_WRITE. Whether the SHF_WRITE bit is set isdetermined by the operating system and processor.

.hashThis section holds a symbol hash table.

OBJECT FILES

1-15

Sections.line

This section holds line number information for symbolic debugging, which
describes the correspondence between the source program and the machinecode. The contents are unspecified.

.noteThis section holds information in the format that is described in the "Note
Section'' in Chapter 2.

.rodata and.rodata1

These sections hold read-only data that typically contribute to a
non-writable segment in the process image. See "Program Header'' in
Chapter 2 for more information.

.shstrtab

This section holds section names.

.strtabThis section holds strings, most commonly the strings that represent the names
associated with symbol table entries. If a file has a loadable segment that
includes the symbol string table, the section's attributes will include the
SHF_ALLOC bit; otherwise, that bit will be off.

.symtabThis section holds a symbol table, as "Symbol Table'' in this chapter
describes. If a file has a loadable segment that includes the symbol table,
the section's attributes will include the SHF_ALLOC bit; otherwise, that bit
will be off.

.text

This section holds the "text,'' or executable instructions, of a program.

Section names with a dot (.) prefix are reserved for the system, although applications may use
these sections if their existing meanings are satisfactory. Applications may use names without
the prefix to avoid conflicts with system sections. The object file format lets one define sections
not in the list above. An object file may have more than one section with the same name.

1-16

Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

String Table
This section describes the default string table. String table sections hold null-terminatedcharacter sequences, commonly called strings. The object file uses these strings to represent
symbol and section names. One references a string as an index into the string table section.
The first byte, which is index zero, is defined to hold a null character. Likewise, a string table's
last byte is defined to hold a null character, ensuring null termination for all strings. A string
whose index is zero specifies either no name or a null name, depending on the context. An
empty string table section is permitted; its section header's sh_size member would containzero. Non-zero indexes are invalid for an empty string table.
A section header's sh_name member holds an index into the section header string table section,
as designated by the e_shstrndx member of the ELF header. The following figures show astring table with 25 bytes and the strings associated with various indexes.
Index

+0

+1

+2

+3

+4

+5

+6

+7

+8

+9

0

\0

n

a

m

e

.

\0

V

a

r

10

i

a

b

l

e

\0

a

b

l

e

20

\0

\0

x

x

\0

Figure 1-14. String Table Indexes
Index

String

0

none

1

name.

7

Variable

11

able

16

able

24

null string

As the example shows, a string table index may refer to any byte in the section. A string may
appear more than once; references to substrings may exist; and a single string may be referenced
multiple times. Unreferenced strings also are allowed.

OBJECT FILES

1-17

Symbol Table
An object file's symbol table holds information needed to locate and relocate a program's
symbolic definitions and references. A symbol table index is a subscript into this array. Index
0 both designates the first entry in the table and serves as the undefined symbol index. The
contents of the initial entry are specified later in this section.
Name

Value

STN_UNDEF

0

A symbol table entry has the following format.
Figure 1-15. Symbol Table Entry
typedef struct {Elf32_Word
st_name;Elf32_Addr
st_value;Elf32_Word
st_size;unsigned char st_info;
unsigned char st_other;
Elf32_Half
st_shndx;} Elf32_Sym;

st_nameThis member holds an index into the object file's symbol string table, which holds
the character representations of the symbol names.

st_value

This member gives the value of the associated symbol. Depending on the context,
this may be an absolute value, an address, and so on; details appear below.

st_size

Many symbols have associated sizes. For example, a data object's size is the numberof bytes contained in the object. This member holds 0 if the symbol has no size oran unknown size.

st_infoThis member specifies the symbol's type and binding attributes. A list of the values
and meanings appears below. The following code shows how to manipulate thevalues.

#define ELF32_ST_BIND(i)((i)>>4)#define ELF32_ST_TYPE(i)((i)&0xf)#define ELF32_ST_INFO(b,t) (((b)<<4)+((t)&0xf))

1-18Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Symbol Table

st_otherThis member currently holds 0 and has no defined meaning.

st_shndx

Every symbol table entry is "defined'' in relation to some section; this member holds
the relevant section header table index. As Figure 1-7 and the related text describe,
some section indexes indicate special meanings.
A symbol's binding determines the linkage visibility and behavior.

Figure 1-16. Symbol Binding, ELF32_ST_BIND
Name

Value

STB_LOCAL

0

STB_GLOBAL

1

STB_WEAK2

STB_LOPROC

13

STB_HIPROC

15

STB_LOCAL

Local symbols are not visible outside the object file containing theirdefinition. Local symbols of the same name may exist in multiple files
without interfering with each other.

STB_GLOBAL

Global symbols are visible to all object files being combined. One file's
definition of a global symbol will satisfy another file's undefined reference
to the same global symbol.

STB_WEAK

Weak symbols resemble global symbols, but their definitions have lower
precedence.

STB_LOPROC through Values in this inclusive range are reserved for processor-specific semantics.
STB_HIPROC

In each symbol table, all symbols with STB_LOCAL binding precede the weak and global
symbols. A symbol's type provides a general classification for the associated entity.

OBJECT FILES

1-19

Symbol Table

Figure 1-17. Symbol Types, ELF32_ST_TYPE
Name

Value

STT_NOTYPE

0

STT_OBJECT

1

STT_FUNC

2

STT_SECTION

3

STT_FILE

4

STT_LOPROC

13

STT_HIPROC

15

STT_NOTYPE

The symbol's type is not specified.

STT_OBJECT

The symbol is associated with a data object, such as a variable, an array,and so on.

STT_FUNC

The symbol is associated with a function or other executable code.

STT_SECTION

The symbol is associated with a section. Symbol table entries of this type
exist primarily for relocation and normally have STB_LOCAL binding.

STT_LOPROC through Values in this inclusive range are reserved for processor-specific semantics.
STT_HIPROC
If a symbol's value refers to a specific location within a section, its section
index member, st_shndx, holds an index into the section header table.
As the section moves during relocation, the symbol's value changes as well,and references to the symbol continue to "point'' to the same location in the
program. Some special section index values give other semantics.
STT_FILE

A file symbol has STB_LOCAL binding, its section index is SHN_ABS, andit precedes the other STB_LOCAL symbols for the file, if it is present.

The symbols in ELF object files convey specific information to the linker and loader. See theoperating system sections for a description of the actual linking model used in the system.

1-20

SHN_ABSThe symbol has an absolute value that will not change because of relocation.

SHN_COMMON

The symbol labels a common block that has not yet been allocated. The
symbol's value gives alignment constraints, similar to a section's
sh_addralign member. That is, the link editor will allocate the storage
for the symbol at an address that is a multiple of st_value. The symbol's
size tells how many bytes are required.

SHN_UNDEF

This section table index means the symbol is undefined. When the link
editor combines this object file with another that defines the indicatedsymbol, this file's references to the symbol will be linked to the actual
definition.

Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Symbol Table

As mentioned above, the symbol table entry for index 0 (STN_UNDEF) is reserved; it holds thefollowing.
Figure 1-18. Symbol Table Entry: Index 0
Name

Value

Note

st_name0

No namest_value0

Zero value

st_size0

No size

st_info0

No type, local binding

st_other0

st_shndx

SHN_UNDEF

No section

Symbol Values
Symbol table entries for different object file types have slightly different interpretations forthe st_value member.

• In relocatable files, st_value holds alignment constraints for a symbol whose section index
is SHN_COMMON.

• In relocatable files, st_value holds a section offset for a defined symbol. That is,
st_value is an offset from the beginning of the section that st_shndx identifies.

• In executable and shared object files, st_value holds a virtual address. To make these files'
symbols more useful for the dynamic linker, the section offset (file interpretation) gives way toa virtual address (memory interpretation) for which the section number is irrelevant.
Although the symbol table values have similar meanings for different object files, the data
allow efficient access by the appropriate programs.

OBJECT FILES

1-21

Relocation
Relocation is the process of connecting symbolic references with symbolic definitions. For
example, when a program calls a function, the associated call instruction must transfer control
to the proper destination address at execution. In other words, relocatable files must haveinformation that describes how to modify their section contents, thus allowing executable andshared object files to hold the right information for a process's program image. Relocation
entries are these data.
Figure 1-19. Relocation Entries
typedef struct {Elf32_Addr
Elf32_Word} Elf32_Rel;

r_offset;
r_info;typedef struct {Elf32_Addr
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Sword} Elf32_Rela;r_offset;
r_info;r_addend;

r_offsetThis member gives the location at which to apply the relocation action. Fora relocatable file, the value is the byte offset from the beginning of thesection to the storage unit affected by the relocation. For an executable fileor a shared object, the value is the virtual address of the storage unit affectedby the relocation.

r_infoThis member gives both the symbol table index with respect to which therelocation must be made, and the type of relocation to apply. For example,
a call instruction's relocation entry would hold the symbol table index of
the function being called. If the index is STN_UNDEF, the undefined symbol
index, the relocation uses 0 as the "symbol value.'' Relocation types areprocessor-specific; descriptions of their behavior appear in the processor
supplement. When the text in the processor supplement refers to arelocation entry's relocation type or symbol table index, it means the resultof applying ELF32_R_TYPE or ELF32_R_SYM, respectively, to theentry's r_info member.

#define ELF32_R_SYM(i)((i)>>8)#define ELF32_R_TYPE(i)((unsigned char)(i))#define ELF32_R_INFO(s,t) (((s)<<8)+(unsigned char)(t))

r_addend

1-22

This member specifies a constant addend used to compute the value to be
stored into the relocatable field.

Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Relocation

As shown above, only Elf32_Rela entries contain an explicit addend. Entries of typeElf32_Rel store an implicit addend in the location to be modified. Depending on the processor
architecture, one form or the other might be necessary or more convenient. Consequently, an
implementation for a particular machine may use one form exclusively or either form depending
on context.
A relocation section references two other sections: a symbol table and a section to modify. The
section header's sh_info and sh_link members, described in "Sections'' above, specify these
relationships. Relocation entries for different object files have slightly different interpretations
for the r_offset member.

• In relocatable files, r_offset holds a section offset. That is, the relocation section itself
describes how to modify another section in the file; relocation offsets designate a storage unit
within the second section.

• In executable and shared object files, r_offset holds a virtual address. To make these files'
relocation entries more useful for the dynamic linker, the section offset (file interpretation)
gives way to a virtual address (memory interpretation).
Although the interpretation of r_offset changes for different object files to allow efficient
access by the relevant programs, the relocation types' meanings stay the same.

1-23

Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Introduction
This chapter describes the object file information and system actions that create running
programs. Executable and shared object files statically represent programs. To execute suchprograms, the system uses the files to create dynamic program representations, or process
images. A process image has segments that hold its text, data, stack, and so on. This section
describes the program header and complements Chapter 1, by describing object file structuresthat relate directly to program execution. The primary data structure, a program header table,
locates segment images within the file and contains other information necessary to create thememory image for the program.
Given an object file, the system must load it into memory for the program to run. After thesystem loads the program, it must complete the process image by resolving symbolic referencesamong the object files that compose the process.

PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-1

Program Header
An executable or shared object file's program header table is an array of structures, each
describing a segment or other information the system needs to prepare the program forexecution. An object file segment contains one or more sections. Program headers aremeaningful only for executable and shared object files. A file specifies its own program header
size with the ELF header's e_phentsize and e_phnum members [see "ELF Header'' in
Chapter 1].
Figure 2-1. Program Header
typedef struct {Elf32_Word
Elf32_Off
Elf32_Addr
Elf32_Addr
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Word
Elf32_Word} Elf32_Phdr;

2-2

p_type;p_offset;
p_vaddr;p_paddr;p_filesz;
p_memsz;
p_flags;p_align;p_typeThis member tells what kind of segment this array element describes or how tointerpret the array element's information. Type values and their meanings appear
below.

p_offsetThis member gives the offset from the beginning of the file at which the first byteof the segment resides.

p_vaddrThis member gives the virtual address at which the first byte of the segment resides
in memory.

p_paddr

On systems for which physical addressing is relevant, this member is reserved forthe segment's physical address. This member requires operating system specificinformation, which is described in the appendix at the end of Book III.

p_filesz

This member gives the number of bytes in the file image of the segment; it may be
zero.

p_memsz

This member gives the number of bytes in the memory image of the segment; it
may be zero.

p_flags

This member gives flags relevant to the segment. Defined flag values appear below.

p_align

Loadable process segments must have congruent values for p_vaddr and
p_offset, modulo the page size.This member gives the value to which thesegments are aligned in memory and in the file. Values 0 and 1 mean that noalignment is required. Otherwise, p_align should be a positive, integral power of2, and p_addr should equal p_offset, modulo p_align.

Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Program Header

Some entries describe process segments; others give supplementary information and do notcontribute to the process image.
Figure 2-2. Segment Types, p_type
Name

Value

PT_NULL

0

PT_LOAD1

PT_DYNAMIC

2

PT_INTERP

3

PT_NOTE4

PT_SHLIB

5

PT_PHDR

6

PT_LOPROC

0x70000000

PT_HIPROC

0x7fffffff

PT_NULL

The array element is unused; other members' values are undefined. This type lets
the program header table have ignored entries.

PT_LOAD

The array element specifies a loadable segment, described by p_filesz andp_memsz. The bytes from the file are mapped to the beginning of the memory
segment. If the segment's memory size (p_memsz) is larger than the file size
(p_filesz), the "extra'' bytes are defined to hold the value 0 and to follow thesegment's initialized area. The file size may not be larger than the memory size.
Loadable segment entries in the program header table appear in ascending order,
sorted on the p_vaddr member.

PT_DYNAMIC The array element specifies dynamic linking information. See Book III.
PT_INTERP

The array element specifies the location and size of a null-terminated path name to
invoke as an interpreter. See Book III.

PT_NOTE

The array element specifies the location and size of auxiliary information.

PT_SHLIB

This segment type is reserved but has unspecified semantics. See Book III.

PT_PHDR

The array element, if present, specifies the location and size of the program header
table itself, both in the file and in the memory image of the program. This segment
type may not occur more than once in a file. Moreover, it may occur only if the
program header table is part of the memory image of the program. If it is present,
it must precede any loadable segment entry. See "Program Interpreter" in the
appendix at the end of Book III for further information.

PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-3

Program Header

PT_LOPROC
through PT_HIPROC

Values in this inclusive range are reserved for processor-specific semantics.

NOTE. Unless specifically required elsewhere, all program header segment types
are optional.That is, a file's program header table may contain only thoseelements relevant to its contents.

Note Section
Sometimes a vendor or system builder needs to mark an object file with special informationthat other programs will check for conformance, compatibility, etc. Sections of type SHT_NOTE
and program header elements of type PT_NOTE can be used for this purpose. The note
information in sections and program header elements holds any number of entries, each ofwhich is an array of 4-byte words in the format of the target processor. Labels appear below
to help explain note information organization, but they are not part of the specification.
Figure 2-3. Note Information
nameszdescsz
type
name
. . .
desc
. . .

2-4

namesz and name

The first namesz bytes in name contain a null-terminated character
representation of the entry's owner or originator. There is no formal
mechanism for avoiding name conflicts. By convention, vendors use theirown name, such as "XYZ Computer Company,'' as the identifier. If no nameis present, namesz contains 0. Padding is present, if necessary, to ensure
4-byte alignment for the descriptor. Such padding is not included innamesz.

descsz and desc

The first descsz bytes in desc hold the note descriptor. ELF places noconstraints on a descriptor's contents. If no descriptor is present, descsz
contains 0. Padding is present, if necessary, to ensure 4-byte alignment for
the next note entry. Such padding is not included in descsz.

typeThis word gives the interpretation of the descriptor. Each originator controls
its own types; multiple interpretations of a single type value may exist.
Thus, a program must recognize both the name and the type to "understand"a descriptor. Types currently must be non-negative. ELF does not define
what descriptors mean.

Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Program Header

To illustrate, the following note segment holds two entries.
Figure 2-4. Example Note Segment
+0

+1

type
name
nameszdescsz
type
name
desc

+2

+3

7
0
1

nameszdescszXCYoNo descriptor
Z
\0

pad

Z
\0

pad

7
8
3
X
C

Y
o

word 0
word 1
OSD1983

NOTE. The system reserves note information with no name (namesz==0) andwith a zero-length name (name[0]=='\0') but currently defines notypes. All other names must have at least one non-null character.

NOTE. Note information is optional. The presence of note information does notaffect a program's TIS conformance, provided the information does notaffect the program's execution behavior. Otherwise, the program does notconform to the TIS ELF specification and has undefined behavior.

Program Loading
Program loading is the process by which the operating system creates or augments a process
image. The manner in which this process is accomplished and how the page management
functions for the process are handled are dictated by the operating system and processor. See
the appendix at the end of Book III for more details.

Dynamic Linking
The dynamic linking process resolves references either at process initialization time and/or at
execution time. Some basic mechanisms need to be set up for a particular linkage model towork, and there are ELF sections and header elements reserved for this purpose. The actual
definition of the linkage model is determined by the operating system and implementation.
Therefore, the contents of these sections are both operating system and processor specific. (Seethe appendix at the end of Book III.)PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-5

Introduction
This appendix lists the operating system and processor specific reserved names, as well as
historical names and pre-existing naming conventions.

RESERVED NAMES

A-1

Special Sections Names
Various sections hold program and control information. Sections in the list below are specified
in Book I and Book III.
Figure A-1. Special Sections
Name
.bss
.comment.data.data1.debug.dynamic.dynstr.dynsym
.fini
.got
.hash
.init
.interp
.line
.note
.plt
.relname.relaname.rodata.rodata1.shstrtab.strtab.symtab.text

A-2

Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Dynamic Section Names_DYNAMIC

Figure A-2. Dynamic Array Tags, d_tag
Name
DT_NULL
DT_NEEDED
DT_PLTRELSZ
DT_PLTGOTDT_HASH
DT_STRTAB
DT_SYMTAB
DT_RELA
DT_RELASZDT_RELAENT
DT_STRSZ
DT_SYMENTDT_INIT
DT_FINI
DT_SONAME
DT_RPATH
DT_SYMBOLIC
DT_REL
DT_RELSZ
DT_RELENT
DT_PLTREL
DT_DEBUG
DT_TEXTRELDT_JMPREL
DT_BIND_NOW
DT_LOPROC
DT_HIPROCRESERVED NAMES

A-3

Pre-existing Extensions
There are naming conventions for ELF constants that have processor ranges specified. Namessuch as DT_, PT_, for processor specific extensions, incorporate the name of the processor:
DT_M32_SPECIAL, for example. However, pre-existing processor extensions not using thisconvention will be supported.
Pre-existing Extensions
DT_JMP_REL
Section names reserved for a processor architecture are formed by placing an abbreviation of
the architecture name ahead of the section name. The name should be taken from thearchitecture names used for e_machine. For instance .FOO.psect is the psect section
defined by the FOO architecture. Existing extensions are called by their historical names.
Pre-existing Extensions.

A-4.sdata.sbss.lit8.gptab.conflict.tdesc.lit4.reginfo.liblist

Book I: ELF (Executable and Linking Format)

Book II:
Processor Specific(Intel Architecture)

Contents

1

OBJECT FILES
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
ELF Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Machine Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Relocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Relocation Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

Table of ContentsiContents

ii

Book II: Processor Specific (Intel Architecture)

Figures1-1. Intel Identification, e_ident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
1-2. Relocatable Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
1-3. Relocation Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Table of ContentsiiiIntroduction
This section describes the Intel Architecture specific information necessary to comply with
the ELF object file format. This information is independent of operating system type. Further
information on Intel platforms that is both Intel Architecture and operating system dependent,
is described in Book III.

OBJECT FILES

1-1

ELF Header
Machine Information
For file identification in e_ident, the Intel architecture requires the following values.
Figure 1-1. Intel Identification, e_ident
PositionValuee_ident[EI_CLASS]ELFCLASS32

e_ident[EI_DATA]ELFDATA2LSB

Processor identification resides in the ELF header's e_machine member and must have thevalue EM_386.
The ELF header's e_flags member holds bit flags associated with the file. The Intelarchitecture defines no flags; so this member contains zero.

1-2

Book II: Processor Specific (Intel Architecture)

Relocation
Relocation Types
Relocation entries describe how to alter the following instruction and data fields (bit numbers
appear in the lower box corners).
Figure 1-2. Relocatable Fields

word3231

0
OSD1975

word32This specifies a 32-bit field occupying 4 bytes with arbitrary byte alignment. These
values use the same byte order as other word values in the Intel architecture.
30x01020304

01
31

2

02

1

03

0

04
0
OSD1976

Calculations below assume the actions are transforming a relocatable file into either an
executable or a shared object file. Conceptually, the link editor merges one or more relocatable
files to form the output. It first decides how to combine and locate the input files, then updates
the symbol values, and finally performs the relocation. Relocations applied to executable orshared object files are similar and accomplish the same result. Descriptions below use thefollowing notation.
A

This means the addend used to compute the value of the relocatable field.

P

This means the place (section offset or address) of the storage unit being relocated(computed using r_offset.

S

This means the value of the symbol whose index resides in the relocation entry.

A relocation entry's r_offset value designates the offset or virtual address of the first byteof the affected storage unit. The relocation type specifies which bits to change and how to
calculate their values. The Intel architecture uses only Elf32_Rel relocation entries, the field
to be relocated holds the addend. In all cases, the addend and the computed result use the samebyte order.

OBJECT FILES

1-3

Relocation

Figure 1-3. Relocation Types
Name

Value

Field

Calculation

R_386_NONE

0

none

none

R_386_32

1

word32

S+A

R_386_PC322

word32

S+A-P

NOTE. Relocation types 3 through 10 are reserved. (See Book III, Appendix A.)

1-4

Book II: Processor Specific (Intel Architecture)

Book III:Operating System Specific(UNIX System V Release 4)

Contents

1

OBJECT FILES
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Symbol Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5

2

PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Program Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Base Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Segment Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Segment Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Dynamic Linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Program Interpreter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Dynamic Linker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Dynamic Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Shared Object Dependencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Global Offset Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Procedure Linkage Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Hash Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
Initialization and Termination Funcitons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14

A

INTEL ARCHITECTURE AND SYSTEM V RELEASE 4 DEPENDENCIESIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Symbol Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Symbol Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Relocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4
Relocation Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4

Table of ContentsiContents

Program Loading and Dynamic Linking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7
Program Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7
Dynamic Linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10
Dynamic Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10
Global Offset Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10
Program Interpreter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14

ii

Figures1-1. sh_link and sh_info Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-2
1-2. Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-3
2-1. Segment Types, p_type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-2
2-2. Segment Flag Bits, p_flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-3
2-3. Segment Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4
2-4. Text Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-5
2-5. Data Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-5
2-6. Dynamic Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-8
2-7. Dynamic Array Tags, d_tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-9
2-8. Symbol Hash Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-14
2-9. Hashing Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-14
2-10. Initialization Ordering Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-16
A-1. Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-2
A-2. Relocatable Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-4
A-3. Relocation Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-5
A-4. Executable File Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-7
A-5. Program Header Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-8
A-6. Process Image Segments Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-9
A-7. Shared Object Segment Addresses Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-10
A-8. Global Offset Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-11
A-9. Absolute Procedure Linkage Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-12
A-10. Position-Independent Procedure Linkage Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-13

Table of Contentsiii

Figuresiv

Introduction
This book describes aspects of the ELF format that are specific to application programs
designed to run on UNIX System V Release 4 or other operating systems that comply with the
System V Interface Definition.

NOTE. For information on references such as BA_OS, refer to the System V
Interface Definition, 3rd Edition.

OBJECT FILES

1-1

Sections
The following sections are UNIX System V Release 4 specific:
SHT_SYMTAB and
SHT_DYNSYM

These sections hold a symbol table. Currently, an object file may have only
one section of each type, but this restriction may be relaxed in the future.
Typically, SHT_SYMTAB provides symbols for link editing, though it may
also be used for dynamic linking. As a complete symbol table, it may
contain many symbols unnecessary for dynamic linking. Consequently, anobject file may also contain a SHT_DYNSYM section, which holds a minimal
set of dynamic linking symbols, to save space. See "Symbol Table"
descriptions in Book I for details.

SHT_STRTAB

An object file may have multiple string table sections. See "String Table''in Book I for details.

SHT_HASH

All objects participating in dynamic linking must contain a symbol hashtable. Currently, an object file may have only one hash table, but thisrestriction may be relaxed in the future. See "Hash Table" in Chapter 2 fordetails.

SHT_DYNAMIC

Currently, an object file may have only one dynamic section, but thisrestriction may be relaxed in the future. See "Dynamic Section" in
Chapter 2 for details.

Two members in the section header, sh_link and sh_info, hold special information,
depending on section type. A symbol table section's sh_info section header member holds
the symbol table index for the first non-local symbol.
.
Figure 1-1. sh_link and sh_info Interpretation
sh_typesh_link

sh_info

SHT_SYMTABSHT_DYNSYM

The section header index
of the associated stringtable.

One greater than thesymbol table index of thelast local symbol (binding
STB_LOCAL).

Special Sections
The following sections hold program and control information used in UNIX System V
Release 4. The sections in the list below are used by the system and have the indicated types
and attributes. Most of these sections are required for the linking process. The information for
dynamic linking is provided in the .dynsym, .dynstr, .interp, .hash, .dynamic, .rel,.rela, .got and.plt sections. The actual contents of some of these sections (.plt and .got,
for example) are processor specific, but they all support the same linkage model.

1-2Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

SectionsThe .init and .fini sections contribute to the process initialization and termination code.
Figure 1-2. Special Sections
Name

Type

Attributes.dynstr

SHT_STRTABSHF_ALLOC.dynsym

SHT_DYNSYM

SHF_ALLOC.fini

SHT_PROGBITSSHF_ALLOC + SHF_EXECINSTR.init

SHT_PROGBITSSHF_ALLOC + SHF_EXECINSTR.interp

SHT_PROGBITS

see below.relname

SHT_RELsee below.relaname

SHT_RELA

see below.dynstr

This section holds strings needed for dynamic linking, most commonly thestrings that represent the names associated with symbol table entries. See
Chapter 2 for more information.

.dynsymThis section holds the dynamic linking symbol table, as "Symbol Table''
describes. See Chapter 2 for more information.

.finiThis section holds executable instructions that contribute to the process
termination code. When a program exits normally, the system executes thecode in this section.

.initThis section holds executable instructions that contribute to the process
initialization code. When a program starts to run, the system executes thecode in this section before calling the main program entry point (called
main for C programs).

.interp

This section holds the path name of a program interpreter. If the file has aloadable segment that includes the section, the section's attributes will
include the SHF_ALLOC bit; otherwise, that bit will be off. See Chapter 2
for more information.

OBJECT FILES

1-3

Sections.relname and.relaname

1-4

These sections hold relocation information, as "Relocation'' below
describes. If the file has a loadable segment that includes relocation, thesections' attributes will include the SHF_ALLOC bit; otherwise, that bit
will be off. Conventionally, name is supplied by the section to which therelocations apply. Thus a relocation section for .text normally would
have the name .rel.text or .rela.text.

Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Symbol Table
st_nameIf the value is non-zero, it represents a string table index that gives the symbol name.
Otherwise, the symbol table entry has no name.

NOTE. External C symbols have the same names in C and object files' symbol
tables.

Function symbols (those with type STT_FUNC) in shared object files have special significance.
When another object file references a function from a shared object, the link editor
automatically creates a procedure linkage table entry for the referenced symbol. Shared object
symbols with types other than STT_FUNC will not be referenced automatically through theprocedure linkage table. See "Symbol Table" descriptions in Book I and "Function Addresses''in the appendix at the end of this book for details.
Global and weak symbols differ in two major ways.

• When the link editor combines several relocatable object files, it does not allow multiple
definitions of STB_GLOBAL symbols with the same name. On the other hand, if a defined
global symbol exists, the appearance of a weak symbol with the same name will not cause anerror. The link editor honors the global definition and ignores the weak ones. Similarly, if acommon symbol exists (that is, a symbol whose st_shndx field holds SHN_COMMON), theappearance of a weak symbol with the same name will not cause an error. The link editor
honors the common definition and ignores the weak ones.

• When the link editor searches archive libraries, it extracts archive members that containdefinitions of undefined global symbols. The member's definition may be either a global or aweak symbol. The link editor does not extract archive members to resolve undefined weaksymbols. Unresolved weak symbols have a zero value.

OBJECT FILES

1-5

Introduction
This section describes the operating system specific information, including the object fileinformation and system actions used to create running programs on systems running the UNIX
System V Release 4 operating system.

PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-1

Program Header
The following program header information is specific to UNIX System V Release 4.
p_paddr

On systems for which physical addressing is relevant, this member is reserved forthe segment's physical address. Because System V ignores physical addressing for
application programs, this member has unspecified contents for executable files andshared objects.

p_align

Loadable process segments must have congruent values for p_vaddr and
p_offset, modulo the page size.

Some entries describe process segments; others give supplementary information and do notcontribute to the process image. Segment entries may appear in any order, except as explicitly
noted below. Defined type values follow; other values are reserved for future use.
Figure 2-1. Segment Types, p_type
Name

PT_LOADValue

PT_NULL

0

PT_LOAD1

PT_DYNAMIC

2

PT_INTERP

3

PT_NOTE4

PT_SHLIB

5

PT_PHDR

6

PT_LOPROC

0x70000000

PT_HIPROC

0x7fffffff

The array element specifies a loadable segment, described by p_filesz andp_memsz.

PT_DYNAMIC The array element specifies dynamic linking information. See "Dynamic Section''
below for more information.

2-2

PT_INTERP

The array element specifies the location and size of a null-terminated path name to
invoke as an interpreter. This segment type is meaningful only for executable files(though it may occur for shared objects); it may not occur more than once in a file.
If it is present, it must precede any loadable segment entry. See "Program
Interpreter'' below for further information.

PT_SHLIB

This segment type is reserved but has unspecified semantics. Programs that containan array element of this type do not conform to the ELF specification for UNIX
System V.
Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Program Header

PT_PHDR

The array element, if present, specifies the location and size of the program header
table itself, both in the file and in the memory image of the program.

Base Address
The virtual addresses in the program headers might not represent the actual virtual addressesof the program's memory image. Executable files typically contain absolute code. To let theprocess execute correctly, the segments must reside at the virtual addresses used to build theexecutable file. On the other hand, shared object segments typically containposition-independent code. This lets a segment's virtual address change from one process toanother, without invalidating execution behavior. Though the system chooses virtual addresses
for individual processes, it maintains the segments’ relative positions. Because
position-independent code uses relative addressing between segments, the difference between
virtual addresses in memory must match the difference between virtual addresses in the file.
The difference between the virtual address of any segment in memory and the corresponding
virtual address in the file is thus a single constant value for any one executable or shared object
in a given process. This difference is the base address. One use of the base address is to relocate
the memory image of the program during dynamic linking.
An executable or shared object file's base address is calculated during execution from threevalues: the virtual memory load address, the maximum page size, and the lowest virtual addressof a program's loadable segment. To compute the base address, one determines the memory
address associated with the lowest p_vaddr value for a PT_LOAD segment. This address istruncated to the nearest multiple of the maximum page size. The corresponding p_vaddr value
itself is also truncated to the nearest multiple of the maximum page size. The base address isthe difference between the truncated memory address and the truncated p_vaddr value.

Segment Permissions
A program to be loaded by the system must have at least one loadable segment (although thisis not required by the file format). When the system creates loadable segments' memory images,
it gives access permissions as specified in the p_flags member.
Figure 2-2. Segment Flag Bits, p_flags
Name

Value

Meaning

PF_X

0x1

Execute

PF_W

0x2

Write

PF_R

0x4

Read

PF_MASKPROC

0xf0000000

Unspecified

All bits included in the PF_MASKPROC mask are reserved for processor-specific semantics. If
meanings are specified, the processor supplement explains them.
If a permission bit is 0, that type of access is denied. Actual memory permissions depend on
the memory management unit, which may vary from one system to another. Although all flag
combinations are valid, the system may grant more access than requested. In no case, however,
PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-3

Program Header

will a segment have write permission unless it is specified explicitly. The following table shows
both the exact flag interpretation and the allowable flag interpretation. TIS-conforming systems
may provide either.
Figure 2-3. Segment Permissions
Flag

Value

Exact

Allowablenone

0

All access denied

All access denied

PF_X

1

Execute only

Read, execute

PF_W

2

Write only

Read, write, execute

PF_W + PF_X

3

Write, execute

Read, write, execute

PF_R

4

Read only

Read, execute

PF_R + PF_X

5

Read, execute

Read, execute

PF_R + PF_W

6

Read, write

Read, write, execute

PF_R + PF_W + PF_X

7

Read, write, execute

Read, write, execute

For example, typical text segments have read and execute —but not write —permissions. Datasegments normally have read, write, and execute permissions.

Segment Contents
An object file segment comprises one or more sections, though this fact is transparent to theprogram header. Whether the file segment holds one or many sections also is immaterial toprogram loading. Nonetheless, various data must be present for program execution, dynamic
linking, and so on. The diagrams below illustrate segment contents in general terms. The orderand membership of sections within a segment may vary; moreover, processor-specificconstraints may alter the examples below.
Text segments contain read-only instructions and data, typically including the following
sections. Other sections may also reside in loadable segments; these examples are not meant
to give complete and exclusive segment contents.

2-4Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Program Header

Figure 2-4. Text Segment.text.rodata.hash.dynsym.dynstr.plt.rel.got

Data segments contain writable data and instructions, typically including the following
sections.

Figure 2-5. Data Segment.data.dynamic.got.bss

A PT_DYNAMIC program header element points at the .dynamic section, explained in"Dynamic Section" below. The .got and .plt sections also hold information related toposition-independent code and dynamic linking. Although the .plt appears in a text segment
above, it may reside in a text or a data segment, depending on the processor.
As "Sections" describes, the .bss section has the type SHT_NOBITS. Although it occupies nospace in the file, it contributes to the segment's memory image. Normally, these uninitialized
data reside at the end of the segment, thereby making p_memsz larger than p_filesz.

PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-5

Dynamic Linking
Program Interpreter
An executable file that participates in dynamic linking shall have one PT_INTERP program
header element. During exec (BA_OS), the system retrieves a path name from the PT_INTERP
segment and creates the initial process image from the interpreter file's segments. That is,
instead of using the original executable file's segment images, the system composes a memory
image for the interpreter. It then is the interpreter's responsibility to receive control from thesystem and provide an environment for the application program.
The interpreter receives control in one of two ways. First, it may receive a file descriptor toread the executable file, positioned at the beginning. It can use this file descriptor to read and/or
map the executable file's segments into memory. Second, depending on the executable fileformat, the system may load the executable file into memory instead of giving the interpreteran open file descriptor. With the possible exception of the file descriptor, the interpreter's initialprocess state matches what the executable file would have received. The interpreter itself may
not require a second interpreter. An interpreter may be either a shared object or an executablefile.

• A shared object (the normal case) is loaded as position-independent, with addresses that mayvary from one process to another; the system creates its segments in the dynamic segment areaused by mmap (KE_OS) and related services. Consequently, a shared object interpreter
typically will not conflict with the original executable file's original segment addresses.

• An executable file is loaded at fixed addresses; the system creates its segments using the virtual
addresses from the program header table. Consequently, an executable file interpreter's virtual
addresses may collide with the first executable file; the interpreter is responsible for resolving
conflicts.

Dynamic Linker
When building an executable file that uses dynamic linking, the link editor adds a program
header element of type PT_INTERP to an executable file, telling the system to invoke thedynamic linker as the program interpreter.
NOTE. The locations of the system provided dynamic linkers areprocessor—specific.
The executable file and the dynamic linker cooperate to create the process image for the
program, which entails the following actions:• Adding the executable file's memory segments to the process image;• Adding shared object memory segments to the process image;• Performing relocations for the executable file and its shared objects;• Closing the file descriptor that was used to read the executable file, if one was given to the
dynamic linker;• Transferring control to the program, making it look as if the program had received control
directly from the executable file.
2-6

Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Dynamic Linking

The link editor also constructs various data that assist the dynamic linker for executable andshared object files. As shown above in "Program Header,'' these data reside in loadable
segments, making them available during execution. (Note that the exact segment contents areprocessor-specific.)• A .dynamic section with type SHT_DYNAMIC holds various data. The structure residing at
the beginning of the section holds the addresses of other dynamic linking information.

• The .hash section with type SHT_HASH holds a symbol hash table.
• The .got and .plt sections with type SHT_PROGBITS hold two separate tables: the global
offset table and the procedure linkage table. Programs use the global offset table forposition-independent code. Sections below explain how the dynamic linker uses and changes
the tables to create memory images for object files.
Because every UNIX System V conforming program imports the basic system services from ashared object library, the dynamic linker participates in every TIS ELF-conforming program
execution.
As "Program Loading" explains in the appendix at the end of this book, shared objects may
occupy virtual memory addresses that are different from the addresses recorded in the file's
program header table. The dynamic linker relocates the memory image, updating absoluteaddresses before the application gains control. Although the absolute address values would becorrect if the library were loaded at the addresses specified in the program header table, thisnormally is not the case.
If the process environment contains a variable named LD_BIND_NOW with a non-null value,
the dynamic linker processes all relocation before transferring control to the program.. For
example, all the following environment entries would specify this behavior.

• LD_BIND_NOW=1• LD_BIND_NOW=on• LD_BIND_NOW=off
Otherwise, LD_BIND_NOW either does not occur in the environment or has a null value. The
dynamic linker is permitted to evaluate procedure linkage table entries lazily, thus avoiding
symbol resolution and relocation overhead for functions that are not called.

PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-7

Dynamic Linking

Dynamic Section
If an object file participates in dynamic linking, its program header table will have an elementof type PT_DYNAMIC. This "segment" contains the .dynamic section. A special symbol,_DYNAMIC, labels the section, which contains an array of the following structures.
Figure 2-6. Dynamic Structure
typedef struct {Elf32_Swordd_tag;
union {
Elf32_Wordd_val;
Elf32_Addr
d_ptr;} d_un;} Elf32_Dyn;
extern Elf32_Dyn _DYNAMIC[];For each object with this type, d_tag controls the interpretation of d_un.
d_val

These Elf32_Word objects represent integer values with various interpretations.

d_ptr

These Elf32_Addr objects represent program virtual addresses. As mentioned
previously, a file's virtual addresses might not match the memory virtual addresses
during execution. When interpreting addresses contained in the dynamic structure,
the dynamic linker computes actual addresses, based on the original file value andthe memory base address. For consistency, files do not contain relocation entries
to "correct" addresses in the dynamic structure.

The following table summarizes the tag requirements for executable and shared object files. If
a tag is marked "mandatory," then the dynamic linking array for a TIS ELF conforming file
must have an entry of that type. Likewise, "optional" means an entry for the tag may appear
but is not required.

2-8Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Dynamic Linking

Figure 2-7. Dynamic Array Tags, d_tag
Name

Value

d_un

Executable

Shared Object

DT_NULL

0ignoredmandatory

mandatory

DT_NEEDED

1

d_val

optional

optional

DT_PLTRELSZ

2

d_val

optional

optional

DT_PLTGOT

3

d_ptr

optional

optional

DT_HASH4d_ptr

mandatory

mandatory

DT_STRTAB

5

d_ptr

mandatory

mandatory

DT_SYMTAB

6

d_ptr

mandatory

mandatory

DT_RELA7d_ptr

mandatory

optional

DT_RELASZ

8

d_val

mandatory

optional

DT_RELAENT

9

d_val

mandatory

optional

DT_STRSZ

10

d_val

mandatory

mandatory

DT_SYMENT

11

d_val

mandatory

mandatory

DT_INIT12d_ptr

optional

optional

DT_FINI13d_ptr

optional

optional

DT_SONAME

14

d_val

ignoredoptional

DT_RPATH

15

d_val

optional

ignoredDT_SYMBOLIC

16

ignoredignoredoptional

DT_REL17d_ptr

mandatory

optional

DT_RELSZ

18

d_val

mandatory

optional

DT_RELENT

19

d_val

mandatory

optional

DT_PLTREL

20

d_val

optional

optional

DT_DEBUG

21

d_ptr

optional

ignored

DT_TEXTREL

22

ignoredoptional

optional

DT_JMPREL

23

d_ptr

optional

optional

DT_BIND_NOW

24

ignoredoptional

optional

DT_LOPROC

0x70000000

unspecified

unspecified

unspecified

DT_HIPROC

0x7fffffff

unspecified

unspecified

unspecified

PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-9

Dynamic Linking

2-10

DT_NULL

An entry with a DT_NULL tag marks the end of the _DYNAMIC array.

DT_NEEDEDThis element holds the string table offset of a null-terminated string, giving
the name of a needed library. The offset is an index into the table recordedin the DT_STRTAB entry. See "Shared Object Dependencies'' for more
information about these names. The dynamic array may contain multiple
entries with this type. These entries' relative order is significant, though
their relation to entries of other types is not.

DT_PLTRELSZThis element holds the total size, in bytes, of the relocation entries
associated with the procedure linkage table. If an entry of type DT_JMPRELis present, a DT_PLTRELSZ must accompany it.

DT_PLTGOTThis element holds an address associated with the procedure linkage table
and/or the global offset table.

DT_HASH

This element holds the address of the symbol hash table, described in "Hash
Table". This hash table refers to the symbol table referenced by the
DT_SYMTAB element.

DT_STRTAB

This element holds the address of the string table, described in Chapter 1.
Symbol names, library names, and other strings reside in this table.

DT_SYMTAB

This element holds the address of the symbol table, described in
Chapter 1, with Elf32_Sym entries for the 32-bit class of files.

DT_RELAThis element holds the address of a relocation table, described in
Chapter 1. Entries in the table have explicit addends, such as Elf32_Rela
for the 32-bit file class. An object file may have multiple relocation
sections. When building the relocation table for an executable or sharedobject file, the link editor catenates those sections to form a single table.
Although the sections remain independent in the object file, the dynamic
linker sees a single table. When the dynamic linker creates the process
image for an executable file or adds a shared object to the process image,it reads the relocation table and performs the associated actions. If thiselement is present, the dynamic structure must also have DT_RELASZ and
DT_RELAENT elements. When relocation is "mandatory" for a file, either
DT_RELA or DT_REL may occur (both are permitted but not required).

DT_RELASZThis element holds the total size, in bytes, of the DT_RELA relocation table.

DT_RELAENTThis element holds the size, in bytes, of the DT_RELA relocation entry.

DT_STRSZThis element holds the size, in bytes, of the string table.

DT_SYMENTThis element holds the size, in bytes, of a symbol table entry.

DT_INIT

This element holds the address of the initialization function, discussed in"Initialization and Termination Functions" below.

DT_FINI

This element holds the address of the termination function, discussed in"Initialization and Termination Functions" below.
Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Dynamic Linking

DT_SONAME

This element holds the string table offset of a null-terminated string, giving
the name of the shared object. The offset is an index into the table recordedin the DT_STRTAB entry. See "Shared Object Dependencies" below for
more information about these names.

DT_RPATH

This element holds the string table offset of a null-terminated search library
search path string, discussed in "Shared Object Dependencies". The offset
is an index into the table recorded in the DT_STRTAB entry.

DT_SYMBOLIC

This element's presence in a shared object library alters the dynamic linker's
symbol resolution algorithm for references within the library. Instead ofstarting a symbol search with the executable file, the dynamic linker starts
from the shared object itself. If the shared object fails to supply thereferenced symbol, the dynamic linker then searches the executable file andother shared objects as usual.

DT_REL

This element is similar to DT_RELA, except its table has implicit addends,
such as Elf32_Rel for the 32-bit file class. If this element is present, thedynamic structure must also have DT_RELSZ and DT_RELENT elements.

DT_RELSZ

This element holds the total size, in bytes, of the DT_REL relocation table.

DT_RELENTThis element holds the size, in bytes, of the DT_REL relocation entry.

DT_PLTREL

This member specifies the type of relocation entry to which the procedurelinkage table refers. The d_val member holds DT_REL or DT_RELA, asappropriate. All relocations in a procedure linkage table must use the same
relocation.

DT_DEBUG

This member is used for debugging. Its contents are not specified in thisdocument.

DT_TEXTRELThis member's absence signifies that no relocation entry should cause amodification to a non-writable segment, as specified by the segment
permissions in the program header table. If this member is present, one ormore relocation entries might request modifications to a non-writablesegment, and the dynamic linker can prepare accordingly.

DT_JMPREL

If present, this entries d_ptr member holds the address of relocation
entries associated solely with the procedure linkage table. Separating these
relocation entries lets the dynamic linker ignore them during process
initialization, if lazy binding is enabled. If this entry is present, the related
entries of types DT_PLTRELSZ and DT_PLTREL must also be present.

DT_BIND_NOW

If present in a shared object or executable, this entry instructs the dynamic
linker to process all relocations for the object containing this entry before
transferring control to the program. The presence of this entry takes
precedence over a directive to use lazy binding for this object when
specified through the environment or via dlopen(BA_LIB).

PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-11

Dynamic Linking

DT_LOPROC through DT_HIPROC

Values in this inclusive range are reserved for processor-specific semantics.
If meanings are specified, the processor supplement explains them.
Except for the DT_NULL element at the end of the array, and the relative order of DT_NEEDEDelements, entries may appear in any order. Tag values not appearing in the table are reserved.

Shared Object Dependencies
When the link editor processes an archive library, it extracts library members and copies theminto the output object file. These statically linked services are available during execution
without involving the dynamic linker. Shared objects also provide services, and the dynamic
linker must attach the proper shared object files to the process image for execution. Thus
executable and shared object files describe their specific dependencies.
When the dynamic linker creates the memory segments for an object file, the dependencies(recorded in DT_NEEDED entries of the dynamic structure) tell what shared objects are needed
to supply the program's services. By repeatedly connecting referenced shared objects and theirdependencies, the dynamic linker builds a complete process image. When resolving symbolicreferences, the dynamic linker examines the symbol tables with a breadth-first search. That is,
it first looks at the symbol table of the executable program itself, then at the symbol tables of
the DT_NEEDED entries (in order), then at the second level DT_NEEDED entries, and so on.
Shared object files must be readable by the process; other permissions are not required.
NOTE. Even when a shared object is referenced multiple times in the dependency
list, the dynamic linker will connect the object only once to the process.
Names in the dependency list are copies either of the DT_SONAME strings or the path names ofthe shared objects used to build the object file. For example, if the link editor builds an
executable file using one shared object with a DT_SONAME entry of lib1 and another sharedobject library with the path name /usr/lib/lib2, the executable file will contain lib1 and/usr/lib/lib2 in its dependency list.
If a shared object name has one or more slash (/) characters anywhere in the name, such as/usr/lib/lib2 above or directory/file, the dynamic linker uses that string directly as
the path name. If the name has no slashes, such as lib1 above, three facilities specify sharedobject path searching, with the following precedence.

• First, the dynamic array tag DT_RPATH may give a string that holds a list of directories,
separated by colons (:). For example, the string /home/dir/lib:/home/dir2/lib: tells
the dynamic linker to search first the directory /home/dir/lib, then /home/dir2/lib,
and then the current directory to find dependencies.

• Second, a variable called LD_LIBRARY_PATH in the process environment [seeexec(BA_OS)] may hold a list of directories as above, optionally followed by a semicolon (;)
and another directory list. The following values would be equivalent to the previous example:

2-12

■

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/dir/lib:/home/dir2/lib:■

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/dir/lib;/home/dir2/lib:■

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/dir/lib:/home/dir2/lib:;Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Dynamic Linking

All LD_LIBRARY_PATH directories are searched after those from DT_RPATH. Although some
programs (such as the link editor) treat the lists before and after the semicolon differently, thedynamic linker does not. Nevertheless, the dynamic linker accepts the semicolon notation, withthe semantics described above.

• Finally, if the other two groups of directories fail to locate the desired library, the dynamic
linker searches /usr/lib.

NOTE. For security, the dynamic linker ignores environmental search
specifications (such as LD_LIBRARY_PATH) for set-user and set-groupID programs. It does, however, search DT_RPATH directories and/usr/lib. The same restriction may be applied to processes that havemore then minimal privileges on systems with installed extended security
systems.

Global Offset Table
The Global Offset Table holds the absolute addresses in private data. This makes it possible
to have the addresses available without compromising the position-independence andsharability of program text. This table is essential in the System V environment for the dynamic
linking process to work. The actual contents and form of this table depend upon the processor,
and are described in the appendix at the end of this book.

Procedure Linkage Table
Similar to how the global offset table redirects position-independent address calculations toabsolute locations, the procedure linkage table redirects position-independent function calls toabsolute locations. The link editor cannot resolve execution transfers, such as function calls,from one executable or shared object to another. Consequently, the link editor arranges to havethe program transfer control to entries in the procedure linkage table. The actual contents,
layout and location of the procedure linkage table is determined by the processor and aredescribed in the appendix at the end of this book.

PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-13

Dynamic Linking

Hash Table
A hash table of Elf32_Word objects supports symbol table access. Labels appear below tohelp explain the hash table organization, but they are not part of the specification.
Figure 2-8. Symbol Hash Table
nbucketnchainbucket[0]. . .
bucket[nbucket-1]
chain[0]. . .
chain[nchain-1]

The bucket array contains nbucket entries, and the chain array contains nchain entries;
indexes start at 0. Both bucket and chain hold symbol table indexes. Chain table entries
parallel the symbol table. The number of symbol table entries should equal nchain; so symbol
table indexes also select chain table entries. A hashing function (shown below) accepts a symbolname and returns a value that may be used to computea bucket index. Consequently, if thehashing function returns the value x for some name, bucket[x%nbucket] gives an index, y,
into both the symbol table and the chain table. If the symbol table entry is not the one desired,chain[ y] gives the next symbol table entry with the same hash value. One can follow the chain
links until either the selected symbol table entry holds the desired name or the chain entry
contains the value STN_UNDEF.
Figure 2-9. Hashing Function
unsigned long
elf_hash(const unsigned char *name){unsigned long h = 0, g;
while (*name){h = (h << 4) + *name++;if (g = h & 0xf0000000)
h ^= g >> 24;
h &= ~g;}return h;}Initialization and Termination Functions
After the dynamic linker has built the process image and performed the relocations, each sharedobject gets the opportunity to execute some initialization code. All shared object initializations
happen before the executable file gains control.
2-14Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Dynamic Linking

Before the initialization code for any object A is called, the initialization code for any otherobjects that object A depends on are called. For these purposes, an object A depends on anotherobject B, if B appears in A’s list of needed objects (recorded in the DT_NEEDED entries ofthe dynamic structure). The order of initialization for circular dependencies is undefined.
The initialization of objects occurs by recursing through the needed entries of each object. The
initialization code for an object is invoked after the needed entries for that object have beenprocessed. The order of processing among the entries of a particular list of needed objects is
unspecified

NOTE. Each processor supplement may optionally further restrict the algorithm
used to determine the order of initialization. Any such restriction, however,
may not conflict with the rules described by this specification.

The following example illustrates two of the possible correct orderings which can be generated
for the example NEEDED lists. In this example the a.out is dependent on b, d, and e. b isdependent on d and f, while d is dependent on e and g. From this information, a dependency
graph can be drawn. The above algorithm on initialization will then allow the following
specified initialization orderings among others.

PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-15

Dynamic Linking.
Figure 2-10. Initialization Ordering Example
Dependency Graph

NEEDED Lists
a.out

b

d

b

d

e

b

d

d

f

g

f

g

e

g

d

f

b

a.out

g

f

e

d

b

a.out

a.out

e

e

Init Orderings

OSD1977

Similarly, shared objects may have termination functions, which are executed with theatexit(BA_OS) mechanism after the base process begins its termination sequence. The orderin which the dynamic linker calls termination functions is the exact reverse order of theircorresponding initialization functions. If a shared object has a termination function, but no
initialization function, the termination function will execute in the order it would have as if theshared object's initialization function was present. The dynamic linker ensures that it will not
execute any initialization or termination functions more than once.

2-16

Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Dynamic Linking

Shared objects designate their initialization and termination functions through the DT_INIT
and DT_FINI entries in the dynamic structure, described in "Dynamic Section'' above.
Typically, the code for these functions resides in the .init and .fini sections, mentioned in"Sections" of Chapter 1.

NOTE. Although the atexit(BA_OS) termination processing normally will bedone, it is not guaranteed to have executed upon process death. In
particular, the process will not execute the termination processing if it
calls _exit [see exit (BA_OS)] or if the process dies because it received
a signal that it neither caught nor ignored.

The dynamic linker is not responsible for calling the executable file's .init section orregistering the executable file's .fini section with atexit(BA_OS). Termination functions
specified by users via the atexit(BA_OS) mechanism must be executed before any
termination functions of shared objects.

PROGRAM LOADING AND DYNAMIC LINKING

2-17

Program Header

2-18

Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Introduction
This appendix describes the ELF features and functions that are both Intel Architecture andSystem V Release 4 dependent.

INTEL ARCHITECTURE AND SYSTEM V RELEASE 4 DEPENDENCIES

A-1

Sections
Special Sections
Various sections hold program and control information. Sections in the list below are used by
the system and have the indicated types and attributes.
Figure A-1. Special Sections
Name

A-2

Type

Attributes.got

SHT_PROGBITSSHF_ALLOC+SHF_WRITE.plt

SHT_PROGBITSSHF_ALLOC+SHF_EXECINSTR.got

This section holds the global offset table. See "Global Offset Table'' below for more
information.

.pltThis section holds the procedure linkage table. See "Procedure Linkage Table''
Chapter 2 for more information.

Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Symbol Table
Symbol Values
If an executable file contains a reference to a function defined in one of its associated sharedobjects, the symbol table section for that file will contain an entry for that symbol. The
st_shndx member of that symbol table entry contains SHN_UNDEF. This signals to the dynamic
linker that the symbol definition for that function is not contained in the executable file itself.
If that symbol has been allocated a procedure linkage table entry in the executable file, and thest_value member for that symbol table entry is non-zero, the value will contain the virtual
address of the first instruction of that procedure linkage table entry. Otherwise, the st_value
member contains zero. This procedure linkage table entry address is used by the dynamic linker
in resolving references to the address of the function. See "Function Addresses'' below for
details.

INTEL ARCHITECTURE AND SYSTEM V RELEASE 4 DEPENDENCIES

A-3

Relocation
Relocation Types
Relocation entries describe how to alter the following instruction and data fields (bit numbers
appear in the lower box corners).
Figure A-2. Relocatable Fields

word3231

0
OSD1975

word32This specifies a 32-bit field occupying 4 bytes with arbitrary byte alignment. These
values use the same byte order as other word values in the Intel architecture.
30x01020304

01
31

2

02

1

03

0

04
0
OSD1976

Calculations below assume the actions are transforming a relocatable file into either an
executable or a shared object file. Conceptually, the link editor merges one or more relocatable
files to form the output. It first decides how to combine and locate the input files, then updates
the symbol values, and finally performs the relocation. Relocations applied to executable orshared object files are similar and accomplish the same result. Descriptions below use thefollowing notation.

A-4

A

This means the addend used to compute the value of the relocatable field.

B

This means the base address at which a shared object has been loaded into memory
during execution. Generally, a shared object file is built with a 0 base virtual address,
but the execution address will be different.

G

This means the offset into the global offset table at which the address of therelocation entry's symbol will reside during execution. See "Global Offset Table''
below for more information.

GOTThis means the address of the global offset table. See "Global Offset Table'' below
for more information.

L

This means the place (section offset or address) of the procedure linkage table entry
for a symbol. A procedure linkage table entry redirects a function call to the proper
destination. The link editor builds the initial procedure linkage table, and the
dynamic linker modifies the entries during execution. See "Procedure Linkage
Table'' below for more information.
Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Relocation

P

This means the place (section offset or address) of the storage unit being relocated(computed using r_offset ).

S

This means the value of the symbol whose index resides in the relocation entry.

A relocation entry's r_offset value designates the offset or virtual address of the first byteof the affected storage unit. The relocation type specifies which bits to change and how to
calculate their values. The Intel architecture uses only Elf32_Rel relocation entries, the field
to be relocated holds the addend. In all cases, the addend and the computed result use the samebyte order.
Figure A-3. Relocation Types
Name

Value

Field

Calculation

R_386_GOT32

3

word32

G + A

R_386_PLT32

4

word32

L + A - P

R_386_COPY

5

none

none

R_386_GLOB_DAT

6

word32

S

R_386_JMP_SLOT7

word32

S

R_386_RELATIVE

8

word32

B + A

R_386_GOTOFF

9

word32

S + A - GOT

R_386_GOTPC

10

word32

GOT + A - P

Some relocation types have semantics beyond simple calculation.
R_386_GLOB_DATThis relocation type is used to set a global offset table entry to the addressof the specified symbol. The special relocation type allows one to determine
the correspondence between symbols and global offset table entries.

R_386_JMP_SLOT

The link editor creates this relocation type for dynamic linking. Its offset
member gives the location of a procedure linkage table entry. The dynamic
linker modifies the procedure linkage table entry to transfer control to thedesignated symbol's address [see "Procedure Linkage Table'' below].

R_386_RELATIVE

The link editor creates this relocation type for dynamic linking. Its offset
member gives a location within a shared object that contains a value
representing a relative address. The dynamic linker computes thecorresponding virtual address by adding the virtual address at which theshared object was loaded to the relative address. Relocation entries for thistype must specify 0 for the symbol table index.

R_386_GOTOFF

This relocation type computes the difference between a symbol's value andthe address of the global offset table. It additionally instructs the link editor
to build the global offset table.

INTEL ARCHITECTURE AND SYSTEM V RELEASE 4 DEPENDENCIES

A-5

Relocation

R_386_GOTPC

A-6This relocation type resembles R_386_PC32, except it uses the addressof the global offset table in its calculation. The symbol referenced in thisrelocation normally is _GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_, which additionally
instructs the link editor to build the global offset table.

Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Program Loading and Dynamic Linking
Program Loading
As the system creates or augments a process image, it logically copies a file's segment to a
virtual memory segment. When—and if— the system physically reads the file depends on the
program's execution behavior, system load, and so on. A process does not require a physicalpage unless it references the logical page during execution, and processes commonly leave
many pages unreferenced. Therefore delaying physical reads frequently obviates them,
improving system performance. To obtain this efficiency in practice, executable and sharedobject files must have segment images whose file offsets and virtual addresses are congruent,modulo the page size.
Virtual addresses and file offsets for the Intel architecture segments are congruent modulo 4KB(0x1000) or larger powers of 2. Because 4KB is the maximum page size for the Intel
Architecture, the files will be suitable for paging regardless of physical page size.
Figure A-4. Executable File Example
File Offset
0File

Virtual Address

ELF Header
Program Header Table
Other Information

0x100

Text Segment

0x8048100

0x2be00 Bytes
Data Segment

0x8073eff
0x8074f00

0x4ee00 Bytes

0x8079cff...

0x2bf00

0x30d00...

Other Information...

OSD1978

Figure A-5 describes the Executable File Example in Figure A-4.

INTEL ARCHITECTURE AND SYSTEM V RELEASE 4 DEPENDENCIES

A-7

Program Loading and Dynamic Linking

Figure A-5. Program Header Segments
MemberText

Datap_typePT_LOAD

PT_LOADp_offset

0x100

0x2bf00

p_vaddr

0x8048100

0x8074f00

p_paddrunspecified

unspecified

p_filesz

0x2be00

0x4e00p_memsz

0x2be00

0x5e24p_flags

PF_R+PF_X

PF_R+PF_W+PF_X

p_align

0x10000x1000Although the example's file offsets and virtual addresses are congruent modulo 4KB for bothtext and data, up to four file pages hold impure text or data (depending on page size and filesystem block size).

• The first text page contains the ELF header, the program header table, and other information.
• The last text page holds a copy of the beginning of data.
• The first data page has a copy of the end of text.
• The last data page may contain file information not relevant to the running process.
Logically, the system enforces the memory permissions as if each segment were complete andseparate; segments' addresses are adjusted to ensure each logical page in the address space hasa single set of permissions. In the example above, the region of the file holding the end of text
and the beginning of data will be mapped twice: at one virtual address for text and at a different
virtual address for data.
The end of the data segment requires special handling for uninitialized data, which the systemdefines to begin with zero values. Thus if a file's last data page includes information not in the
logical memory page, the extraneous data must be set to zero, not the unknown contents of theexecutable file. "Impurities'' in the other three pages are not logically part of the process image;whether the system expunges them is unspecified. The memory image for this program follows,
assuming 4 KB (0x1000 pages).

A-8

Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Program Loading and Dynamic Linking

Figure A-6. Process Image Segments Example
Virtual Address

Contents

0x8048000

Header Padding
0x100 Bytes

0x8048100

Text Segment...

Segment

Text

0x2be00 Bytes
0x8073f00

Data Padding
0x100 Bytes

0x8074000

Text Padding
0xf00 Bytes

0x8074f00

Data Segment

...

Data

0x4e00 Bytes
0x8079d00

Uninitialized Data
0x1024 Zero Bytes

0x807ad24

Page Padding
0x2dc Zero Bytes
OSD1979

One aspect of segment loading differs between executable files and shared objects. Executable
file segments typically contain absolute code. To let the process execute correctly, the segments
must reside at the virtual addresses used to build the executable file. Thus the system uses thep_vaddr values unchanged as virtual addresses.
On the other hand, shared object segments typically contain position-independent code. This
lets a segment's virtual address change from one process to another, without invalidating
execution behavior. Though the system chooses virtual addresses for individual processes, itmaintains the segments relative positions. Because position-independent code uses relative
addressing between segments, the difference between virtual addresses in memory must matchthe difference between virtual addresses in the file. The following table shows possible sharedobject virtual address assignments for several processes, illustrating constant relative
positioning. The table also illustrates the base address computations.

INTEL ARCHITECTURE AND SYSTEM V RELEASE 4 DEPENDENCIES

A-9

Program Loading and Dynamic Linking

Figure A-7. Shared Object Segment Addresses Example
SourceText

Data

Base Address

File

0x200

0x2a400

0x0

Process 10x80000200

0x8002a400

0x80000000

Process 20x80081200

0x800ab400

0x80081000

Process 30x900c0200

0x900ea400

0x900c0000

Process 40x900c6200

0x900f0400

0x900c6000

Dynamic Linking
Dynamic Section
Dynamic section entries give information to the dynamic linker. Some of this information isprocessor-specific, including the interpretation of some entries in the dynamic structure.
DT_PLTGOTOn the Intel architecture, this entry's d_ptr member gives the address of the firstentry in the global offset table. As mentioned below, the first three global offset
table entries are reserved, and two are used to hold procedure linkage table
information.

Global Offset Table
Position-independent code cannot, in general, contain absolute virtual addresses. Global offset
tables hold absolute addresses in private data, thus making the addresses available withoutcompromising the position-independence and sharability of a program's text. A program
references its global offset table using position-independent addressing and extracts absolutevalues, thus redirecting position-independent references to absolute locations.
Initially, the global offset table holds information as required by its relocation entries [see"Relocation'' in Chapter 1]. After the system creates memory segments for a loadable object
file, the dynamic linker processes the relocation entries, some of which will be type
R_386_GLOB_DAT referring to the global offset table. The dynamic linker determines theassociated symbol values, calculates their absolute addresses, and sets the appropriate memorytable entries to the proper values. Although the absolute addresses are unknown when the link
editor builds an object file, the dynamic linker knows the addresses of all memory segments
and can thus calculate the absolute addresses of the symbols contained therein.
If a program requires direct access to the absolute address of a symbol, that symbol will havea global offset table entry. Because the executable file and shared objects have separate global
offset tables, a symbol's address may appear in several tables. The dynamic linker processes
all the global offset table relocations before giving control to any code in the process image,thus ensuring the absolute addresses are available during execution.
A-10

Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Program Loading and Dynamic Linking

The table's entry zero is reserved to hold the address of the dynamic structure, referenced withthe symbol _DYNAMIC. This allows a program, such as the dynamic linker, to find its own
dynamic structure without having yet processed its relocation entries. This is especially
important for the dynamic linker, because it must initialize itself without relying on otherprograms to relocate its memory image. On the Intel architecture, entries one and two in the
global offset table also are reserved. "Procedure Linkage Table'' below describes them.
The system may choose different memory segment addresses for the same shared object indifferent programs; it may even choose different library addresses for different executions of
the same program. Nonetheless, memory segments do not change addresses once the process
image is established. As long as a process exists, its memory segments reside at fixed virtual
addresses.
A global offset table's format and interpretation are processor-specific. For the Intelarchitecture, the symbol _GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_ may be used to access the table.
Figure A-8.

Global Offset Table
externElf32_Addr_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_[];The symbol _GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_ may reside in the middle of the .got section,
allowing both negative and non-negative "subscripts'' into the array of addresses.
Function Addresses
References to the address of a function from an executable file and the shared objects associatedwith it might not resolve to the same value. References from within shared objects will normallybe resolved by the dynamic linker to the virtual address of the function itself. References fromwithin the executable file to a function defined in a shared object will normally be resolved by
the link editor to the address of the procedure linkage table entry for that function within theexecutable file.
To allow comparisons of function addresses to work as expected, if an executable file references
a function defined in a shared object, the link editor will place the address of the procedurelinkage table entry for that function in its associated symbol table entry. [See "Symbol Values''
in Chapter 1]. The dynamic linker treats such symbol table entries specially. If the dynamic
linker is searching for a symbol, and encounters a symbol table entry for that symbol in theexecutable file, it normally follows the rules below.
1. If the st_shndx member of the symbol table entry is not SHN_UNDEF, the dynamic linker has
found a definition for the symbol and uses its st_value member as the symbol's address.
2. If the st_shndx member is SHN_UNDEF and the symbol is of type STT_FUNC and thest_value member is not zero, the dynamic linker recognizes this entry as special and uses thest_value member as the symbol's address.
3. Otherwise, the dynamic linker considers the symbol to be undefined within the executable fileand continues processing.

INTEL ARCHITECTURE AND SYSTEM V RELEASE 4 DEPENDENCIES

A-11

Program Loading and Dynamic Linking

Some relocations are associated with procedure linkage table entries. These entries are used
for direct function calls rather than for references to function addresses. These relocations are
not treated in the special way described above because the dynamic linker must not redirectprocedure linkage table entries to point to themselves.
Procedure Linkage Table
Much as the global offset table redirects position-independent address calculations to absolute
locations, the procedure linkage table redirects position-independent function calls to absolute
locations. The link editor cannot resolve execution transfers (such as function calls) from one
executable or shared object to another. Consequently, the link editor arranges to have theprogram transfer control to entries in the procedure linkage table. On the Intel architecture,procedure linkage tables reside in shared text, but they use addresses in the private global offset
table. The dynamic linker determines the destinations' absolute addresses and modifies theglobal offset table's memory image accordingly. The dynamic linker thus can redirect the entries
without compromising the position-independence and sharability of the program's text.
Executable files and shared object files have separate procedure linkage tables.
Figure A-9. Absolute Procedure Linkage Table.PLT0:.PLT1:.PLT2:

pushl
got_plus_4
jmp*got_plus_8
nop; nop
nop; nop
jmp*name1_in_GOT
pushl$offsetjmp.PLT0@PCjmp*name2_in_GOT
pushl$offsetjmp.PLT0@PC...

Figure A-10. Position-Independent Procedure Linkage Table.PLT0:.PLT1:.PLT2:

A-12

pushl
4(%ebx)jmp*8(%ebx)
nop; nop
nop; nop
jmp*name1@GOT(%ebx)
pushl$offsetjmp.PLT0@PCjmp*name2@GOT(%ebx)
pushl$offsetjmp.PLT0@PC...

Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

Program Loading and Dynamic Linking

NOTE. As the figures show, the procedure linkage table instructions use different
operand addressing modes for absolute code and for
position-independent code. Nonetheless, their interfaces to the dynamic
linker are the same.

Following the steps below, the dynamic linker and the program "cooperate'' to resolve symbolicreferences through the procedure linkage table and the global offset table.
1. When first creating the memory image of the program, the dynamic linker sets the second andthe third entries in the global offset table to special values. Steps below explain more about thesevalues.
2. If the procedure linkage table is position-independent, the address of the global offset table must
reside in %ebx . Each shared object file in the process image has its own procedure linkage
table, and control transfers to a procedure linkage table entry only from within the same object
file. Consequently, the calling function is responsible for setting the global offset table baseregister before calling the procedure linkage table entry.
3. For illustration, assume the program calls name1, which transfers control to the label .PLT1 .
4. The first instruction jumps to the address in the global offset table entry for name1. Initially, theglobal offset table holds the address of the following pushl instruction, not the real address of
name1.
5. Consequently, the program pushes a relocation offset (offset) on the stack. The relocation
offset is a 32-bit, non-negative byte offset into the relocation table. The designated relocation
entry will have type R_386_JMP_SLOT, and its offset will specify the global offset table entry
used in the previous jmp instruction. The relocation entry also contains a symbol table index,
thus telling the dynamic linker what symbol is being referenced, name1 in this case.
6. After pushing the relocation offset, the program then jumps to .PLT0, the first entry in theprocedure linkage table. The pushl instruction places the value of the second global offset
table entry (got_plus_4 or 4(%ebx)) on the stack, thus giving the dynamic linker one word ofidentifying information. The program then jumps to the address in the third global offset tableentry (got_plus_8 or 8(%ebx)), which transfers control to the dynamic linker.
7. When the dynamic linker receives control, it unwinds the stack, looks at the designatedrelocation entry, finds the symbol's value, stores the "real'' address for name1 in its global offset
table entry, and transfers control to the desired destination.
8. Subsequent executions of the procedure linkage table entry will transfer directly to name1,
without calling the dynamic linker a second time. That is, the jmp instruction at .PLT1 willtransfer to name1, instead of "falling through'' to the pushl instruction.
The LD_BIND_NOW environment variable can change dynamic linking behavior. If its value is
non-null, the dynamic linker evaluates procedure linkage table entries before transferring
control to the program. That is, the dynamic linker processes relocation entries of type
R_3862_JMP_SLOT during process initialization. Otherwise, the dynamic linker evaluates
procedure linkage table entries lazily, delaying symbol resolution and relocation until the first
execution of a table entry.

INTEL ARCHITECTURE AND SYSTEM V RELEASE 4 DEPENDENCIES

A-13

Program Loading and Dynamic Linking

NOTE. Lazy binding generally improves overall application performance,
because unused symbols do not incur the dynamic linking overhead.
Nevertheless, two situations make lazy binding undesirable for some
applications. First, the initial reference to a shared object function takes
longer than subsequent calls, because the dynamic linker intercepts thecall to resolve the symbol. Some applications cannot tolerate thisunpredictability. Second, if an error occurs and the dynamic linker cannot
resolve the symbol, the dynamic linker will terminate the program. Under
lazy binding, this might occur at arbitrary times. Once again, some
applications cannot tolerate this unpredictability. By turning off lazybinding, the dynamic linker forces the failure to occur during process
initialization, before the application receives control.

Program Interpreter
There is one valid program interpreter for programs conforming to the ELF specification for
the Intel architecture: /usr/lib/libc.so.1

A-14

Book III: Operating System Specific (UNIX System V Release 4)

IndexBook I: Executable and Linkable
FormatM

2's complement, 1-7

Magic marker, 1-5
Magic number, 1-7
Multibyte characters, 1-3

AO
Absolute symbols, 1-9
Alignment, section, 1-11
ASCII, 1-3
Assembler, 1-1

B-C
Byte order, 1-7
Character sets, 1-3
Common symbols, 1-9

D
Data representation, 1-2, 1-7
Dynamic library. See Shared object file
Dynamic linking, symbol table, 1-12

E
ELF, 1-1
Entry point. See Process, entry point
Executable file, 1-1

FFile, object, 1-1
Formats, object file, 1-1
FORTRAN, 1-9

H-L
Hash table, 1-16
Library
Dynamic. See Shared object file
Shared. See Shared object file
Link editor, 1-1

Object file. See also Archive file, Executable file, Relocatable
file, Shared object file
Data representation, 1-2
Data types, 1-2
ELF header, 1-2, 1-4
Extensions, 1-5
Format, 1-1
Program header, 2-2
Program loading, 2-2
Relocation, 1-14, 1-23
Section, 1-9
Alignment, 1-11
Attributes, 1-14
Header, 1-2, 1-9Names, 1-17
Types, 1-11
Segment, 2-1, 2-2Special sections, 1-15, A-2
String table, 1-18, 1-19
Symbol table, 1-19
Type, 1-4
Version, 1-5

PProcess
Entry point, 1-5
Image, 2-1, 2-2
Virtual addressing, 2-2
Processor-specific information, 1-21, 1-23
Program
Header, 2-1, 2-2Interpreter, 1-16
Loading, 2-1

R
Relocatable file, 1-1
Relocation. See Object file1

IndexS-T
Segment
Object file, 2-1, 2-2
Process, 2-1
Program header, 2-2
Shared library. See Shared object file
Shared object file, 1-1
String table. See Object file
Symbol table. See Object file
Symbols. See also Hash table
Absolute, 1-9
Binding, 1-20
Common, 1-9
Type, 1-21
Undefined, 1-9
Value, 1-22
TIS conformance, 1-3, 2-6

U-V
Undefined behavior, 1-12, 2-6
Undefined symbols, 1-9
Unspecified property, 1-2, 1-10, 1-12, 1-16, 2-2, 2-5
Virtual addressing, 2-2

Book II: Processor Specific(Intel Architecture)
A-F
Archive file 1-2File, object. See Object fileO
Object file 1-2. See also Executable file, Relocatable file
ELF header 1-2
Relocation 1-3

R-S
Relocation. See Object file
Shared object file 1-2

Book III: Operating System Specific(UNIX System V Release 4)_DYNAMIC. See Dynamic linking

A
ABI conformance 2-8, 2-15
Absolute code A-9
Address, virtual A-7
Alignment, executable file A-7
Archive file 1-5
Assembler, symbol names 1-5

B-C
Base address 2-14, A-4, A-9
Definition 2-9
C language, assembly names 1-5

D
Data, uninitialized A-8
Dynamic library. See Shared object file
Dynamic linker 2-13. See also Dynamic linking, Link editor,
Shared object file
Dynamic linking 2-12, A-10. See also Dynamic linker, Hashtable, Procedure linkage table_DYNAMIC 2-14
Base address 2-9
Environment 2-13, 2-18, A-14
Hash function 2-20
Initialization function 2-16, 2-20
Lazy binding 2-13, A-14
LD_BIND_NOW 2-13, A-14
LD_LIBRARY_PATH 2-18
Relocation 2-16, A-10, A-13
String table 2-16
Symbol resolution 2-18
Symbol table 1-2, 1-3, 2-16
Termination function 2-16, 2-20
Dynamic segments A-9

E
ELF 1-1
Environment 2-13, 2-18, A-14
exec(BA_OS) 2-12, 2-13, 2-18
Paging A-7
Executable file, segments A-9
exit 2-23

2IndexF-G

P

File offset A-7
File, object. See Object file
Global offset table 2-13, A-2, A-4, A-5, A-6, A-10

Page size A-7
Paging A-7
Paging, performance A-7
Performance, paging A-7
Permissions, process segments. See Segment permissions
Position-independent code 2-13, A-9
Procedure linkage table 1-5, 2-13, 2-16, 2-17, A-2, A-4, A-5,
A-10, A-12
Process
Entry point 1-3, 2-20
Image 2-8
Processor-specific 2-12
Information 2-9, 2-10, 2-18, A-7, A-10, A-11, A-12
Program
Header 2-8
Interpreter 1-3, 2-12
Loading 2-7, A-7
pushl instruction A-12, A-13

H-I
Hash function 2-20
Hash table 1-2, 2-13, 2-16, 2-20
Intel architecture A-7
Interpreter. See Program interpreterJ-L
jmp instruction A-12, A-13
Lazy binding 2-13, A-14
ld(SD_CMD). See Link editor
LD_BIND_NOW 2-13, A-14
LD_LIBRARY_PATH 2-18
Library
Dynamic. See Shared object file
Shared. See Shared object file
Link editor 1-5, 2-13, 2-16, 2-19, A-10. See also Dynamic
linkerMmain 1-3
Memory management 2-9mmap(KE_OS) 2-12

O
Object file 1-1. See also Archive file, Dynamic linking, Executable File, Relocatable file, Shared object fileArchive file 1-5
Hash table 2-13, 2-16, 2-20
Program header 2-8
Program loading 2-8
Relocation 1-2, 2-16, A-4
Section A-2
Segment 2-8, A-7
Shared object file 2-12
Special sections 1-2, A-2
String table 1-2
Symbol table 1-2, 1-5

R-S
Relocation. See Object file
Section, object file A-7
Segment
Dynamic 2-14
Object file 2-8
Permissions 2-9, A-8
Process 2-12, 2-18, A-7, A-11
Set-user ID programs 2-19
Shared library. See Shared object file
Shared object file. See also Dynamic linking, Object file
Functions 1-5
Segments A-9
Symbol names, C and assembly 1-5
Symbol table. See Object file
Symbols, shared object file functions 1-5
Symbols, value 1-5

T
These 2-18
TIS conformance 2-10

U-Z
Undefined behavior A-8
Uninitialized data A-8
Unspecified property 2-8, 2-9, 2-17, 2-18, A-8
Zero, uninitialized data A-8

3

Index4