Reverse Engineering Armv8-A Systems: A practical guide to Kernel, Firmware, and TrustZone analysis

by Austin Kim

Overview

Explore reverse engineering in Armv8-A-based Arm devices, develop the skills to analyze binary, and gain an in-depth understanding of the latest security hardening features

Key Features

• Explore the main aspects of Armv8-A, including register, exception handling, and TrustZone
• Build new reversing skills for kernel binary, such as *.ko and vmlinux for firmware analysis
• Gain in-depth insight into the latest security features of Armv8-A
• Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook

Book Description

Master the art of analyzing binary code without needing the original source! Written by a Linux kernel engineer and author with over 14 years of industry experience, this book lays the groundwork for reverse engineering and equips you with advanced techniques to dissect kernel binaries, including kernel module files, vmlinux, and vmcore. Structured into three parts, the first part introduces you to the key features of Armv8-A processors and the ELF file format, which is essential to get a solid grasp of reverse engineering. The second part walks you through the reverse-engineering process, covering Arm environment setup, static and dynamic analysis tools, and innovative methods for analyzing kernel binaries. It also highlights a powerful debugging tool—uftrace. The final part covers security, exploring TrustZone, and the latest security techniques to safeguard Arm devices at the hardware level. By the end of this book, you'll have gained deep insights into Armv8-A architecture, and be able to confidently analyze binaries while developing the practical skills needed to configure your system using Armv8-A’s advanced security features.

What you will learn

• Explore the organization of Arm assembly instructions
• Disassemble assembly code without using C code
• Work with reverse engineering tools, such as GDB and binary utility
• Apply reversing techniques for both user space and kernel binaries
• Get to grips with the process of static and dynamic binary analysis
• Get a solid understanding of the powerful debugging tool, uftrace
• Analyze TrustZone and the advanced security features provided by Armv8-A

Who this book is for

If you are interested in reversing or debugging on Armv8-A-based devices, this book is for you. This book is especially useful for system software engineers, security consultants, and ethical hackers. To get the most out of this book, you should have a basic understanding of the C programming language. Familiarity with computer architecture, Linux systems, and security concepts will be a definite advantage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781835088920
Publisher:	Packt Publishing
Publication date:	08/01/2025
Product dimensions:	75.00(w) x 92.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Austin Kim has over 14 years of experience in embedded Linux BSP development. He worked on various tasks, including bringup, crash/performance troubleshooting, and bootloader implementation in Arm-based devices. He has developed strong skills in reversing and debugging binaries using TRACE32, Crash-Utility, and uftrace by resolving kernel crash, lockup, and Watchdog reset issues. Currently, he works as a Linux kernel BSP engineer and lecturer at LG Electronics. He enjoys sharing practical reversing and debugging skills through courses related to Armv8-A architecture and kernel crash debugging.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1. Fundamentals of Arm Architecture
2. ELF binary format
3. Data processing Instructions
4. Memory access instructions
5. Flow control instructions
6. Introduction to Reverse engineering
7. Practice environment with Arm device
8. Linux kernel Fundamentals
9. Basic static analysis
10. Advanced static analysis
11. Basic dynamic analysis
12. Advanced dynamic analysis
13. Uftrace
14. Armv8-A TrustZone
15. Key security features of Armv8-A