NAME

       elf_getident - return the ELF identification bytes

SYNOPSIS

       #include <libelf.h>

       char * elf_getident("Elf *elf", size_t *nbytes );

DESCRIPTION

       The elf_getident() function returns a pointer to the 16-byte ELF identification array from the ELF header
       of the given descriptor elf.

       This  identification  data  begins with the magic number `\177ELF` and includes the class, data encoding,
       ELF version, OS ABI, and ABI version fields. It corresponds to the  first  EI_NIDENT  bytes  of  the  ELF
       header and can be accessed via the e_ident field of either Elf32_Ehdr or Elf64_Ehdr .

       If  elf  is  a  valid descriptor for an ELF object, the function returns a pointer to the internal buffer
       containing the header's identification bytes. The buffer is owned by the library and must not be modified
       or freed by the caller.

       If nbytes is not NULL, the function sets  to  EI_NIDENT  (16),  the  length  in  bytes  of  the  returned
       identifier.

PARAMETERS

       elf    Pointer  to  an  Elf  descriptor  referring  to  a  valid  ELF object.  If the descriptor does not
              represent an ELF object file (is NULL or elf_kind() is not ELF_K_ELF ), NULL is returned.

       nbytes Optional pointer to a size_t variable. If non-NULL, it will be set to the length of  the  returned
              buffer (always EI_NIDENT on success, 0 on failure).

RETURN VALUE

       Returns  a  pointer  to the internal 16-byte e_ident buffer on success and NULL on failure.  Does not set
       elf_errno.

       This buffer is indexed using the EI_CLASS, EI_DATA, EI_VERSION, EI_OSABI, and EI_ABIVERSION macros  found
       in elf.h.  Also see elf(5).

SEE ALSO

       libelf(3), elf(5)

ATTRIBUTES

       ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
       │ Interface                                                                   │ Attribute     │ Value   │
       ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┤
       │ elf_getident()                                                              │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
       └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┘

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to <elfutils-devel@sourceware.org> or https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/.

Libelf                                             2025-06-30                                    ELF_GETIDENT(3)