NAME

       elf_memory - create an ELF descriptor from a memory buffer

SYNOPSIS

       #include <libelf.h>

       Elf * elf_memory(char *" image , size_t size );

DESCRIPTION

       The  elf_memory()  function  creates  a new ELF descriptor from a memory region containing an ELF object.
       This function is used when the ELF data is already present in memory rather than being read from  a  file
       descriptor.

       The  memory  pointed  to  by  image must contain a complete ELF file or archive. The contents must remain
       valid and unmodified for the lifetime of the resulting ELF descriptor.

       The ELF descriptor returned by elf_memory() is opened in  read-only  mode  using  ELF_C_READ_MMAP_PRIVATE
       (see  elf_begin).   The  underlying memory image should not be directly modified by the application while
       its ELF descriptor is open.  Some libelf functions,  such  as  elf_compress()  and  gelf_update_*(),  may
       internally  modify the underlying image and therefore require that the underlying image be writable.  The
       use of a read-only image (e.g., memory mapped with PROT_READ only) may result in failures or crashes.

PARAMETERS

       image  A pointer to a memory buffer that contains the complete contents of an ELF  file  or  archive.  If
              NULL, this function fails and returns NULL.

       size   The  size  in  bytes of the memory region pointed to by image.  Must be at least as much as a full
              ELF header and should cover the entire ELF object.

RETURN VALUE

       On success, elf_memory() returns a pointer to an Elf descriptor representing  the  archive  or  ELF  file
       contained in image.

       On failure, it returns NULL and sets an error code retrievable by elf_errmsg(3).

SEE ALSO

       elf_begin(3), elf_errmsg(3), libelf(3), elf(5)

ATTRIBUTES

REPORTING BUGS

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

Libelf                                             2025-06-23                                      ELF_MEMORY(3)