bin.nvim

A Neovim plugin that opens ELF binaries as structured, human-readable inspection buffers instead of raw binary content.

When you open an ELF file, the buffer is populated with the output of several analysis tools organised into collapsible sections. All sections are loaded in parallel; missing optional tools display a short notice rather than an error.

Requirements

• Neovim >= 0.9
• readelf — required (part of binutils)
• file, size, strings, ldd — optional (binutils / glibc)
• checksec — optional
• c++filt, rustfilt — optional, used for C++ and Rust symbol demangling

Run :checkhealth bin to verify which tools are missing on your system.

Installation

lazy.nvim

{
  "a-mango/bin.nvim",
  lazy = false,
  config = function()
    require("bin").setup()
  end,
}

packer.nvim

use {
  "a-mango/bin.nvim",
  config = function()
    require("bin").setup()
  end,
}

Configuration

setup() accepts an options table. All keys are optional and fall back to the defaults shown below:

require("bin").setup({
  -- Sections to display, in order. Remove or reorder as needed.
  sections = {
    "file", "header", "checksec", "size",
    "sections", "segments", "dynamic",
    "notes", "versions", "relocations",
    "symbols", "strings", "ldd", "dwarf",
  },
  max_symbols    = 200,  -- maximum lines shown in the symbol table
  max_strings    = 300,  -- maximum strings shown
  min_string_len = 10,   -- minimum length passed to strings(1)
  max_dwarf      = 300,  -- maximum lines shown in the DWARF dump
  demangle       = true, -- demangle symbols via c++filt / rustfilt if available
})

Keymaps

These keymaps are active only inside ELF inspection buffers.

Key	Action
r	Reload and refresh the buffer
q	Close the buffer
]]	Jump to the next section
[[	Jump to the previous section
zM	Collapse all sections
zR	Expand all sections
za	Toggle the current section

Output

Opening any ELF file (e.g. nvim /usr/bin/ls) replaces the buffer with:

  bin.nvim — /usr/bin/ls
  ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│  File
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  ELF 64-bit LSB pie executable, x86-64, dynamically linked, stripped

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│  ELF Header
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  ELF Header:
    Magic:   7f 45 4c 46 02 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
    Class:                             ELF64
    Type:                              DYN (Position-Independent Executable file)
    Machine:                           Advanced Micro Devices X86-64
    Entry point address:               0x3910
    ...

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│  Security Properties
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  RELRO:           Full RELRO
  Stack Canary:    Canary found
  NX:              NX enabled
  PIE:             PIE enabled
  RPATH:           No RPATH
  RUNPATH:         No RUNPATH
  Symbols:         No Symbols
  FORTIFY:         Partial
  Fortified:       11
  Fortifiable:     19

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│  Section Sizes
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

     text    data     bss     dec     hex  filename
   136774    5640    4848  147262   23f3e  /usr/bin/ls

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│  Dynamic Section
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  Dynamic section at offset 0x239c8 contains 31 entries:
    Tag        Type                         Name/Value
   0x0000000000000001 (NEEDED)             Shared library: [libselinux.so.1]
   0x0000000000000001 (NEEDED)             Shared library: [libcap.so.2]
   0x0000000000000001 (NEEDED)             Shared library: [libc.so.6]
   ...

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│  Shared Library Dependencies
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  libselinux.so.1 => /lib64/libselinux.so.1 (0x00007f4e5da00000)
  libcap.so.2 => /lib64/libcap.so.2 (0x00007f4e5d9f5000)
  libc.so.6 => /lib64/libc.so.6 (0x00007f4e5d800000)
  /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007f4e5dc48000)

Section Headers, Program Headers, Notes, Relocations, Version Information, Symbol Table, Strings, and DWARF debug info follow in the same buffer.

Press zM to collapse all sections to their titles for a quick overview:

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│  File
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ··· 1 lines
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│  ELF Header
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ··· 20 lines
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│  Security Properties
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ··· 10 lines
  ...

Use ]] / [[ to move between sections, and za to expand the one you need.

License

MIT