Ghidra Headless Analysis Skill

Perform automated reverse engineering using Ghidra's

analyzeHeadless

tool. Import binaries, run analysis, decompile to C code, and extract useful information.

Quick Reference

Task	Command
Full analysis with all exports	`ghidra-analyze.sh -s ExportAll.java -o ./output binary`
Decompile to C code	`ghidra-analyze.sh -s ExportDecompiled.java -o ./output binary`
List functions	`ghidra-analyze.sh -s ExportFunctions.java -o ./output binary`
Extract strings	`ghidra-analyze.sh -s ExportStrings.java -o ./output binary`
Get call graph	`ghidra-analyze.sh -s ExportCalls.java -o ./output binary`
Export symbols	`ghidra-analyze.sh -s ExportSymbols.java -o ./output binary`
Find Ghidra path	`find-ghidra.sh`

Prerequisites

Ghidra must be installed. On macOS:
```
brew install --cask ghidra
```
Java (OpenJDK 17+) must be available

The skill automatically locates Ghidra in common installation paths. Set

GHIDRA_HOME

environment variable if Ghidra is installed in a non-standard location.

Main Wrapper Script

bash

./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh [options] <binary>

Wrapper that handles project creation/cleanup and provides a simpler interface to

analyzeHeadless

Options:

```
-o, --output <dir>
```
- Output directory for results (default: current dir)
```
-s, --script <name>
```
- Post-analysis script to run (can be repeated)
```
-a, --script-args <args>
```
- Arguments for the last specified script
```
--script-path <path>
```
- Additional script search path
```
-p, --processor <id>
```
- Processor/architecture (e.g.,
```
x86:LE:32:default
```
)
```
-c, --cspec <id>
```
- Compiler spec (e.g.,
```
gcc
```
,
```
windows
```
)
```
--no-analysis
```
- Skip auto-analysis (faster, but less info)
```
--timeout <seconds>
```
- Analysis timeout per file
```
--keep-project
```
- Keep the Ghidra project after analysis
```
--project-dir <dir>
```
- Directory for Ghidra project (default: /tmp)
```
--project-name <name>
```
- Project name (default: auto-generated)
```
-v, --verbose
```
- Verbose output

Built-in Export Scripts

ExportAll.java

Comprehensive export - runs all other exports and creates a summary. Best for initial analysis.

Output files:

```
{name}_summary.txt
```
- Overview: architecture, memory sections, function counts
```
{name}_decompiled.c
```
- All functions decompiled to C
```
{name}_functions.json
```
- Function list with signatures and calls
```
{name}_strings.txt
```
- All strings found
```
{name}_interesting.txt
```
- Functions matching security-relevant patterns

bash

./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh -s ExportAll.java -o ./analysis firmware.bin

ExportDecompiled.java

Decompile all functions to C pseudocode.

Output:

{name}_decompiled.c

bash

./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh -s ExportDecompiled.java -o ./output program.exe

ExportFunctions.java

Export function list as JSON with addresses, signatures, parameters, and call relationships.

Output:

{name}_functions.json

json

{
  "program": "example.exe",
  "architecture": "x86",
  "functions": [
    {
      "name": "main",
      "address": "0x00401000",
      "size": 256,
      "signature": "int main(int argc, char **argv)",
      "returnType": "int",
      "callingConvention": "cdecl",
      "isExternal": false,
      "parameters": [{"name": "argc", "type": "int"}, ...],
      "calls": ["printf", "malloc", "process_data"],
      "calledBy": ["_start"]
    }
  ]
}

ExportStrings.java

Extract all strings (ASCII, Unicode) with addresses.

Output:

{name}_strings.json

bash

./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh -s ExportStrings.java -o ./output malware.exe

ExportCalls.java

Export function call graph showing caller/callee relationships.

Output:

{name}_calls.json

Includes:

Full call graph
Potential entry points (functions with no callers)
Most frequently called functions

ExportSymbols.java

Export all symbols: imports, exports, and internal symbols.

Output:

{name}_symbols.json

Common Workflows

Analyze an Unknown Binary

bash

# Create output directory
mkdir -p ./analysis

# Run comprehensive analysis
./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh -s ExportAll.java -o ./analysis unknown_binary

# Review the summary first
cat ./analysis/unknown_binary_summary.txt

# Look at interesting patterns (crypto, network, dangerous functions)
cat ./analysis/unknown_binary_interesting.txt

# Check specific decompiled functions
grep -A 50 "encrypt" ./analysis/unknown_binary_decompiled.c

Analyze Firmware

bash

# Specify ARM architecture for firmware
./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh \
    -p "ARM:LE:32:v7" \
    -s ExportAll.java \
    -o ./firmware_analysis \
    firmware.bin

Quick Function Listing

bash

# Just get function names and addresses (faster)
./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh --no-analysis -s ExportFunctions.java -o . program

# Parse with jq
cat program_functions.json | jq '.functions[] | "\(.address): \(.name)"'

Find Specific Patterns

bash

# After running ExportDecompiled, search for patterns
grep -n "password\|secret\|key" output_decompiled.c
grep -n "strcpy\|sprintf\|gets" output_decompiled.c

Analyze Multiple Binaries

bash

for bin in ./samples/*; do
    name=$(basename "$bin")
    ./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh -s ExportAll.java -o "./results/$name" "$bin"
done

Architecture/Processor IDs

Common processor IDs for the

-p

option:

Architecture	Processor ID
x86 32-bit	`x86:LE:32:default`
x86 64-bit	`x86:LE:64:default`
ARM 32-bit	`ARM:LE:32:v7`
ARM 64-bit	`AARCH64:LE:64:v8A`
MIPS 32-bit	`MIPS:BE:32:default` or `MIPS:LE:32:default`
PowerPC	`PowerPC:BE:32:default`

Find all available processors:

bash

ls "$(dirname $(./scripts/find-ghidra.sh))/../Ghidra/Processors/"

Troubleshooting

Ghidra Not Found

bash

# Check if Ghidra is installed
./scripts/find-ghidra.sh

# Set GHIDRA_HOME if in non-standard location
export GHIDRA_HOME=/path/to/ghidra_11.x_PUBLIC
./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh ...

Analysis Takes Too Long

bash

# Set a timeout (seconds)
./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh --timeout 300 -s ExportAll.java binary

# Skip analysis for quick export
./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh --no-analysis -s ExportSymbols.java binary

Out of Memory

Edit the

analyzeHeadless

script or set:

bash

export MAXMEM=4G

Wrong Architecture Detected

Explicitly specify the processor:

bash

./scripts/ghidra-analyze.sh -p "ARM:LE:32:v7" -s ExportAll.java firmware.bin

Tips

Start with ExportAll.java - It gives you everything and the summary helps orient you
Check the interesting.txt file - It highlights security-relevant functions automatically
Use jq for JSON parsing - The JSON exports are designed to be machine-readable
Decompilation isn't perfect - Use it as a guide, cross-reference with disassembly
Large binaries take time - Use
```
--timeout
```
and consider
```
--no-analysis
```
for quick scans

ghidra

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Ghidra Headless Analysis Skill

Quick Reference

Prerequisites

Main Wrapper Script

Built-in Export Scripts

ExportAll.java

ExportDecompiled.java

ExportFunctions.java

ExportStrings.java

ExportCalls.java

ExportSymbols.java

Common Workflows

Analyze an Unknown Binary

Analyze Firmware

Quick Function Listing

Find Specific Patterns

Analyze Multiple Binaries

Architecture/Processor IDs

Troubleshooting

Ghidra Not Found

Analysis Takes Too Long

Out of Memory

Wrong Architecture Detected

Tips