Ropper Cheat Sheet
ROP gadget search tool supporting ELF/PE with semantic filtering and chain building helpers.
Overview
Ropper finds return-oriented gadgets in binaries and libraries. Use when building ROP chains for NX binaries, bypassing restrictions, or locating pop rdi; ret style primitives on x86-64.
Authorized testing only. Use only on systems, networks, and accounts you own or have explicit written permission to test. Unauthorized access is illegal.
Install
pip install ropperOr latest from git
pip install git+https://github.com/sashs/Ropper.gitropper --versionEssential commands
Search gadgets in binary
ropper -f ./vuln --search "pop rdi"All gadgets (verbose)
ropper -f ./vulnInclude libc for ret2libc ROP stage
ropper -f ./vuln -l libc.so.6 --search "pop rdi"Quality filter — remove bad endings
ropper -f ./vuln --nocolor | grep "pop rdi"Common workflows
x86-64 ret2libc gadget set —
ropper -f ./vuln --search "pop rdi"ropper -f ./vuln --search "pop rsi"ropper -f ./vuln --search "pop rdx"ropper -f ./vuln --search "ret"After libc leak:
ropper -f ./vuln -l libc.so.6 --search "pop rdi"Export for exploit script —
ropper -f ./vuln --search "pop rdi" --consolegadget = base + 0x123b
ropper -f ./vuln --offset 0x123bMultiple files (binary + linker) —
ropper -f ./vuln -l /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 -l /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2Flags reference
-f FILE | Target binary |
|---|---|
-l LIB | Additional library to scan |
--search "regex" | Gadget pattern |
--chain "execve" | Auto chain (limited) |
--nocolor | Plain output for scripts |
--arch x86_64 | Force architecture |
--badbytes "\\x00" | Filter gadgets containing bytes |
-i | Interactive console |
Tips
- Prefer ropper or ROPgadget consistently; addresses differ slightly due to parsing rules.
- For badchars (\x00, \x0a), use --badbytes when generating chains.
- Search libc after resolving base from leak, or scan libc file offline with known offsets.
- pop rdx is scarce on x64 — look for syscall gadgets or ret2csu (__libc_csu_init).