Vector35 / Vector35/debugger

xrefs are not updated when the variables' value change

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binaryninja bug functionality Impact: Medium UI
Dominant language
C++
Stars
331
Forks
33
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

Let us say we have a data variable whose value gets updated by the debugger, and its new value points to a data variable. There would not be any data xrefs between the two, because we only update the data xrefs when data variables get defined/undefined.

This problem is not unique to the debugger. If we edit the value of an existing data variable to point to another data variable, the same effect can be observed. Though, in this case, we might be able to listen for BinaryDataNotification::OnDataVariableUpdated and figure out the data var's value has changed, then update it accordingly. However, this does not work for the debugger, since value changes in debugger are not handled by these notifications.

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Research direction

Trace where data xrefs are updated when data variables are defined or undefined, then compare that path with value changes from the debugger and edits that emit BinaryDataNotification::OnDataVariableUpdated. Confirm how each value-change path can trigger xref updates, and verify that xrefs appear after both debugger updates and existing-variable edits.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
devtools, reverse-engineering
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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