mandiant / mandiant/capa

ghidra: Integrate the FLIRT matching engine into the Ghidra Feature Extractor

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enhancement ghidra help wanted
Dominant language
Python
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

### Summary

The Ghidra Feature Extractor uses Ghidra's [FunctionID Analyzer](https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra-data/blob/7d843ec229d43c2d1a8178aaa892be90e37e95a2/FunctionID/FID.md) to identify library functions. capa as a standalone tool defaults to the Vivisect backend, which uses the FLARE team's custom [FLIRT](https://hex-rays.com/products/ida/tech/flirt/in_depth/) matching engine alongside an open-source set of [FLIRT signatures](https://github.com/mandiant/capa/tree/d64a10a287c28e16525589175073ab0720ed25f6/sigs) that cover many functions present in binaries that are compiled with Visual Studio. The FLIRT matching engine is implemented in Rust with Python bindings.

### Motivation

By integrating the FLIRT matching engine with the Ghidra Feature Extractor, it will complement FunctionID and service users who wish to use their own set of FLIRT signatures. In turn, capa will be capable of identifying more library functions to be skipped during analysis.

## Additional context

FunctionID allows Ghidra users to develop and use their own sets of signatures already; however, new users will only have access to the default ones. Our FLIRT signature set will serve to automatically grow this database and enhance capa's analysis.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

The issue names the Ghidra Feature Extractor, Ghidra's FunctionID Analyzer, the Rust FLIRT matching engine with Python bindings, and the FLIRT signatures, but no repository files or tests. Start by locating the extractor integration and its signature-handling path; done means FLIRT matching complements FunctionID and supports users' own FLIRT signatures.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python, rust
Domain
reverse-engineering
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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