Is asking about reverse engineering tools on topic

Question

I would like to know if asking about the use of a tool that is designed for the purposes of reverse engineering is on topic?

The questions that follow under this category would be asking about software that is used for reverse engineering where the answer would help the community reverse engineer with that tool.

Some examples of these kinds of questions include:

• Treating independent code as a function in IDA Pro
• What is a FLIRT signature?
• Equivalent of IDA FLIRT signatures for GDB?

An example of a question that is not covered by this description is[(Note, I'm not saying these are or are not valid questions, just they they aren't being evaluated under the description above):

• How does GDB's process recording work? The destiniction is that this question is about how a particular tool works, not about how to use a particular tool.

Answer 1

Yes, questions about software that performs reverse engineering software used for reverse engineering should be allowed.

To support the use of software that performs reverse engineering (such as IDA Pro or objdump), I would argue that these questions are valid for the same reasons questions about software development tools are valid on stackoverflow. Similarly, questions about reverse engineering tools would be a valuable addition add to this community.

Answer 2

I realize there is a fine line between debuggers being used in software development and in RCE, but we shouldn't shy away from questions concerning dual-use tools just because they are dual-use.

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As for the How does GDB's process recording work? question, I would say such things should also be considered on topic for the simple reason that reverse (code) engineering relies in large part on experience and circumstantial knowledge.

Therefore knowing how your tools work often provides missing jigsaw pieces should be considered an intrinsic part of the discipline.

Also:

Dynamic analysis just like static analysis is a part of RCE and debuggers play a vital role in it. Therefore knowing how certain features in a debugger work makes sense.

Even if the intention behind this question may not go that far, I think that most reverse engineers at one point or another have written their own debugger. Which goes to show how relevant it is to know how things work internally.