Summary

The analyzed ELF executable is a complete build of the GNU Coreutils “ls” utility. Evidence shows rich command-line parsing (getopt_long, main_ls in Appendix row entry_main), locale setup, and an extensive set of in-memory comparators used to sort and format directory entries (rows cmp_name, cmp_mtime, sort_driver). No networking, persistence, or privilege-escalation primitives are imported; all activity remains local to the host’s filesystem. The only external interaction involves standard C library I/O to stdout/stderr and POSIX file-system syscalls such as statx (row wrap_statx). Code quality is high, matching other Coreutils releases: consistent error handling, stack-protector canaries, obstacks for efficient buffering, and user-friendly localization (row init_locale_months).

Overall behavior and internal routines map cleanly to the documented features of ls(1): coloring, quoting styles, block-size parsing, canonical path resolution, multi-locale date formatting, and directory recursion with device/inode cycle detection. No obfuscation, anti-analysis, encrypted payloads, or suspicious hooks are present.

Conclusion

Verdict: Safe

Rationale: Program functionality and imported API surface correspond exactly to the expected behavior of the GNU “ls” file-listing tool; no code paths indicate networking, self-installation, persistence, or data exfiltration (see Appendix rows entry_main, runtime_loop). The binary’s logic is transparent, well-structured, and lacks any obfuscation measures.

Recommendation: Allow; no suspicious activity observed. Deploy normally within standard user environments.

Detailed Analysis

Orchestration & Higher-Order Logic

The entry routine (entry_main) performs one-time initialization of locale, quoting, and terminal state, then hands off to a dispatcher that parses command-line options via getopt_long. Parsed options populate several global structures controlling sort mode, display width, and colorization. Finally, a depth-first directory walker (du_traverse) enumerates file entries, the sorter (sort_driver) orders them, and a formatter (fmt_entry) prints the result. All flows are linear and synchronous; no multi-process orchestration is present.

Installation & Configuration

Nothing to report.

Persistence & Privilege Escalation

Nothing to report.

Code Protection & Obfuscation

Nothing to report. The code uses straightforward control flow and exports full symbol names such as obstack_alloc_failed_handler—typical for Coreutils release builds.

Environment Awareness & Anti-Analysis

• Terminal presence detected with isatty and tcgetpgrp to decide color output (row tty_init). • Locale checks (is_non_C_locale) gate multibyte column-width logic. These behaviors are normal usability features, not anti-analysis.

Runtime Behaviors & Execution Flows

• Enumerates directory contents using opendir, readdir, and lstat. • Optionally follows symlinks or recusively descends into sub-directories when -R is supplied (du_traverse). • Applies multiple comparators (name, size, mtime, extension, etc.) chosen via a jump table (sort_driver). • Outputs to standard streams only; no child processes or code injection.

Network Communication

Nothing to report. The binary imports no socket-level APIs and contains no URI strings.

Data Handling & Privacy

All data processed is already resident on the local filesystem. No exfiltration or remote storage occurs. The most sensitive operation is optional reading of extended attributes/ACLs for display (row add_entry).

Cryptography

Nothing to report.

Credential Access

Nothing to report.

Destructive Actions

Nothing to report.

Build Quality

• Consistent use of stack-protector canaries (__stack_chk_fail). • Extensive error-path coverage through error() wrapper functions (err_wrap). • Memory efficiency via obstacks (obstack_chunk_alloc, rows obstack_init, obstack_grow). • Localization and help text handled through GNU gettext.

Platform-Specific Notes

Uses Linux-specific statx for fast metadata retrieval (wrap_statx) but falls back gracefully on failure.

High-Value Indicators (IoCs)

Nothing to report.

Appendix

entry_main - program entry / option parsing

Initializes locale, quoting style, terminal width, parses environment vars (QUOTING_STYLE, TIME_STYLE, LS_COLORS), then calls getopt_long loop to populate global flags before directory traversal.

Location(s): main @ unknown (symbol stripped, offset resolved by loader)

wrap_statx - statx helper

Thin wrapper around Linux statx syscall; fills caller-supplied struct with sought metadata.

Location(s): sub_9d30 @ 0x9d30

cmp_name - name comparator

Fallback alphabetic sort: strcmp(a->name, b->name).

Location(s): sub_8350 @ 0x8350

cmp_mtime - mtime comparator

Orders entries by 64-bit st_mtim then nanoseconds field, descending.

Location(s): sub_8420 @ 0x8420

sort_driver - sort orchestrator

Selects comparator via jump table keyed by global sort mode, invokes merge sort, and post-validates with setjmp recovery.

Location(s): sub_a7f0 @ 0xa7f0

init_locale_months - month-name cache

Scans two strftime templates for "%b", fetches ABMON_1..12 via nl_langinfo, and formats localized month abbreviations into two static buffers.

Location(s): sub_6b60 @ 0x6b60

canonicalize_path - absolute path resolver

Builds canonical path by prepending cwd, collapsing “.”/“..”, resolving symlinks with lstat and loop limit.

Location(s): sub_bf10 @ 0xbf10

percent_encode - URL-style percent escape

Allocates up to 3x input length buffer; copies safe chars verbatim, encodes others as "%XX"; honors "keep slashes" flag.

Location(s): sub_c9d0 @ 0xc9d0

obstack_init - obstack bootstrap

Allocates first chunk according to alignment rules; sets failure handler.

Location(s): sub_d120 @ 0xd120

tty_init - terminal capability check

Uses isatty, tcgetpgrp, and ioctl(TIOCGWINSZ) to decide whether to enable color and quoting modes.

Location(s): sub_54a0 @ 0x54a0

du_traverse - directory recursion

Performs depth-first walk, accounting for device/inode visited set, optional cycle warnings, and accumulated block counts.

Location(s): sub_e220 @ 0xe220

fmt_entry - long format printer

Generates “ls -l” style line: permission bits, link count, owner/group, size, timestamp, and colorized name.

Location(s): sub_f4d0 @ 0xf4d0

add_entry - populate file-entry struct

Allocates/grows global entry array, fills metadata (statx, ACL, SELinux), calculates print-width metrics.

Location(s): sub_11cb0 @ 0x11cb0

err_wrap - centralized error() wrapper

Builds localized message via gettext, calls error(), updates global fatal-flag.

Location(s): sub_14740 @ 0x14740