Running x86 code on ARM devices

    Table of Contents

    To run x86 code we are going to utilize qemu-user-static.

    Install necessary packages

    kali@kali:~$ sudo apt update
    kali@kali:~$
    kali@kali:~$ sudo apt install -y qemu-user-static binfmt-support
    kali@kali:~$
    kali@kali:~$ sudo dpkg --add-architecture amd64
    kali@kali:~$
    kali@kali:~$ sudo apt update
    kali@kali:~$
    kali@kali:~$ sudo apt install libc6:amd64
    kali@kali:~$
    

    Please keep in mind that more libraries may need to be installed depending on what package is being ran. In some cases these libraries will be installed automatically with the package install, however in others some research must be done to learn what is missing.

    Running x86 code

    # Before qemu-user-static install
    kali@kali:~$ sudo dpkg --add-architecture amd64
    kali@kali:~$
    kali@kali:~$ sudo apt install -y powershell
    kali@kali:~$
    kali@kali:~$ file /opt/microsoft/powershell/7/pwsh
    /opt/microsoft/powershell/7/pwsh: ELF 64-bit LSB pie executable, x86-64, version 1 (GNU/Linux), dynamically linked, interpreter /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2, for GNU/Linux 2.6.32, BuildID[sha1]=9c3feab2531f770c71d023f031faf37758181701, stripped
    kali@kali:~$
    kali@kali:~$ pwsh
    zsh: exec format error: pwsh
    kali@kali:~$
    # After qemu-user-static install
    kali@kali:~$ sudo apt install -y qemu-user-static binfmt-support
    kali@kali:~$
    kali@kali:~$ pwsh
    PowerShell 7.1.3
    Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.
    
    https://aka.ms/powershell
    Type 'help' to get help.
    
    
    ┌──(kali㉿kali)-[/home/kali]
    └─PS>
    

    If there is a downloaded binary that is x86 that is not automatically being ran under qemu-user-static, you can invoke it with the following command:

    kali@kali:~$ qemu-x86_x64-static my_x86_code
    kali@kali:~$
    

    Updated on: 2023-Jun-08
    Author: gamb1t