Fix for parsing error encountered when pyelftools tries to parse non GNU notes that conflicting with known GNU note types. (#584)

Co-authored-by: Tomatillos <>

Author: gettomatillos

elftools/elf/descriptions.py

@@ -206,18 +206,21 @@ def describe_note(x, machine):
     n_desc = x['n_desc']
     desc = ''
     if x['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_ABI_TAG':
-        if x['n_name'] == 'Android':
-            desc = '\n   description data: %s ' % bytes2hex(x['n_descdata'])
-        else:
+        if x['n_name'] == 'GNU':
             desc = '\n    OS: %s, ABI: %d.%d.%d' % (
                 _DESCR_NOTE_ABI_TAG_OS.get(n_desc['abi_os'], _unknown),
                 n_desc['abi_major'], n_desc['abi_minor'], n_desc['abi_tiny'])
+        else:
+            desc = '\n   description data: %s ' % bytes2hex(x['n_descdata'])
     elif x['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_BUILD_ID':
         desc = '\n    Build ID: %s' % (n_desc)
     elif x['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_GOLD_VERSION':
         desc = '\n    Version: %s' % (n_desc)
     elif x['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_PROPERTY_TYPE_0':
-        desc = '\n      Properties: ' + describe_note_gnu_properties(x['n_desc'], machine)
+        if x['n_name'] == 'GNU':
+            desc = '\n      Properties: ' + describe_note_gnu_properties(x['n_desc'], machine)
+        else:
+            desc = '\n   description data: %s ' % bytes2hex(x['n_descdata'])
     else:
         desc = '\n      description data: {}'.format(bytes2hex(n_desc))
 

elftools/elf/notes.py

@@ -33,13 +33,13 @@ def iter_notes(elffile, offset, size):
 
         desc_data = elffile.stream.read(note['n_descsz'])
         note['n_descdata'] = desc_data
-        if note['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_ABI_TAG':
+        if note['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_ABI_TAG' and note['n_name'] == 'GNU':
             note['n_desc'] = struct_parse(elffile.structs.Elf_abi,
                                           elffile.stream,
                                           offset)
-        elif note['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_BUILD_ID':
+        elif note['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_BUILD_ID' and note['n_name'] == 'GNU':
             note['n_desc'] = bytes2hex(desc_data)
-        elif note['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_GOLD_VERSION':
+        elif note['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_GOLD_VERSION' and note['n_name'] == 'GNU':
             note['n_desc'] = bytes2str(desc_data)
         elif note['n_type'] == 'NT_PRPSINFO':
             note['n_desc'] = struct_parse(elffile.structs.Elf_Prpsinfo,
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def iter_notes(elffile, offset, size):
             note['n_desc'] = struct_parse(elffile.structs.Elf_Nt_File,
                                           elffile.stream,
                                           offset)
-        elif note['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_PROPERTY_TYPE_0':
+        elif note['n_type'] == 'NT_GNU_PROPERTY_TYPE_0' and note['n_name'] == 'GNU':
             off = offset
             props = []
             # n_descsz contains the size of the note "descriptor" (the data payload),

test/test_notes.py

@@ -27,3 +27,12 @@ def test_note_segment_with_8_byte_alignment(self):
             notes = list(note_sections[0].iter_notes())
             # There's one note in this section:
             self.assertEqual(len(notes), 1)
+
+    def test_note_tc3xx_blinky(self):
+        with ELFFile.load_from_path(os.path.join('test', 'testfiles_for_unittests', 'note_tc3xxx_blinky.elf')) as elf:
+            note_sections = [section for section in elf.iter_sections() if isinstance(section, NoteSection)]
+            # There's only one note section in this file:
+            self.assertEqual(len(note_sections), 1)
+            notes = list(note_sections[0].iter_notes())
+            # There's one note in this section:
+            self.assertEqual(len(notes), 522)