It seems that binaries created with gcc 4.9.2 on Linux (Ubuntu 15.04, 32-bit) contain several thousand unused bytes between .eh_frameand partitions .init_array. Example output from objdump -hfor a simple executable file:
Sections:
Idx Name Size VMA LMA File off Algn
[...]
16 .eh_frame 000000c0 080484ac 080484ac 000004ac 2**2
CONTENTS, ALLOC, LOAD, READONLY, DATA
17 .init_array 00000004 08049f08 08049f08 00000f08 2**2
CONTENTS, ALLOC, LOAD, DATA
[...]
.eh_frameends with a file offset of 0x56c, but .init_arraystarts with 0xf08, leaving a hole of 0x99c = 2460 bytes. All other sections begin immediately after the end of the previous section.
The amount of unused space changes, making it difficult to see how certain changes affect the size of the code.
Where does this hole come from? Is there any way to avoid this?
Update: Conclusion ld --verbose:
$ cat so.c
int main() {
return 0;
}
$ gcc so.c -Wl,--verbose -o so
GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Ubuntu) 2.25
Supported emulations:
elf_i386
i386linux
elf32_x86_64
elf_x86_64
elf_l1om
elf_k1om
i386pep
i386pe
using internal linker script:
==================================================
/* Script for -z combreloc: combine and sort reloc sections */
/* Copyright (C) 2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Copying and distribution of this script, with or without modification,
are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
notice and this notice are preserved. */
OUTPUT_FORMAT("elf32-i386", "elf32-i386",
"elf32-i386")
OUTPUT_ARCH(i386)
ENTRY(_start)
SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/i686-linux-gnu/lib32"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/local/lib32"); SEARCH_DIR("=/lib32"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/lib32"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/i686-linux-gnu/lib"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/local/lib/i386-linux-gnu"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/local/lib"); SEARCH_DIR("=/lib/i386-linux-gnu"); SEARCH_DIR("=/lib"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu"); SEARCH_DIR("=/usr/lib");
SECTIONS
{
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*(.rel.ctors)
*(.rel.dtors)
*(.rel.got)
*(.rel.bss .rel.bss.* .rel.gnu.linkonce.b.*)
*(.rel.ifunc)
}
.rel.plt :
{
*(.rel.plt)
PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__rel_iplt_start = .);
*(.rel.iplt)
PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__rel_iplt_end = .);
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.init :
{
KEEP (*(SORT_NONE(.init)))
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.plt : { *(.plt) *(.iplt) }
.text :
{
*(.text.unlikely .text.*_unlikely .text.unlikely.*)
*(.text.exit .text.exit.*)
*(.text.startup .text.startup.*)
*(.text.hot .text.hot.*)
*(.text .stub .text.* .gnu.linkonce.t.*)
/* .gnu.warning sections are handled specially by elf32.em. */
*(.gnu.warning)
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.fini :
{
KEEP (*(SORT_NONE(.fini)))
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PROVIDE (__etext = .);
PROVIDE (_etext = .);
PROVIDE (etext = .);
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.rodata1 : { *(.rodata1) }
.eh_frame_hdr : { *(.eh_frame_hdr) }
.eh_frame : ONLY_IF_RO { KEEP (*(.eh_frame)) }
.gcc_except_table : ONLY_IF_RO { *(.gcc_except_table
.gcc_except_table.*) }
/* These sections are generated by the Sun/Oracle C++ compiler. */
.exception_ranges : ONLY_IF_RO { *(.exception_ranges
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/* Adjust the address for the data segment. We want to adjust up to
the same address within the page on the next page up. */
. = ALIGN (CONSTANT (MAXPAGESIZE)) - ((CONSTANT (MAXPAGESIZE) - .) & (CONSTANT (MAXPAGESIZE) - 1)); . = DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN (CONSTANT (MAXPAGESIZE), CONSTANT (COMMONPAGESIZE));
/* Exception handling */
.eh_frame : ONLY_IF_RW { KEEP (*(.eh_frame)) }
.gcc_except_table : ONLY_IF_RW { *(.gcc_except_table .gcc_except_table.*) }
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/* Thread Local Storage sections */
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.tbss : { *(.tbss .tbss.* .gnu.linkonce.tb.*) *(.tcommon) }
.preinit_array :
{
PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__preinit_array_start = .);
KEEP (*(.preinit_array))
PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__preinit_array_end = .);
}
.init_array :
{
PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__init_array_start = .);
KEEP (*(SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY(.init_array.*) SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY(.ctors.*)))
KEEP (*(.init_array EXCLUDE_FILE (*crtbegin.o *crtbegin?.o *crtend.o *crtend?.o ) .ctors))
PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__init_array_end = .);
}
.fini_array :
{
PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__fini_array_start = .);
KEEP (*(SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY(.fini_array.*) SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY(.dtors.*)))
KEEP (*(.fini_array EXCLUDE_FILE (*crtbegin.o *crtbegin?.o *crtend.o *crtend?.o ) .dtors))
PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__fini_array_end = .);
}
.ctors :
{
/* gcc uses crtbegin.o to find the start of
the constructors, so we make sure it is
first. Because this is a wildcard, it
doesn't matter if the user does not
actually link against crtbegin.o; the
linker won't look for a file to match a
wildcard. The wildcard also means that it
doesn't matter which directory crtbegin.o
is in. */
KEEP (*crtbegin.o(.ctors))
KEEP (*crtbegin?.o(.ctors))
/* We don't want to include the .ctor section from
the crtend.o file until after the sorted ctors.
The .ctor section from the crtend file contains the
end of ctors marker and it must be last */
KEEP (*(EXCLUDE_FILE (*crtend.o *crtend?.o ) .ctors))
KEEP (*(SORT(.ctors.*)))
KEEP (*(.ctors))
}
.dtors :
{
KEEP (*crtbegin.o(.dtors))
KEEP (*crtbegin?.o(.dtors))
KEEP (*(EXCLUDE_FILE (*crtend.o *crtend?.o ) .dtors))
KEEP (*(SORT(.dtors.*)))
KEEP (*(.dtors))
}
.jcr : { KEEP (*(.jcr)) }
.data.rel.ro : { *(.data.rel.ro.local* .gnu.linkonce.d.rel.ro.local.*) *(.data.rel.ro .data.rel.ro.* .gnu.linkonce.d.rel.ro.*) }
.dynamic : { *(.dynamic) }
.got : { *(.got) *(.igot) }
. = DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END (SIZEOF (.got.plt) >= 12 ? 12 : 0, .);
.got.plt : { *(.got.plt) *(.igot.plt) }
.data :
{
*(.data .data.* .gnu.linkonce.d.*)
SORT(CONSTRUCTORS)
}
.data1 : { *(.data1) }
_edata = .; PROVIDE (edata = .);
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{
*(.dynbss)
*(.bss .bss.* .gnu.linkonce.b.*)
*(COMMON)
/* Align here to ensure that the .bss section occupies space up to
_end. Align after .bss to ensure correct alignment even if the
.bss section disappears because there are no input sections.
FIXME: Why do we need it? When there is no .bss section, we don't
pad the .data section. */
. = ALIGN(. != 0 ? 32 / 8 : 1);
}
. = ALIGN(32 / 8);
. = SEGMENT_START("ldata-segment", .);
. = ALIGN(32 / 8);
_end = .; PROVIDE (end = .);
. = DATA_SEGMENT_END (.);
/* Stabs debugging sections. */
.stab 0 : { *(.stab) }
.stabstr 0 : { *(.stabstr) }
.stab.excl 0 : { *(.stab.excl) }
.stab.exclstr 0 : { *(.stab.exclstr) }
.stab.index 0 : { *(.stab.index) }
.stab.indexstr 0 : { *(.stab.indexstr) }
.comment 0 : { *(.comment) }
/* DWARF debug sections.
Symbols in the DWARF debugging sections are relative to the beginning
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/* DWARF 1 */
.debug 0 : { *(.debug) }
.line 0 : { *(.line) }
/* GNU DWARF 1 extensions */
.debug_srcinfo 0 : { *(.debug_srcinfo) }
.debug_sfnames 0 : { *(.debug_sfnames) }
/* DWARF 1.1 and DWARF 2 */
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/* DWARF Extension. */
.debug_macro 0 : { *(.debug_macro) }
.gnu.attributes 0 : { KEEP (*(.gnu.attributes)) }
/DISCARD/ : { *(.note.GNU-stack) *(.gnu_debuglink) *(.gnu.lto_*) }
}
==================================================
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/../../../i386-linux-gnu/crt1.o succeeded
/usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/../../../i386-linux-gnu/crt1.o
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/../../../i386-linux-gnu/crti.o succeeded
/usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/../../../i386-linux-gnu/crti.o
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/crtbegin.o succeeded
/usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/crtbegin.o
attempt to open /tmp/ccQ0fTTK.o succeeded
/tmp/ccQ0fTTK.o
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/libgcc.so failed
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/libgcc.a succeeded
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/libgcc_s.so succeeded
-lgcc_s (/usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/libgcc_s.so)
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/libc.so failed
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/libc.a failed
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/../../../i386-linux-gnu/libc.so succeeded
opened script file /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/../../../i386-linux-gnu/libc.so
opened script file /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/../../../i386-linux-gnu/libc.so
attempt to open /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 succeeded
/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc.so.6
attempt to open /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc_nonshared.a succeeded
(/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc_nonshared.a)elf-init.oS
attempt to open /lib/i386-linux-gnu/ld-linux.so.2 succeeded
/lib/i386-linux-gnu/ld-linux.so.2
/lib/i386-linux-gnu/ld-linux.so.2
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/libgcc.so failed
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/libgcc.a succeeded
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/libgcc_s.so succeeded
-lgcc_s (/usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/libgcc_s.so)
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/crtend.o succeeded
/usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/crtend.o
attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/../../../i386-linux-gnu/crtn.o succeeded
/usr/lib/gcc/i686-linux-gnu/4.9/../../../i386-linux-gnu/crtn.o
ld-linux.so.2 needed by /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc.so.6
found ld-linux.so.2 at /lib/i386-linux-gnu/ld-linux.so.2