Linking static applications with Statifier and Ermine

Workaround

The current workaround is to temporarily disable ASLR. To do so, become a root-equivalent user, write a 0 to the virtual file in question, then output the file to see that the settings are okay:

# echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space
# cat /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space
0

Now create the program again with Statifier. Unfortunately, you also need to disable ASLR on any systems on which you want to work with the statically linked version. I will leave it up to you to decide whether this compensates for the vulnerability it creates.

More Junk

Statifier and the light version of Ermine will only link in dynamic libraries (Statifier will not do this for the critical NSS (Name Service Switch) and Gconv (character set conversion) libraries). However, games in particular typically include material such as images or audio files, whereas application programs tend to offload translations into numerous .mo files. All of these files need to be moved to the new computer. Ermine Pro is the only program to include platform-independent files in the statically linked program. On top of this, the most expensive program in the field can combine multiple programs to create a single statically linked binary.

Conclusions

Because of its many bugs, Statifier is recommended only for smaller command-line tools. Unfortunately, the alternative, Ermine, costs money – how much exactly is open to negotiation with the vendor.

Private users are probably better off putting together a complete Live system. Fedora, Ubuntu, and other distributions include tools to help you build your own system; many rescue disks and other Live systems are also available on the Internet.

Infos

  1. Statifier: http://statifier.sourceforge.net/
  2. Ermine: http://magicermine.com/
  3. ASLR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address _Space_Layout_Randomization

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