StackAnalyzer for x86 factsheet

StackAnalyzer for x86 automatically determines the worst-case stack usage of the tasks in your appli­cation. The analysis results are shown as annotations in the call graph and control flow graph.

Key benefits

• Detailed and precise information on stack usage by application tasks.
• Stack analysis for all hierarchy levels: routines, basic blocks, assembly instructions.
• Control-flow reconstruction directly from binary code.
• Freely selectable entry points for the analysis.
• Easy recognition of critical program sections thanks to color coding.
• Fully integrated, feature-rich graphical and textual viewers for control flow, analysis results, source code, assembly code, and configuration files.
• Seamless integration with other analysis tools from AbsInt in a single intuitive user interface.

Supported compilers

• GNU C compiler (GCC)
• CompCert
• Intel iC-86 C compiler (ICC)
• Cygnus LynxOS x86 C compiler (LynuxWorks)

The standard license only covers one compiler of your choice. Additional compilers can be unlocked for a surcharge.

Architecture variants and extensions

The supported instructions sets are:

• 
  
  x86-32 (ia32, Intel 32)
• x86-64 (AMD64, Intel 64)
• x87
• MMX
• 3DNow!
• SSE
• SSE2
• SSE3
• SSE4.1
• SSE4.2
• AES
• AVX
• AVX2

This covers a wide array of architectures, including 8086, 80286, i386, i486, and AMD K6-2E+. However, for the purposes of licensing and pricing, StackAnalyzer for 16-, 32-, and 64-bit x86s are treated as three separate products. Likewise, i386DX and IntelDX4/Am486 are supported separately.

Recent improvements

• Release 23.10:
  • Support for the ENDBRANCH instruction (part of the Intel Control Flow Enforcement Technology CET) which is treated like a NOP
  • Improved iterative decoding
• Release 23.04:
  • Improved automatic switch-table decoding
  • Stack pointer guessing for flat and long mode
  • Info messages about guessed/specified stack pointer and specified stack area
  • Relaxed restrictions for assignments to segment registers in 32-bit flat mode and 64-bit long mode
  • x86-64: Improved decoding of computed calls via function pointer arrays
  • x86-64: Improved automatic decoding of two-dimensional function pointer arrays

System requirements

• Windows: 64-bit Windows 10 or newer
• Linux: 64-bit CentOS/RHEL 7 or compatible
• 4 GB of RAM (16 GB recommended)
• 4 GB of disk space
• The Linux version requires the libxcb-* family of libraries to be installed
• Support for macOS High Sierra 10.13 or newer is possible on request for a surcharge