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man:ld-linux

LD.SO(8) Linux Programmer's Manual LD.SO(8)

NAME

     ld.so, ld-linux.so - dynamic linker/loader

SYNOPSIS

     The dynamic linker can be run either indirectly by running some dynami-
     cally linked program or shared object (in which  case  no  command-line
     options  to  the dynamic linker can be passed and, in the ELF case, the
     dynamic linker which is stored in the .interp section of the program is
     executed) or directly by running:
     /lib/ld-linux.so.*  [OPTIONS] [PROGRAM [ARGUMENTS]]

DESCRIPTION

     The  programs  ld.so  and ld-linux.so* find and load the shared objects
     (shared libraries) needed by a program, prepare the program to run, and
     then run it.
     Linux binaries require dynamic linking (linking at run time) unless the
     -static option was given to ld(1) during compilation.
     The program ld.so handles a.out  binaries,  a  format  used  long  ago;
     ld-linux.so*  (/lib/ld-linux.so.1  for  libc5,  /lib/ld-linux.so.2  for
     glibc2) handles ELF, which everybody has  been  using  for  years  now.
     Otherwise,  both have the same behavior, and use the same support files
     and programs as ldd(1), ldconfig(8), and /etc/ld.so.conf.
     When resolving shared object dependencies,  the  dynamic  linker  first
     inspects each dependency string to see if it contains a slash (this can
     occur if a shared object pathname containing slashes was  specified  at
     link  time).  If a slash is found, then the dependency string is inter-
     preted as a (relative or absolute) pathname, and the shared  object  is
     loaded using that pathname.
     If  a  shared  object  dependency  does not contain a slash, then it is
     searched for in the following order:
     o  Using the directories specified  in  the  DT_RPATH  dynamic  section
        attribute of the binary if present and DT_RUNPATH attribute does not
        exist.  Use of DT_RPATH is deprecated.
     o  Using the environment  variable  LD_LIBRARY_PATH,  unless  the  exe-
        cutable  is being run in secure-execution mode (see below), in which
        case this variable is ignored.
     o  Using the directories specified in the  DT_RUNPATH  dynamic  section
        attribute  of  the binary if present.  Such directories are searched
        only to find those objects required by DT_NEEDED  (direct  dependen-
        cies)  entries  and  do  not apply to those objects' children, which
        must themselves have their own DT_RUNPATH entries.  This  is  unlike
        DT_RPATH,  which  is  applied  to  searches  for all children in the
        dependency tree.
     o  From the cache file /etc/ld.so.cache, which contains a compiled list
        of  candidate  shared  objects  previously  found  in  the augmented
        library path.  If, however, the binary was linked with the -z  node-
        flib linker option, shared objects in the default paths are skipped.
        Shared objects installed in  hardware  capability  directories  (see
        below) are preferred to other shared objects.
     o  In the default path /lib, and then /usr/lib.  (On some 64-bit archi-
        tectures, the default paths for 64-bit shared  objects  are  /lib64,
        and then /usr/lib64.)  If the binary was linked with the -z nodeflib
        linker option, this step is skipped.
 Rpath token expansion
     The dynamic linker understands certain token strings in an rpath speci-
     fication  (DT_RPATH  or  DT_RUNPATH).  Those strings are substituted as
     follows:
     $ORIGIN (or equivalently ${ORIGIN})
            This expands to the directory containing the program  or  shared
            object.   Thus,  an  application located in somedir/app could be
            compiled with
                gcc -Wl,-rpath,'$ORIGIN/../lib'
            so that it finds an associated shared object in  somedir/lib  no
            matter  where  somedir  is  located  in the directory hierarchy.
            This facilitates the creation of "turn-key" applications that do
            not  need  to  be  installed  into  special directories, but can
            instead be unpacked into any directory and still find their  own
            shared objects.
     $LIB (or equivalently ${LIB})
            This  expands  to  lib  or  lib64  depending on the architecture
            (e.g., on x86-64, it expands to lib64 and on x86-32, it  expands
            to lib).
     $PLATFORM (or equivalently ${PLATFORM})
            This  expands to a string corresponding to the processor type of
            the host system (e.g., "x86_64").  On  some  architectures,  the
            Linux  kernel  doesn't  provide a platform string to the dynamic
            linker.  The value of this string is taken from the  AT_PLATFORM
            value in the auxiliary vector (see getauxval(3)).

OPTIONS

  1. -list List all dependencies and how they are resolved.
  1. -verify

Verify that program is dynamically linked and this dynamic

            linker can handle it.
  1. -inhibit-cache

Do not use /etc/ld.so.cache.

  1. -library-path path

Use path instead of LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable setting

            (see  below).   The  names  ORIGIN, LIB, and PLATFORM are inter-
            preted as for the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable.
  1. -inhibit-rpath list

Ignore RPATH and RUNPATH information in object names in list.

            This  option  is  ignored  when running in secure-execution mode
            (see below).
  1. -audit list

Use objects named in list as auditors.

ENVIRONMENT

     Various environment variables influence the operation  of  the  dynamic
     linker.
 Secure-execution mode
     For  security  reasons,  the  effects of some environment variables are
     voided or modified if the dynamic linker  determines  that  the  binary
     should  be run in secure-execution mode.  (For details, see the discus-
     sion of individual environment variables below.)  A binary is  executed
     in secure-execution mode if the AT_SECURE entry in the auxiliary vector
     (see getauxval(3)) has a nonzero value.  This entry may have a  nonzero
     value for various reasons, including:
  • The process's real and effective user IDs differ, or the real and

effective group IDs differ. This typically occurs as a result of

        executing a set-user-ID or set-group-ID program.
  • A process with a non-root user ID executed a binary that conferred

capabilities to the process.

  • A nonzero value may have been set by a Linux Security Module.
 Environment variables
     Among the more important environment variables are the following:
     LD_ASSUME_KERNEL (since glibc 2.2.3)
            Each shared object can inform the dynamic linker of the  minimum
            kernel  ABI  version  that  it  requires.   (This requirement is
            encoded in an ELF note section that is viewable  via  readelf -n
            as  a section labeled NT_GNU_ABI_TAG.)  At run time, the dynamic
            linker determines the ABI version of the running kernel and will
            reject  loading shared objects that specify minimum ABI versions
            that exceed that ABI version.
            LD_ASSUME_KERNEL can be used to  cause  the  dynamic  linker  to
            assume  that  it  is running on a system with a different kernel
            ABI version.  For example, the following command line causes the
            dynamic linker to assume it is running on Linux 2.2.5 when load-
            ing the shared objects required by myprog:
                $ LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.2.5 ./myprog
            On systems that provide multiple versions of a shared object (in
            different  directories  in  the search path) that have different
            minimum kernel ABI version requirements, LD_ASSUME_KERNEL can be
            used to select the version of the object that is used (dependent
            on the directory search order).
            Historically, the most common use of the  LD_ASSUME_KERNEL  fea-
            ture was to manually select the older LinuxThreads POSIX threads
            implementation on systems that provided  both  LinuxThreads  and
            NPTL  (which  latter was typically the default on such systems);
            see pthreads(7).
     LD_BIND_NOW (since glibc 2.1.1)
            If set to a  nonempty  string,  causes  the  dynamic  linker  to
            resolve  all  symbols  at  program  startup instead of deferring
            function call resolution to the point when they are first refer-
            enced.  This is useful when using a debugger.
     LD_LIBRARY_PATH
            A  list  of  directories in which to search for ELF libraries at
            execution time.  The items in the list are separated  by  either
            colons  or  semicolons,  and  there  is  no support for escaping
            either separator.
            This variable is ignored in secure-execution mode.
            Within the pathnames specified in LD_LIBRARY_PATH,  the  dynamic
            linker  expands  the tokens $ORIGIN, $LIB, and $PLATFORM (or the
            versions using curly braces around the names) as described above
            in  Rpath  token  expansion.   Thus,  for example, the following
            would cause a library to be searched for in either  the  lib  or
            lib64 subdirectory below the directory containing the program to
            be executed:
                $ LD_LIBRARY_PATH='$ORIGIN/$LIB' prog
            (Note the use of single quotes, which prevent expansion of $ORI-
            GIN and $LIB as shell variables!)
     LD_PRELOAD
            A  list  of additional, user-specified, ELF shared objects to be
            loaded before all others.  The items of the list  can  be  sepa-
            rated  by spaces or colons, and there is no support for escaping
            either separator.  This can  be  used  to  selectively  override
            functions in other shared objects.  The objects are searched for
            using the rules given under DESCRIPTION.
            In secure-execution mode, preload pathnames  containing  slashes
            are  ignored.   Furthermore,  shared  objects are preloaded only
            from the standard search directories and only if they have  set-
            user-ID mode bit enabled (which is not typical).
            Within  the  names specified in the LD_PRELOAD list, the dynamic
            linker understands the tokens $ORIGIN, $LIB, and  $PLATFORM  (or
            the  versions  using curly braces around the names) as described
            above in Rpath token expansion.  (See  also  the  discussion  of
            quoting under the description of LD_LIBRARY_PATH.)
     LD_TRACE_LOADED_OBJECTS
            If  set  (to  any value), causes the program to list its dynamic
            dependencies, as if run by ldd(1), instead of running  normally.
     Then there are lots of more or less obscure variables, many obsolete or
     only for internal use.
     LD_AUDIT (since glibc 2.4)
            A colon-separated list of user-specified, ELF shared objects  to
            be  loaded  before  all  others  in  a separate linker namespace
            (i.e., one that does not intrude upon the normal symbol bindings
            that  would  occur  in  the process) and there is no support for
            escaping the separator.  These objects can be used to audit  the
            operation of the dynamic linker.
            LD_AUDIT is ignored in secure-execution mode.
            The  dynamic  linker will notify the audit shared objects at so-
            called auditing checkpoints--for example, loading a  new  shared
            object,  resolving  a  symbol,  or calling a symbol from another
            shared object--by calling an  appropriate  function  within  the
            audit  shared  object.   For  details,  see  rtld-audit(7).  The
            auditing interface is largely compatible with that  provided  on
            Solaris,  as described in its Linker and Libraries Guide, in the
            chapter Runtime Linker Auditing Interface.
            Within the names specified in the  LD_AUDIT  list,  the  dynamic
            linker  understands  the tokens $ORIGIN, $LIB, and $PLATFORM (or
            the versions using curly braces around the names)  as  described
            above  in  Rpath  token  expansion.  (See also the discussion of
            quoting under the description of LD_LIBRARY_PATH.)
            Since glibc 2.13, in secure-execution mode, names in  the  audit
            list  that  contain slashes are ignored, and only shared objects
            in the standard search directories  that  have  the  set-user-ID
            mode bit enabled are loaded.
     LD_BIND_NOT (since glibc 2.1.95)
            If this environment variable is set to a nonempty string, do not
            update the GOT (global offset table) and PLT (procedure  linkage
            table)  after resolving a function symbol.  By combining the use
            of this variable with LD_DEBUG (with the categories bindings and
            symbols), one can observe all run-time function bindings.
     LD_DEBUG (since glibc 2.1)
            Output  verbose  debugging  information  about  operation of the
            dynamic linker.  The content of this variable is one of more  of
            the  following  categories,  separated by colons, commas, or (if
            the value is quoted) spaces:
            help        Specifying help in the value of this  variable  does
                        not  run  the specified program, and displays a help
                        message about which categories can be  specified  in
                        this environment variable.
            all         Print  all  debugging information (except statistics
                        and unused; see below).
            bindings    Display information about which definition each sym-
                        bol is bound to.
            files       Display progress for input file.
            libs        Display library search paths.
            reloc       Display relocation processing.
            scopes      Display scope information.
            statistics  Display relocation statistics.
            symbols     Display search paths for each symbol look-up.
            unused      Determine unused DSOs.
            versions    Display version dependencies.
            Since glibc 2.3.4, LD_DEBUG is ignored in secure-execution mode,
            unless the file /etc/suid-debug exists (the content of the  file
            is irrelevant).
     LD_DEBUG_OUTPUT (since glibc 2.1)
            By  default,  LD_DEBUG  output is written to standard error.  If
            LD_DEBUG_OUTPUT is defined, then output is written to the  path-
            name  specified by its value, with the suffix "." (dot) followed
            by the process ID appended to the pathname.
            LD_DEBUG_OUTPUT is ignored in secure-execution mode.
     LD_DYNAMIC_WEAK (since glibc 2.1.91)
            By default, when searching shared libraries to resolve a  symbol
            reference,  the dynamic linker will resolve to the first defini-
            tion it finds.
            Old glibc versions (before 2.2), provided a different  behavior:
            if  the  linker  found a symbol that was weak, it would remember
            that  symbol  and  keep  searching  in  the   remaining   shared
            libraries.   If it subsequently found a strong definition of the
            same symbol, then it would instead use that definition.  (If  no
            further  symbol was found, then the dynamic linker would use the
            weak symbol that it initially found.)
            The old glibc behavior was nonstandard.  (Standard  practice  is
            that the distinction between weak and strong symbols should have
            effect only at static link time.)  In  glibc  2.2,  the  dynamic
            linker  was  modified to provide the current behavior (which was
            the behavior that was provided by most other implementations  at
            that time).
            Defining  the  LD_DYNAMIC_WEAK  environment  variable  (with any
            value) provides the old (nonstandard) glibc behavior, whereby  a
            weak  symbol in one shared library may be overridden by a strong
            symbol subsequently discovered in another shared library.  (Note
            that even when this variable is set, a strong symbol in a shared
            library will not override a weak definition of the  same  symbol
            in the main program.)
            Since  glibc  2.3.4, LD_DYNAMIC_WEAK is ignored in secure-execu-
            tion mode.
     LD_HWCAP_MASK (since glibc 2.1)
            Mask for hardware capabilities.
     LD_ORIGIN_PATH (since glibc 2.1)
            Path where the binary is found.
            Since glibc 2.4, LD_ORIGIN_PATH is ignored  in  secure-execution
            mode.
     LD_POINTER_GUARD (glibc from 2.4 to 2.22)
            Set  to  0 to disable pointer guarding.  Any other value enables
            pointer guarding, which is also the default.   Pointer  guarding
            is  a security mechanism whereby some pointers to code stored in
            writable program memory (return addresses saved by setjmp(3)  or
            function  pointers  used by various glibc internals) are mangled
            semi-randomly to make it  more  difficult  for  an  attacker  to
            hijack  the pointers for use in the event of a buffer overrun or
            stack-smashing attack.  Since glibc 2.23,  LD_POINTER_GUARD  can
            no  longer  be  used  to  disable pointer guarding, which is now
            always enabled.
     LD_PROFILE (since glibc 2.1)
            The name of a (single) shared object to be  profiled,  specified
            either  as a pathname or a soname.  Profiling output is appended
            to the file whose name is:  "$LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT/$LD_PROFILE.pro-
            file".
            Since  glibc  2.2.5,  LD_PROFILE  is ignored in secure-execution
            mode.
     LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT (since glibc 2.1)
            Directory where LD_PROFILE output should be  written.   If  this
            variable  is not defined, or is defined as an empty string, then
            the default is /var/tmp.
            LD_PROFILE_OUTPUT is ignored in secure-execution  mode;  instead
            /var/profile  is  always  used.   (This  detail is relevant only
            before glibc 2.2.5, since in later glibc versions, LD_PROFILE is
            also ignored in secure-execution mode.)
     LD_SHOW_AUXV (since glibc 2.1)
            If  this  environment variable is defined (with any value), show
            the auxiliary array passed up from the kernel (see also  getaux-
            val(3)).
            Since  glibc  2.3.4, LD_SHOW_AUXV is ignored in secure-execution
            mode.
     LD_TRACE_PRELINKING (since glibc 2.4)
            If this environment variable is defined, trace prelinking of the
            object  whose  name  is  assigned  to this environment variable.
            (Use ldd(1) to get a list of the objects that might be  traced.)
            If the object name is not recognized, then all prelinking activ-
            ity is traced.
     LD_USE_LOAD_BIAS (since glibc 2.3.3)
            By default (i.e., if this variable is not defined),  executables
            and  prelinked shared objects will honor base addresses of their
            dependent shared objects and (nonprelinked) position-independent
            executables (PIEs) and other shared objects will not honor them.
            If LD_USE_LOAD_BIAS is defined with the value 1,  both  executa-
            bles   and   PIEs   will   honor   the   base   addresses.    If
            LD_USE_LOAD_BIAS is defined with the value 0,  neither  executa-
            bles nor PIEs will honor the base addresses.
            Since  glibc 2.3.3, this variable is ignored in secure-execution
            mode.
     LD_VERBOSE (since glibc 2.1)
            If set to a nonempty string, output symbol  versioning  informa-
            tion  about  the program if the LD_TRACE_LOADED_OBJECTS environ-
            ment variable has been set.
     LD_WARN (since glibc 2.1.3)
            If set to a nonempty string, warn about unresolved symbols.
     LD_PREFER_MAP_32BIT_EXEC (x86-64 only; since glibc 2.23)
            According to the Intel Silvermont software  optimization  guide,
            for  64-bit  applications,  branch prediction performance can be
            negatively impacted when the target of a  branch  is  more  than
            4 GB  away from the branch.  If this environment variable is set
            (to any value), the dynamic linker will first try  to  map  exe-
            cutable pages using the mmap(2) MAP_32BIT flag, and fall back to
            mapping without that flag if that attempt fails.  NB:  MAP_32BIT
            will map to the low 2 GB (not 4 GB) of the address space.
            Because  MAP_32BIT  reduces  the  address  range  available  for
            address   space    layout    randomization    (ASLR),    LD_PRE-
            FER_MAP_32BIT_EXEC  is always disabled in secure-execution mode.

FILES

     /lib/ld.so
            a.out dynamic linker/loader
     /lib/ld-linux.so.{1,2}
            ELF dynamic linker/loader
     /etc/ld.so.cache
            File containing a compiled  list  of  directories  in  which  to
            search  for  shared  objects  and  an  ordered list of candidate
            shared objects.  See ldconfig(8).
     /etc/ld.so.preload
            File  containing  a  whitespace-separated  list  of  ELF  shared
            objects  to be loaded before the program.  See the discussion of
            LD_PRELOAD above.  If both LD_PRELOAD and /etc/ld.so.preload are
            employed,  the  libraries  specified by LD_PRELOAD are preloaded
            first.  /etc/ld.so.preload has a system-wide effect, causing the
            specified  libraries  to  be preloaded for all programs that are
            executed on the system.  (This is usually  undesirable,  and  is
            typically  employed only as an emergency remedy, for example, as
            a temporary workaround to a library misconfiguration issue.)
     lib*.so*
            shared objects

NOTES

 Hardware capabilities
     Some shared objects are compiled using  hardware-specific  instructions
     which  do  not exist on every CPU.  Such objects should be installed in
     directories whose names define the required hardware capabilities, such
     as /usr/lib/sse2/.  The dynamic linker checks these directories against
     the hardware of the machine and selects the most suitable version of  a
     given  shared  object.  Hardware capability directories can be cascaded
     to combine CPU features.  The list  of  supported  hardware  capability
     names  depends  on  the  CPU.  The following names are currently recog-
     nized:
     Alpha  ev4, ev5, ev56, ev6, ev67
     MIPS   loongson2e, loongson2f, octeon, octeon2
     PowerPC
            4xxmac, altivec, arch_2_05, arch_2_06, booke, cellbe, dfp,  efp-
            double,  efpsingle,  fpu,  ic_snoop,  mmu,  notb,  pa6t, power4,
            power5,  power5+,  power6x,  ppc32,  ppc601,  ppc64,  smt,  spe,
            ucache, vsx
     SPARC  flush, muldiv, stbar, swap, ultra3, v9, v9v, v9v2
     s390   dfp,  eimm,  esan3,  etf3enh,  g5,  highgprs, hpage, ldisp, msa,
            stfle, z900, z990, z9-109, z10, zarch
     x86 (32-bit only)
            acpi, apic, clflush, cmov, cx8, dts, fxsr, ht, i386, i486, i586,
            i686,  mca,  mmx,  mtrr, pat, pbe, pge, pn, pse36, sep, ss, sse,
            sse2, tm

SEE ALSO

     ld(1), ldd(1),  pldd(1),  sprof(1),  dlopen(3),  getauxval(3),  elf(5),
     capabilities(7), rtld-audit(7), ldconfig(8), sln(8)

COLOPHON

     This  page  is  part of release 4.16 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
     description of the project, information about reporting bugs,  and  the
     latest     version     of     this    page,    can    be    found    at
     https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

GNU 2018-04-30 LD.SO(8)

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