Postdisassembly

Postdisassembly is the phase in binary analysis that begins after the initial disassembly of a program into assembly language. It involves interpreting, annotating, and reorganizing the raw assembly output to recover the intended behavior of the original software, often with an emphasis on recoverable structure and semantics rather than exact instructions.

Core activities include identifying functions and boundaries, recognizing calling conventions, labeling local variables and constants, and extracting strings and data from code. Analysts rebuild control-flow graphs, separate code from data, and distinguish library or runtime components from user-written code. They also map imports, exports, and relocation information, and prepare a form suitable for higher-level analysis, such as pseudocode or an intermediate representation.

Techniques such as deobfuscation, unpacking, and patch analysis are often applied during postdisassembly to counteract compiler optimizations and defense mechanisms. The output typically consists of function summaries, call graphs, annotated CFGs, and a data dictionary, which enable further steps like decompilation, vulnerability discovery, or software maintenance.

Challenges include obfuscated or packed binaries, indirect branches, self-modifying code, and aggressive optimizations that obscure control-flow and data relationships. The process is iterative and may require revisiting earlier decisions as new information is uncovered.

Postdisassembly is commonly performed within reverse engineering workflows and supported by analysis tools that provide navigation, annotation, and visualization capabilities. It serves as a bridge between raw disassembly and high-level interpretation, feeding into decompilation and documentation efforts.