Paste hex bytes into IDA Pro Hex View

Question

Is it possible to paste a series of bytes into hex view of IDA? Say I have a large buffer I need to fill with a specific value, and I have it in the form most hex editors output... 0A AB EF FF 00 01... is there some quick way to write this value to a segment of the hex view? Or do this through IDAPython?

Edit:

Solved using PatchByte as suggested below:

def PatchArr(dest, str):
  for i, c in enumerate(str):
    idc.PatchByte(dest+i, ord(c));

# usage: patchArr(start address, string of bytes to write)
patchArr(0xCAFEBABE, "\x01\x02\x03")

Note that I am not a fan of edits to volatile debug memory causing IDA to complain about the IDB being patched post-debug...

Answer 1

While in IDA's Hex View you can go to Edit->Patch Program->Change Byte, but I think this only lets you patch 16 bytes at a time. If you need to patch more bytes than that you can use IDAPython's idc.PatchByte / idc.PatchWord / idc.PatchDword to change bytes in the IDA database.

EDIT:

Just a quick note, if you want your patches applied to the original file that you loaded into IDA, you need to go to Edit->Patch Program->Apply patches to input file after you patch the bytes in the idb.

Answer 2

Below are two functions from fwrapper that give examples on how to patch IDBs and import data from a file. I'd recommend checking out the code. I use it all the time for samples that decodes/decrypts data or when I have to manually dump a block of memory and patch an IDB.

def patch(self, temp = None):
    '''patch idb with data in fwrapper.buffer'''
    if temp != None:
            self.buffer = temp
    for index, byte in enumerate(self.buffer):
         PatchByte(self.start+index, ord(byte))

def importb(self):
    '''import file to save to buffer'''
    fileName = AskFile(0, "*.*", 'Import File')
    try:
        self.buffer = open(fileName, 'rb').read()
    except:
        sys.stdout.write('ERROR: Cannot access file')

Answer 3

Even though this has been answered, IDA is meant as a debugger. Not as a patching tool, this has to do a lot with how IDA stores works. IDA creates a database file that allows you to remove the exe after loading it first. This can be really useful when you work with intellectual property / malware. I would recommend to use ImmDBG for your patching needs.