How to load shellcode into Ghidra

Question

I'm trying to learn more about reverse engineering, and I've found some shellcode embedded in a C program:

   unsigned char shellcode[] =
        "\x48\x83\xEC\x28\x48\x83\xE4\xF0\x48\x8D\x15\x66\x00\x00\x00"
        "\x48\x8D\x0D\x52\x00\x00\x00\xE8\x9E\x00\x00\x00\x4C\x8B\xF8"
        "\x48\x8D\x0D\x5D\x00\x00\x00\xFF\xD0\x48\x8D\x15\x5F\x00\x00"
        "\x00\x48\x8D\x0D\x4D\x00\x00\x00\xE8\x7F\x00\x00\x00\x4D\x33"
        "\xC9\x4C\x8D\x05\x61\x00\x00\x00\x48\x8D\x15\x4E\x00\x00\x00"
        "\x48\x33\xC9\xFF\xD0\x48\x8D\x15\x56\x00\x00\x00\x48\x8D\x0D"
        "\x0A\x00\x00\x00\xE8\x56\x00\x00\x00\x48\x33\xC9\xFF\xD0\x4B"
        "\x45\x52\x4E\x45\x4C\x33\x32\x2E\x44\x4C\x4C\x00\x4C\x6F\x61"
        "\x64\x4C\x69\x62\x72\x61\x72\x79\x41\x00\x55\x53\x45\x52\x33"
        "\x32\x2E\x44\x4C\x4C\x00\x4D\x65\x73\x73\x61\x67\x65\x42\x6F"
        "\x78\x41\x00\x48\x65\x6C\x6C\x6F\x20\x77\x6F\x72\x6C\x64\x00"
        "\x4D\x65\x73\x73\x61\x67\x65\x00\x45\x78\x69\x74\x50\x72\x6F"
        "\x63\x65\x73\x73\x00\x48\x83\xEC\x28\x65\x4C\x8B\x04\x25\x60"
        "\x00\x00\x00\x4D\x8B\x40\x18\x4D\x8D\x60\x10\x4D\x8B\x04\x24"
        "\xFC\x49\x8B\x78\x60\x48\x8B\xF1\xAC\x84\xC0\x74\x26\x8A\x27"
        "\x80\xFC\x61\x7C\x03\x80\xEC\x20\x3A\xE0\x75\x08\x48\xFF\xC7"
        "\x48\xFF\xC7\xEB\xE5\x4D\x8B\x00\x4D\x3B\xC4\x75\xD6\x48\x33"
        "\xC0\xE9\xA7\x00\x00\x00\x49\x8B\x58\x30\x44\x8B\x4B\x3C\x4C"
        "\x03\xCB\x49\x81\xC1\x88\x00\x00\x00\x45\x8B\x29\x4D\x85\xED"
        "\x75\x08\x48\x33\xC0\xE9\x85\x00\x00\x00\x4E\x8D\x04\x2B\x45"
        "\x8B\x71\x04\x4D\x03\xF5\x41\x8B\x48\x18\x45\x8B\x50\x20\x4C"
        "\x03\xD3\xFF\xC9\x4D\x8D\x0C\x8A\x41\x8B\x39\x48\x03\xFB\x48"
        "\x8B\xF2\xA6\x75\x08\x8A\x06\x84\xC0\x74\x09\xEB\xF5\xE2\xE6"
        "\x48\x33\xC0\xEB\x4E\x45\x8B\x48\x24\x4C\x03\xCB\x66\x41\x8B"
        "\x0C\x49\x45\x8B\x48\x1C\x4C\x03\xCB\x41\x8B\x04\x89\x49\x3B"
        "\xC5\x7C\x2F\x49\x3B\xC6\x73\x2A\x48\x8D\x34\x18\x48\x8D\x7C"
        "\x24\x30\x4C\x8B\xE7\xA4\x80\x3E\x2E\x75\xFA\xA4\xC7\x07\x44"
        "\x4C\x4C\x00\x49\x8B\xCC\x41\xFF\xD7\x49\x8B\xCC\x48\x8B\xD6"
        "\xE9\x14\xFF\xFF\xFF\x48\x03\xC3\x48\x83\xC4\x28\xC3";

This shellcode is then written into process memory and executed.

How do I convert the shellcode into something to where I can load it into Ghidra? Everything I read online says "Open the shellcode in a disassembler", but the disassembler doesn't recognize it as a valid program if I just save the data to a file. What do I need to do to see what this shellcode actually does?

Answer 1

you have a string you cant load a string as is into a disassembler you may need to un-escape them into binary for example
"\x48" is "H"

if you have a compiler compile and call it via a function pointer
use a scripting language like python make a binary blob and load it as raw into disassembler

use a disassembling framework like capstone combined with python to disassemble

>>> list(Cs(CS_ARCH_X86, CS_MODE_32).disasm(b"\x48\x83\xEC\x28\x48\x83\xE4\xF0\x48\x8D\x15\x66\x00\x00\x00",0))
    [
<CsInsn 0x0 [48]:           dec eax>, 
<CsInsn 0x1 [83ec28]:       sub esp, 0x28>, 
<CsInsn 0x4 [48]:           dec eax>, 
<CsInsn 0x5 [83e4f0]:       and esp, 0xfffffff0>, 
<CsInsn 0x8 [48]:           dec eax>, 
<CsInsn 0x9 [8d1566000000]: lea edx, [0x66]>
]

use an online service like shell storm to simply paste and disassemble

Answer 2

Compile and load:

#include <stdio.h>

char shellcode[] =
        "\x48\x83\xEC\x28\x48\x83\xE4\xF0\x48\x8D\x15\x66\x00\x00\x00"
        "\x48\x8D\x0D\x52\x00\x00\x00\xE8\x9E\x00\x00\x00\x4C\x8B\xF8"
        "\x48\x8D\x0D\x5D\x00\x00\x00\xFF\xD0\x48\x8D\x15\x5F\x00\x00"
        "\x00\x48\x8D\x0D\x4D\x00\x00\x00\xE8\x7F\x00\x00\x00\x4D\x33"
        "\xC9\x4C\x8D\x05\x61\x00\x00\x00\x48\x8D\x15\x4E\x00\x00\x00"
        "\x48\x33\xC9\xFF\xD0\x48\x8D\x15\x56\x00\x00\x00\x48\x8D\x0D"
        "\x0A\x00\x00\x00\xE8\x56\x00\x00\x00\x48\x33\xC9\xFF\xD0\x4B"
        "\x45\x52\x4E\x45\x4C\x33\x32\x2E\x44\x4C\x4C\x00\x4C\x6F\x61"
        "\x64\x4C\x69\x62\x72\x61\x72\x79\x41\x00\x55\x53\x45\x52\x33"
        "\x32\x2E\x44\x4C\x4C\x00\x4D\x65\x73\x73\x61\x67\x65\x42\x6F"
        "\x78\x41\x00\x48\x65\x6C\x6C\x6F\x20\x77\x6F\x72\x6C\x64\x00"
        "\x4D\x65\x73\x73\x61\x67\x65\x00\x45\x78\x69\x74\x50\x72\x6F"
        "\x63\x65\x73\x73\x00\x48\x83\xEC\x28\x65\x4C\x8B\x04\x25\x60"
        "\x00\x00\x00\x4D\x8B\x40\x18\x4D\x8D\x60\x10\x4D\x8B\x04\x24"
        "\xFC\x49\x8B\x78\x60\x48\x8B\xF1\xAC\x84\xC0\x74\x26\x8A\x27"
        "\x80\xFC\x61\x7C\x03\x80\xEC\x20\x3A\xE0\x75\x08\x48\xFF\xC7"
        "\x48\xFF\xC7\xEB\xE5\x4D\x8B\x00\x4D\x3B\xC4\x75\xD6\x48\x33"
        "\xC0\xE9\xA7\x00\x00\x00\x49\x8B\x58\x30\x44\x8B\x4B\x3C\x4C"
        "\x03\xCB\x49\x81\xC1\x88\x00\x00\x00\x45\x8B\x29\x4D\x85\xED"
        "\x75\x08\x48\x33\xC0\xE9\x85\x00\x00\x00\x4E\x8D\x04\x2B\x45"
        "\x8B\x71\x04\x4D\x03\xF5\x41\x8B\x48\x18\x45\x8B\x50\x20\x4C"
        "\x03\xD3\xFF\xC9\x4D\x8D\x0C\x8A\x41\x8B\x39\x48\x03\xFB\x48"
        "\x8B\xF2\xA6\x75\x08\x8A\x06\x84\xC0\x74\x09\xEB\xF5\xE2\xE6"
        "\x48\x33\xC0\xEB\x4E\x45\x8B\x48\x24\x4C\x03\xCB\x66\x41\x8B"
        "\x0C\x49\x45\x8B\x48\x1C\x4C\x03\xCB\x41\x8B\x04\x89\x49\x3B"
        "\xC5\x7C\x2F\x49\x3B\xC6\x73\x2A\x48\x8D\x34\x18\x48\x8D\x7C"
        "\x24\x30\x4C\x8B\xE7\xA4\x80\x3E\x2E\x75\xFA\xA4\xC7\x07\x44"
        "\x4C\x4C\x00\x49\x8B\xCC\x41\xFF\xD7\x49\x8B\xCC\x48\x8B\xD6"
        "\xE9\x14\xFF\xFF\xFF\x48\x03\xC3\x48\x83\xC4\x28\xC3";


int main()
{
    int (*function)() = shellcode;
    function();
    return 1;
}