Version 2.1.4

Hello everyone. It has been a while since last release and we are releasing Unicorn 2.1.4. Though it is a patch release, there are some highlights worth mentioning.

The very first thing is that, Unicorn (finally!) offers consistent PC guarantee in all cases. Well, it might sound weird that why it was not. Generally QEMU is not designed to keep PC synced in all cases for performance and Unicorn once put necessary hacks but those hacks were too hard to maintain. Now we have architecture agnostic mechanism to offer the PC guarantee.

In addition, we offer a standalone unicorn Rust crate unicorn-engine-sys to allows users to build their own bindings since v2.1.4 (actually v2.1.5 because of the mess of releasing new crates). There are also lots of bindings improvements contained in this release.

We also fix the building and distribution issues for macos ARM and distribute wheels again. Our friend @patryk4815 from pwndbg helps sort this out. Kudos to him!

For 2.2.0, personally I wish I could work it out before the end of this year, by merging lots of pending big PRs but my time budget is relatively limited recently. Please aware that 2.2.0 would probably bump QEMU version to 5.1.0 or even higher so semantics could be changed. Any help is highly welcome and please contact @wtdcode if you are keen.

Lastly, I would like to express my deep gratitude to all contributors that help make this release happen, specifically @Evian-Zhang for Rust improvements and unicornafl integration, @Antelox for constant contributions on our workflows, @amaanq for various huge work, reviews and Rust bindings split, @PhilippTakacs for PR reviews and fix. Again, thanks for every contributor!

Below goes the auto generated release notes. Starting from this tag, the release note will switch to a short passage plus Github generated contents because this makes it easier to follow big changes.

What's Changed

• bindings/zig: Fix sample_riscv_zig partial writes and logging by @fervagar in #2133
• Fix physical address truncation on 32-bit systems with addressing extensions by @ExhoAR22 in #2139
• refactor(lib): mark pointers as const where possible by @amaanq in #2140
• bindings: ruby: fix unexpected uc_query result pointer type by @anthraxx in #1962
• bindings: ruby: fix version identifier to 2.1.3 by @anthraxx in #2142
• feat(arm): add an ESR register by @amaanq in #2155
• fix(rust): watch all source and header files by @amaanq in #2159
• feat(rust): improve ARM CP register ergonomics by @amaanq in #2160
• fix(m68k): correct SR register read by @amaanq in #2161
• fix(python): catch BaseException in wrappers instead of Exception by @amaanq in #2163
• Remove the size limit for memory read and write (revamped) by @rliebig in #2144
• Loongarch port by @wtdcode in #2164
• S390x registers by @wtdcode in #2167
• Add from_handle_with_data method by @Evian-Zhang in #2169
• Make Unicorn struct clone-able by @Evian-Zhang in #2170
• Add Display and Error impl for uc_error for Rust bindings by @Evian-Zhang in #2171
• Add edge generated callback by @Evian-Zhang in #2176
• Correctly restore skip_sync_pc_on_exit by @Evian-Zhang in #2181
• Added CFG check and standalone flag for .NET binding by @AdvDebug in #2182
• qemu/configure: make strings command can be redefined by ${STRINGS} by @clan in #2186
• fix x86 pc by @wtdcode in #2187
• Patch from Saferewrite by @wtdcode in #2188
• fix incorrect ret of trampoline closure in alloc_code_gen_buffer by @HyperSine in #2197
• reset invalid_error before ram_block_add by @PhilippTakacs in #2189
• add uc_mem_read_virtual by @PhilippTakacs in #2121
• Minor fixes for vmem apis by @wtdcode in #2199
• glib_compat/glib_compact: Clear the buffer in g_hash_table_resize by @MarsDoge in #2219
• Enable install for rust bindings by @wtdcode in #2224
• Remove ninja installation from macos runners by @scribam in #2225
• Fix read_sprr_perm for Apple real CPUs and GitHub Actions; enable Apple ARM64 wheel builds on PyPI. Fixes #2033. by @patryk4815 in #2227
• Bump cmake minimum required version to 3.10 by @scribam in #2226
• Add support for clangarm64 by @scribam in #2228
• Revert "glib_compat/glib_compact: Clear the buffer in g_hash_table_resize" by @wtdcode in #2220
• Python bindings: Use ABI3 wheels by @Antelox in #2223
• concurrent control by @wtdcode in #2235

New Contributors

• @fervagar made their first contribution in #2133
• @ExhoAR22 made their first contribution in #2139
• @anthraxx made their first contribution in #1962
• @rliebig made their first contribution in #2144
• @AdvDebug made their first contribution in #2182
• @HyperSine made their first contribution in #2197
• @MarsDoge made their first contribution in #2219
• @patryk4815 made their first contribution in #2227

Full Changelog: v2.1.3...v2.1.4

Version v2.1.3

2.1.3 includes a few fixes for distribution and stability issues. We urge users to update their versions as previous version contains security vulnerabilities.

Fix & Improvements

• Several security issues fixes. @PhilippTakacs
• Add alpine workflow and fix several distribution issues. @Antelox @disconnect3d
• Introduce importlib_resources for py3.8 (EOL already) @Arusekk @Antelox
• Mips64 improvements. @OBarronCS
• MIPS related fixes and implement a few registers.
• x86 default CPU model is changed to UC_CPU_X86_HASWELL and remove a few quirks.
• Fix CR4 implementation.
• Fix python bindings break changes by adding back ctl_tlb_mode. @Antelox

New Contributors

• @OBarronCS made their first contribution in #2111

Full Changelog: 2.1.2...2.1.3

As usual, thanks to all contributors and sorry if I missed your name here (please tell me @wtdcode !).

Version v2.1.2

2.1.2 is a patch release to mainly resolve the stability issue of the 2.1.0 release series and fix a few distribution issues. All users of Unicorn are expected to upgrade.

Highlights

• macOS arm64 no longer provides binary wheels due to a feature missing from Github Action runners.
• py3.8 support is brought back, python2 wheels are built and test as well and we migrate to cibuildwheel! @Antelox
• Several polish to python bindings and implement new API. @elicn @droe
• Revert previous break changes that return UC_ERR_ARG for non-existing registers. Now this prints a warning. We urge all users relying on this behavior to fix code as soon as possible.
• Fix several segment faults, including a few long-standing random segfault issues.
• Revive previous unicorn 1 test suite and related refactoring. @elicn @Antelox
• Optimize memory handling and notdirty writes for faster memory access and snapshots, especially useful for fuzzing. @PhilippTakacs
• RISC-V API updates. @apparentlymart
• fix UC_HOOK_MEM_READ on aarch64. @glennsec
• Support UC_TCG_OP_FLAG_CMP for ARM @dotCirill
• An alternative tag prefixed with "v" is added for golang compatibility.

Fix & Improvements

• Implement UC_ARM64_REG_WSP
• Several fixes on arm64 macos @tbodt
• reg_read_batch and reg_write_batch @hsa1as
• Fix pc sync issue for SPARC, MIPS, x86. This also fixes PC sync issue within UC_HOOK_BLOCK hooks.
• Allow cmake to install files on Windows and allow cmake not to generate Unicorn 1 style all-in-one objects archive
• Make i386 instructions RDTSC and RDTSCP hookable @t0rr3sp3dr0
• Allow Statically Linking in Go @t0rr3sp3dr0
• Rust bindings improvements @Sanae6
• Patch multiple UC_HOOK_MEM callbacks for unaligned access @Michael-c0de
• Fix UC_MEM_FETCH_PROT for data read
• Remove more Unicorn 1 hacks to improve performance.
• Docs & unit test updates. @saicao
• Allow uc_ctl_set_page_size() for arm64 @droe
• Musl builds @clan
• mips16 fix @ZakDanger
• Fix UC_HOOK_MEM on arm32 @xndcn
• Fix heap buffer overflow in op_cksm function @Shivam7-1

New Contributors

• @droe made their first contribution in #2023
• @Antelox made their first contribution in #2026
• @tbodt made their first contribution in #2049
• @hsa1as made their first contribution in #2060
• @t0rr3sp3dr0 made their first contribution in #2066
• @Sanae6 made their first contribution in #2069
• @Michael-c0de made their first contribution in #2063
• @Evian-Zhang made their first contribution in #2064
• @glennsec made their first contribution in #2028
• @clan made their first contribution in #2085
• @xndcn made their first contribution in #2091
• @Shivam7-1 made their first contribution in #2096
• @amaanq made their first contribution in #2099

Full Changelog: 2.1.1...2.1.2

As usual, thanks to all contributors and sorry if I missed your name here (please tell me @wtdcode !).

Lastly and personally, I would like to express my big thanks to @Antelox @elicn and @PhilippTakacs for spending lots of time improving Unicorn Engine. Also, there are a few big pull requests adding new architectures (RH850, TCI, LoongArch64, AVR) and I will actively push them to 2.2.0.

Version v2.1.1

This is a small release to fix a few urgent issues.

• Remove pkg_resources usage
• Fix wheels distribution for x86_64 macos
• Fix redundant wheel hacks
• Support musllinux distribution @Antelox

Full Changelog: 2.1.0...2.1.1

Version v2.1.0

It has been a while since the last release, and 2.1.0 brings several exciting features. Below is the changelog from the latest to the oldest (though not strictly).

Highlights

• Revive QEMU logs, now we have -DUNICORN_LOGGING=yes to enable all qemu logs. @BitMaskMixer
• Faster (up to 40x) write performance by not always doing store_helper and cleaning page locks. @tunz @boborjan2
• Brand new python bindings, with strongly typed and many improvements. @elicn
• Fix to a long-standing MinGW random segfault bug.
• We bring python2 compatibility back.
• We now fully support M1, both building and a pre-built wheel.
• We support snapshot memory now, with a very low overhead copy-on-write fashion. @PhilippTakacs
• An option to bypass MMU is also added, check our FAQ. @PhilippTakacs
• A brand new (and modern) java bindings. We are also working to publish it to maven. @nneonneo
• We have zig integrated. @kassane @atipls
• Now Unicorn no longer allocates 2GB memory for every instance. The memory will be only committed once used and the upper limit can be adjusted with uc_ctl.
• New DotNet binding, with published to both Github and Nuget. @TSRBerry
• The release will attach all binaries, thanks to @marameref

Fixes & Improvements

• RISCV improvements, but we still have a long way to go. @apparentlymart @ks0777
• cmake improvements @scribam @es3n1n
• Various python bindings fix and improvements @bet4it @rhelmot
• Docs. @gerph @BitMaskMixer
• Rust bindings. @lockbox @mlgiraud @deadash
• TCG backend fixes. @redoste @StalkR @dglynos
• PPC32 fixes. @dotCirill
• Haiku fixes. @kallisti5
• Improvements to avoid simulator detection. @mrexodia

New Contributors

• @ks0777 made their first contribution in #1736
• @LG3696 made their first contribution in #1764
• @PhilippTakacs made their first contribution in #1765
• @edsky made their first contribution in #1754
• @tunz made their first contribution in #1790
• @kassane made their first contribution in #1809
• @Xeonacid made their first contribution in #1807
• @nneonneo made their first contribution in #1830
• @lockbox made their first contribution in #1847
• @mlgiraud made their first contribution in #1849
• @basavesh made their first contribution in #1861
• @hamarituc made their first contribution in #1886
• @StalkR made their first contribution in #1907
• @dotCirill made their first contribution in #1910
• @marameref made their first contribution in #1897
• @redoste made their first contribution in #1922
• @xclusivor made their first contribution in #1929
• @elicn made their first contribution in #1629
• @nganhkhoa made their first contribution in #1942
• @es3n1n made their first contribution in #1960
• @BitMaskMixer made their first contribution in #1977
• @apparentlymart made their first contribution in #1995
• @atipls made their first contribution in #1985
• @omer54463 made their first contribution in #2005

Full Changelog: 2.0.1...2.1.0

Again, thanks for all contributors and sorry if I missed your name here (please tell me @wtdcode !). 2.1.1 is also coming because we expect some minor break changes to fix.

Version 2.0.1.post1

This is a small release to complement the previous 2.0.1 release.

Fix:

• Fix the endianness detection in tests.
• Fix the version number in CMakeLists.txt.

Version 2.0.1

Unicorn2 makes the first step to Debian packages and vcpkg! Thanks @roehling and @LilyWangL !

Features:

• Support building & running on BE hosts. #1710
• Fix and support clang-cl on Windows. #1687
• Fix python sdist and add aarch64 Linux wheels. Note pip can build Unicorn2 on M1 now!
• C# binding is refined and upgraded to .Net 6. #1723

Fix/Improvements:

• Various bindings improvements. #1723
• Improvements for tests. #1684 #1683 #1691 #1711
• Fail explicitly when VEX.L is set. #1658
• Fix endianness when writing PPC32 CR register. #1659
• Fix a bug in uc_ctl_set_cpu_model check.
• Fix Tricore PC not updating. #1668
• Fix the mapping not updated if users modify the mappings in the hooks.
• Handle pathological cases consistently. #1651
• Fix memory leaks in PPC target. #1680
• Fix memory leaks in Tricore target. #1681
• Fix MSVC handling in cmake. #1693
• Fix PC sync-ing problems for UC_HOOK_BLOCK hooks.
• Fix PC sync-ed twice when users request a soft restart.
• Prevent overflow with pre-allocated RAM blocks. #1712
• Add FPCR and FPSR registers #1722
• Fix ARM CPU state not deep copied.
• Fix PC not sync-ed for memory operation on aarch64.
• Exit invalid store operations early to avoid the target registers being overwritten.
• Improve the support for ARM BE32.

Thanks:

@roehling @LilyWangL @mrexodia @zachriggle @Yu3H0 @rhelmot @relapids @sh4w1 @TSRBerry

Version 2.0.0

Features:

• TriCore Support (#1568)

Fixes/Improvements:

• Build both shared library and static archive as unicorn1 does.
• Misc bindings improvements. #1569 #1600 #1609 #1613 #1616
• Make sure setjmp-setjmp-wrapper-win32 participates in the build. #1604
• Improve Rust bindings build logic.
• Fix wrong python binding for UC_CTL_TB_REMOVE_CACHE
• Flush translation blocks when the count hook is removed.
• Fix unicorn crash when nested uc_emu_start deletes a hook
• Fix CPU not fully resumed when writing PC.
• Don't quit TB if uc_mem_protect doesn't change the protection of current TB memory.
• Add type annotations for python bindings.
• Add CPUID hook for python bindings. #1618
• Don't repeat memory hooks if there is already an unhandled error. #1618
• Support reads and writes over all Arm SIMD registers #1621
• Fix wrong registers range in python bindings.
• Fix uc_mem_protect on mmio regions
• Fix a UAF caused by hook cache.
• Fix the value collision between UC_MODE_ARMBE8 and UC_MODE_ARM926

Thanks:

@AfoHT @mrexodia @bet4it @lowlyw @ekilmer @ondryaso @QDucasse @PalumboN @uberwoozle

Version 2.0.0-rc7

This release is expected to be the real last RC release of Unicorn2. ;)

Features:

• Correctly generate static archives for the static build and have CI auto-tested.
• Rust bindings revised. #1584
• Compatible with clang-cl compiler. #1581
• Implement UC_HOOK_INSN for aarch64 MRS/MSR/SYS/SYSL

Fixes/Improvements:

• Several corner cases on our API. #1587 #1595
• Fix the codegen buffer leak.
• Rust bindins improvements. #1574 #1575
• Add "holes" to allow unicorn lib as a drop-in replacement for older ones. #1572
• s390x backports. #1570
• Fix exits wrongly removed in nested uc_emu_start
• Fix a possible endless loop for only one translation block in a multithreaded environment.
• Fix wrong PC without UC_HOOK_CODE installed.
• Update vb6 bindings license. #1563
• Fix buffer allocation failure on M1. #1559
• Fix wrong EFLAGS on startup.
• Fix wrong internal states on nested uc_emu_start.
• Remove armeb-softmmu and aarcheb-softmmu which are usermode targets.
• Advance PPC32 PC. #1558
• Support UC_PPC_REG_CR.
• Update CI to windows-2019

Thanks:

@shuffle2 @liyansong2018 @rose4096 @nviennot @n1tram1 @iii-i @dzzie @yrashk @bet4it

Version 2.0.0-rc6

This release is expected to be the last RC release of Unicorn2.

Features:

• SystemZ (aka. s390x) support. #1521 #1547
• CPUID hook now may return a bool to indicate whether skipping the CPUID instruction.
• ARM/AARCH64 coprocessor registers read/write support. #889

Fixes/Improvements:

• Rust improvements. More registers enums #1504 Easier to use #1543 #1545
• M68k improvements. #1507
• Golang improvements. Enable uc_ctl_set_model #1506
• Unit tests improvements. #1512
• Various ARM system mode fixes. #1500 #1520 #1525 #1531
• Read/write arm FPSCR and FPSID. #1453
• Fix the support for ARMv8
• Fix a large number of memory leaks and unicorn2 now goes with google/oss-fuzz!
• Add more X87 registers. #1524
• Add more PPC registers.
• Fix the exception not cleared in python bindings. #1537
• Correctly support ARM big endian and drops armeb-softmmu and aarch64eb-softmmu
• Fix ARM CPSR.E not reflected during runtime.
• Resolve fuzzing speed problem on macOS.
• Modernize CmakeFileLists.txt. #1544
• Fix an issue in nested uc_emu_start

Thanks:

@Kritzefitz @zznop @QDucasse @gerph @bet4it @mrexodia @iii-i @jbcayrou @scribam