python-uncompyle6/README.rst

|buildstatus|

uncompyle6
==========

A native Python cross-version decompiler and fragment decompiler.
The successor to decompyle, uncompyle, and uncompyle2.


Introduction
------------

*uncompyle6* translates Python bytecode back into equivalent Python
source code. It accepts bytecodes from Python version 1.5, and 2.1 to
3.7 or so, including PyPy bytecode and Dropbox's Python 2.5 bytecode.

Why this?
---------

Ok, I'll say it: this software is amazing. It is more than your
normal hacky decompiler. Using compiler_ technology, the program
creates a parse tree of the program from the instructions; nodes at
the upper levels that look a little like what might come from a Python
AST. So we can really classify and understand what's going on in
sections of Python bytecode.

Building on this, another thing that makes this different from other
CPython bytecode decompilers is the ability to deparse just
*fragments* of source code and give source-code information around a
given bytecode offset.

I use the tree fragments to deparse fragments of code inside my
trepan_ debuggers_. For that, bytecode offsets are recorded and
associated with fragments of the source code. This purpose, although
compatible with the original intention, is yet a little bit different.
See this_ for more information.

Python fragment deparsing given an instruction offset is useful in
showing stack traces and can be encorporated into any program that
wants to show a location in more detail than just a line number at
runtime.  This code can be also used when source-code information does
not exist and there is just bytecode. Again, my debuggers make use of
this.

There were (and still are) a number of decompyle, uncompyle,
uncompyle2, uncompyle3 forks around. Almost all of them come basically
from the same code base, and (almost?) all of them are no longer
actively maintained. One was really good at decompiling Python 1.5-2.3
or so, another really good at Python 2.7, but that only. Another
handles Python 3.2 only; another patched that and handled only 3.3.
You get the idea. This code pulls all of these forks together and
*moves forward*. There is some serious refactoring and cleanup in this
code base over those old forks.

This project has the most complete support for Python 3.3 and above
and the best all-around Python support.

We are serious about testing, and use automated processes to find
bugs. In the issue trackers for other decompilers, you will find a
number of bugs we've found along the way. Very few to none of them are
fixed in the other decompilers.

Requirements
------------

The code here can be run on Python versions 2.6 or later, PyPy 3-2.4,
or PyPy-5.0.1.  Python versions 2.4-2.7 are supported in the
python-2.4 branch.  The bytecode files it can read have been tested on
Python bytecodes from versions 1.5, 2.1-2.7, and 3.0-3.6 and the
above-mentioned PyPy versions.

Installation
------------

This uses setup.py, so it follows the standard Python routine:

::

    pip install -e .  # set up to run from source tree
                      # Or if you want to install instead
    python setup.py install # may need sudo

A GNU makefile is also provided so :code:`make install` (possibly as root or
sudo) will do the steps above.

Testing
-------

::

   make check

A GNU makefile has been added to smooth over setting running the right
command, and running tests from fastest to slowest.

If you have remake_ installed, you can see the list of all tasks
including tests via :code:`remake --tasks`


Usage
-----

Run

::

$ uncompyle6 *compiled-python-file-pyc-or-pyo*

For usage help:

::

   $ uncompyle6 -h

If you want strong verification of the correctness of the
decompilation process, add the `--verify` option. But there are
situations where this will indicate a failure, although the generated
program is semantically equivalent. Using option `--weak-verify` will
tell you if there is something definitely wrong. Generally, large
swaths of code are decompiled correctly, if not the entire program.

You can also cross compare the results with pycdc_ . Since they work
differently, bugs here often aren't in that, and vice versa.


Known Bugs/Restrictions
-----------------------

The biggest known and possibly fixable (but hard) problem has to do
with handling control flow. (Python has probably the most diverse and
screwy set of compound statements I've ever seen; a number of the
usual ones like else clauses on loops and try blocks I suspect most
programmers don't know about.)

All of the Python decompilers I have looked at have the same
problem. In some cases we can detect an erroneous decompilation and
report that.

*Verification* is the process of decompiling bytecode, compiling with
a Python for that bytecode version, and then comparing the bytecode
produced by the decompiled/compiled program. Some allowance is made
for inessential differences. But other semantically equivalent
differences are not caught. For example ``1 and 0`` is decompiled to
the equivalent ``0``; remnants of the first true evaluation (1) is
lost when Python compiles this. When Python next compiles ``0`` the
resulting code is simpler.

*Weak Verification*
on the other hand doesn't check bytecode for equivalence but does
check to see if the resulting decompiled source is a valid Python
program by running the Python interpreter. Because the Python language
has changed so much, for best results you should use the same Python
Version in checking as used in the bytecode.

Finally, we have automated running the standard Python tests after
first compiling and decompiling the test program. Results here are a
bit weak (if not better than most other Python decompilers). But over
time this will probably get better.

Python support is strongest in Python 2 for 2.7 and drops off as you
get further away from that. Support is also probably pretty good for
python 2.3-2.4 since a lot of the goodness of early the version of the
decompiler from that era has been preserved (and Python compilation in
that era was minimal)

Later distributions average about 200 files. There is some work to do
on the lower end Python versions which is more difficult for us to
handle since we don't have a Python interpreter for versions 1.5, 1.6,
and 2.0.

In the Python 3 series, Python support is is strongest around 3.4 or
3.3 and drops off as you move further away from those versions. Python
3.6 changes things drastically by using word codes rather than byte
codes. That has been addressed, but then it also changes function call
opcodes and its semantics and has more problems with control flow than
3.5 has. Between Python 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7 there have been major changes
to the `MAKE_FUNCTION` and `CALL_FUNCTION` instructions. Those are
not handled yet.

Currently not all Python magic numbers are supported. Specifically in
some versions of Python, notably Python 3.6, the magic number has
changes several times within a version. We support only the released
magic. There are also customized Python interpreters, notably Dropbox,
which use their own magic and encrypt bytcode. With the exception of
the Dropbox's old Python 2.5 interpreter this kind of thing is not
handled.

We also don't handle PJOrion_ obfuscated code. For that try: PJOrion
Deobfuscator_ to unscramble the bytecode to get valid bytecode before
trying this tool.

Handling pathologically long lists of expressions or statements is
slow.


There is lots to do, so please dig in and help.

See Also
--------

* https://github.com/zrax/pycdc : supports all versions of Python and is written in C++. Support for later Python 3 versions is a bit lacking though.
* https://code.google.com/archive/p/unpyc3/ : supports Python 3.2 only. The above projects use a different decompiling technique than what is used here.
* https://github.com/figment/unpyc3/ : fork of above, but supports Python 3.3 only. Includes some fixes like supporting function annotations
* The HISTORY_ file.
* `How to report a bug <https://github.com/rocky/python-uncompyle6/blob/master/HOW-TO-REPORT-A-BUG.md>`_
* https://github.com/rocky/python-xdis : Cross Python version disassembler
* https://github.com/rocky/python-xasm : Cross Python version assembler
* https://github.com/rocky/python-uncompyle6/wiki : Wiki Documents which describe the code and aspects of it in more detail


.. _trepan: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/trepan2
.. _compiler: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/spark_parser
.. _HISTORY: https://github.com/rocky/python-uncompyle6/blob/master/HISTORY.md
.. _debuggers: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/trepan3k
.. _remake: https://bashdb.sf.net/remake
.. _pycdc: https://github.com/zrax/pycdc
.. _this: https://github.com/rocky/python-uncompyle6/wiki/Deparsing-technology-and-its-use-in-exact-location-reporting
.. |buildstatus| image:: https://travis-ci.org/rocky/python-uncompyle6.svg
		 :target: https://travis-ci.org/rocky/python-uncompyle6
.. _PJOrion: http://www.koreanrandom.com/forum/topic/15280-pjorion-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%84
.. _Deobfuscator: https://github.com/extremecoders-re/PjOrion-Deobfuscator