HowTo :: Patching binary files in Linux

Using xxd

Binary to Hex

$ xxd prog1.bin > b1.hex
$ xxd prog1.bin > b2.hex

Hex to Binary

$ xxd -r -p b1.hex new_prog1.bin
  • Then we can generate the diff like this:
diff b1.hex b2.hex
  • Or
vimdiff b1.hex b2.hex

Using bsdiff

$ apt-get install bsdiff

$ bsdiff old_prog.bin new_prog.bin patch.bin
$ bspatch old_prog.bin output.bin patch.bin