I have a compiled executable (binary) file - mybin - which grep indicates contains a positive match with a given text string - Cats.
grep "Cats" mybin
Binary file mybin matches
If I use the -a flag with grep, I can now see the actual match:
grep -a "File" mybin
<lots of text> (QString)Cats <lots of text>
Just to be clear, this is not a plain text string within the binary file i.e. I cannot see it if I open the file with a text editor.
What I want to do is replace occurrences of the string Cats within the binary file with the string Bear and keep the executable as a working executable.
How do I do this without changing it in the source code and recompiling the binary? Is such an operation even possible without corrupting the executable file and its operation?
If it is possible:
- How would do I do it?
- Are there any pitfalls I need to be aware of, for example the replacement string must be the same length as the original string (e.g.
Cats->Bearis ok butCats->Dragonsis not).
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
