Language Translation Contribution in Python; VirusTotal Hash Check Plugin in Java.

This post is geared toward power-users who would like to take advantage of API additions that shipped with the latest JEB update.¹

TL;DR: see below for a language translation contribution in Python, and a VirusTotal hash check plugin in Java.

Contributions

With JEB 2.3.6, users can now write their own unit contribution plugins in Python (or Java, of course).

First, let’s recap: JEB extensions consist of back-end plugins, and front-end scripts. Front-end scripts are written in Python and execute in the context  of a client (generally, the UI client, but it could also be a script executed by a headless, command-line JEB client). Back-end plugins form a more diverse realm: they consist of parser plugins (eg, disassemblers, decompilers, decoders, etc.), generic engines plugins, and contribution plugins.  They are mostly written in Java – although that is slowly changing as we are adding program-wide support for JEB extensions in Python.

Contribution plugins can enhance the output produced by parser plugins. A concrete example: an interactive disassembly or other text output (eg, a decompiled piece of Java or C code) is made of text items; a contribution can provide additional information to a client about a given item, when the client requests it. When it comes to the main JEB UI client, that information can be requested when a user hovers its mouse over an interactive text item.

Several contributions are already built-in, such as those providing live variable and register values when debugging a program; or the Javadoc contribution that displays API documentation on Java disassembly. Users may also write their own contributions.

• Contributions extend IUnitContribution;
• They can target any type of unit;
• They can be written in Java or in Python;
• They are plugins,  and as such, should be dropped into the JEB’s coreplugins/ folder (Python contributions will need a Jython package in that folder as well);
• A Python contribution must be named exactly like the contribution class name (in the above below, SampleContribution.py)

The skeleton of a Python contribution that would enhance all code units would look like:

class SampleContributionPlugin(IUnitContribution):

  def __init__(self):
    pass
  
  def getPluginInformation(self):
    return PluginInformation(...)

  def isTarget(self, unit):
    return isinstance(unit, ICodeUnit)

  def setPrimaryTarget(self, unit):
    self.target = unit

  def getPrimaryTarget(self):
    return self.target

  def getItemInformation(self, targetUnit, itemId, itemText):
    # provide info about an item or a bit of text

  def getLocationInformation(self, targetUnit, location):
    return None

We uploaded a sample contribution plugin that works for text documents produced by any type of parser plugin (eg, disassembly, decompiled code, etc.). The contribution uses Google to provide real-time translations of the text snippet your mouse pointer is currently on:

Note that you do not need a Google API key for it to work: the plugin scrapes Google search out; as such it is quite brittle and will almost certainly break in the future, but keep in mind this is a demo/sample to get you started for your own contributions.

VirusTotal Report Plugin

On a side-note, JEB 2.3.6 also ships with a VirusTotal hash checker plugin (disabled by default). This plugin automatically checks the hash of top-level units against the VirusTotal database.

We open-sourced it on GitHub (VirusTotalReportPlugin.java).

To set it up, run File, Plugins, Execute an Engines Plugin, VT Report Plugin:

Then, enter your VirusTotal API key; you’re good to go. Newly processed files will be automatically checked against VT and a log message as well as a notification will be stored to let you know the outcome.

That’s it for today — until next time!