pyvex
A Python interface to libVEX and VEX IR
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you are building binary analysis, reverse engineering, or program verification tools and need cross-architecture support. The active maintenance, lack of known vulnerabilities, and prebuilt wheels for major platforms reduce friction. Be aware of the GPL-2.0-only copyleft component and ensure your project's license is compatible before integrating.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.12 or later; cffi requires a C compiler or prebuilt wheels (provided for major platforms).
- Medium install friction due to compiled dependencies (cffi, bitstring).
- Actively maintained with recent releases; last commit 2026-08-13.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD-2-Clause AND GPL-2.0-only (copyleft) — Dual-licensed under BSD-2-Clause and GPL-2.0-only (copyleft). GPL-2.0-only component means derivative works must be distributed under GPL-2.0-only; verify compatibility with your project's license before use.
last release 2026-08-05 (9 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-13 · 376 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 614,793 downloads/mo, #5,745 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pyvex
import pyvex
# Lift machine code bytes into VEX IR
irsb = pyvex.lift(b"\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90", 0x400400)
# Inspect the IR block
irsb.pp()
print(irsb.next)
print(irsb.jumpkind)- Whether cffi and bitstring dependencies introduce additional system-level build requirements beyond standard Python tooling
- Performance characteristics when lifting large binaries or in batch analysis scenarios
- External dependencies required to use the package beyond cffi and bitstring (e.g., archinfo for architecture support)
What it is and what it does
PyVEX is a Python interface to libVEX, the intermediate representation engine used by binary analysis tools. It translates machine code from diverse CPU architectures into VEX IR, an architecture-agnostic representation that abstracts away instruction set differences, register naming, memory access patterns, and instruction side-effects. This allows a single analysis algorithm to work across all supported architectures.
VEX IR models code as blocks of statements and expressions: expressions represent calculated or constant values (register reads, memory loads, arithmetic results), statements model machine state changes (register writes, memory stores, conditional exits), and temporary variables act as internal registers. The package lets you lift raw machine bytes into IR blocks, inspect their structure, iterate through statements and expressions, and examine type information—enabling binary analysis, reverse engineering, program verification, and security research without architecture-specific logic.
Use it for
- Lift machine code binaries into VEX IR for architecture-agnostic static analysis
- Extract control flow and data flow from basic blocks by traversing IR statements and expressions
- Build binary instrumentation or symbolic execution tools that need a unified IR across multiple architectures
- Analyze instruction side-effects (flag updates, register modifications) made explicit in VEX representation
- Reverse-engineer or audit binaries by examining the IR translation of machine code at a semantic level
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you are building binary analysis, reverse engineering, or program verification tools and need cross-architecture support.
The active maintenance, lack of known vulnerabilities, and prebuilt wheels for major platforms reduce friction. Be aware of the GPL-2.0-only copyleft component and ensure your project's license is compatible before integrating.
Install
pyvex on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to compiled dependencies (cffi, bitstring). Actively maintained with recent releases; last commit 2026-08-13. Supports Python 3.12+ with prebuilt wheels for major platforms (x86_64, aarch64, Windows, macOS).
Requires Python 3.12 or later; cffi requires a C compiler or prebuilt wheels (provided for major platforms).
License in practice
Dual-licensed under BSD-2-Clause and GPL-2.0-only (copyleft). GPL-2.0-only component means derivative works must be distributed under GPL-2.0-only; verify compatibility with your project's license before use.
Quickstart
pip install pyvex
import pyvex
# Lift machine code bytes into VEX IR
irsb = pyvex.lift(b"\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90", 0x400400)
# Inspect the IR block
irsb.pp()
print(irsb.next)
print(irsb.jumpkind)Verify before relying
- Whether cffi and bitstring dependencies introduce additional system-level build requirements beyond standard Python tooling
- Performance characteristics when lifting large binaries or in batch analysis scenarios
- External dependencies required to use the package beyond cffi and bitstring (e.g., archinfo for architecture support)
Package facts
| License | BSD-2-Clause AND GPL-2.0-only copyleft |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.12 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 2 packagesbitstringcffi |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 9 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 614,793 / month, #5,745 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Programming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14 |
Evidence: pyvex-9.3.2-cp312-abi3-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; pyvex-9.3.2-cp312-abi3-manylinux2014_aarch64.manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux_2_28_aarch64.whl; pyvex-9.3.2-cp312-abi3-manylinux2014_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux_2_28_x86_64.whl; pyvex-9.3.2-cp312-abi3-musllinux_1_2_aarch64.whl; pyvex-9.3.2-cp312-abi3-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; pyvex-9.3.2-cp312-abi3-win_amd64.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “binary code lifting IR”
- pyvexPyVEX provides Python bindings to libVEX, translating machine code…
- pypcodepypcode provides machine code disassembly and intermediate…
- llvmlitellvmlite provides a lightweight Python binding to LLVM's IR builder,…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Software Development packages
Provides backported and experimental type hints for Python 3.9+, allowing use of newer typing features on older Python versions and enabling early experimentation with type system PEPs before they enter the standard library.
NumPy provides an N-dimensional array object and a comprehensive suite of mathematical, linear algebra, Fourier transform, and random number functions for scientific computing in Python.
FastAPI is a Python web framework for building REST APIs using type hints, with automatic request validation, serialization, and interactive API documentation.
Provides a way to document function parameters, class attributes, return types, and variables inline using Python's `Annotated` type hint syntax instead of traditional docstrings.
Typer builds command-line applications from Python functions using type hints, automatically generating help text, argument parsing, and shell completion.
Install it if you are building CLIs in Python.
Distlib provides low-level packaging utilities for building, distributing, and managing Python software—including metadata handling, version specifiers, wheel support, script installation, and dependency resolution.
See also pypcode · bfi · onnx-ir · pyqir · lib4vex · llvmlite · nvidia-cuda-tileiras · nvidia-nvvm · einx · ailment