pwndbg

pwndbg (/paʊnˈdiˌbʌɡ/) is a GDB and LLDB plug-in that makes debugging suck less,
with a focus on features needed by low-level software developers, hardware hackers,
reverse-engineers and exploit developers.

It has a boatload of features, see FEATURES.md
and CHEATSHEET (feel free to print it!). If you have any questions you may read the
documentation or asks us in our Discord server.

Why?

Vanilla GDB and LLDB are terrible to use for reverse engineering and exploit development.
Typing x/30gx $rsp or navigating cumbersome LLDB commands is not fun and often provides
minimal information. The year is 2025, and core debuggers still lack many user-friendly
features such as a robust hexdump command. Windbg users are completely lost when they
occasionally need to bump into GDB or LLDB.

Pwndbg is a Python module which is loaded directly into GDB or LLDB. It provides a suite
of utilities and enhancements that fill the gaps left by these debuggers, smoothing out
rough edges and making them more user-friendly.

Installation

See installation instructions.

What about …?

Many other projects from the past (e.g., gdbinit, PEDA) and present
(e.g. GEF) exist to fill some of these gaps. Each provides an excellent experience
and great features – but they’re difficult to extend (some are unmaintained, and all
are a single 100KB, 200KB, or 363KB file (respectively)).

Pwndbg exists not only to replace all of its predecessors, but also to have a clean
implementation that runs quickly and is resilient against all the weird corner cases
that come up.

When to Use GDB or LLDB?

Pwndbg supports both GDB and LLDB, and each debugger has its own strengths.
Here’s a quick guide to help you decide which one to use:

Pwndbg ensures a consistent experience across both, so switching between them is seamless.

The LLDB implementation in pwndbg is still in early-stage and may contain bugs or limitations.

Known issues are tracked in GitHub Issues.

If you encounter any problems, feel free to report them or discuss on our Discord server.

Compatibility Table

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome ❤️. Check out the Contributing Guide.

Acknowledgements

Pwndbg was originally created by Zach Riggle, who is no longer with us. We want to thank Zach for all of his contributions to pwndbg and the wider security community.