My Experience with Ghidra

I installed Ghidra 12.1.2, the free and open-source reverse engineering framework originally developed by the NSA. It is one of the most capable free tools available for analyzing compiled binaries.

How I Installed It on Debian

I downloaded the official release from GitHub and extracted it:

Bash

cd ~/Downloads
wget https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/releases/download/Ghidra_12.1.2_build/ghidra_12.1.2_PUBLIC_20260605.zip
unzip ghidra_12.1.2_PUBLIC_20260605.zip
cd ghidra_12.1.2_PUBLIC
./ghidraRun

Ghidra requires a recent Java JDK. Once launched, I create a new project, import a binary, and let it auto-analyze the file.

Why I Use Ghidra

I use Ghidra when I want:

  • Strong free decompilation (very close to IDA’s Hex-Rays)
  • Analysis of large binaries and firmware
  • Cross-platform reverse engineering (Linux, Windows, macOS)
  • Scripting with Java or Python
  • A complete free alternative to commercial tools

It works well alongside IDA Free, GDB/GEF, and angr.