Poems of Malware Analysis: Shadows in the Stack Notes from the Binary Jungle

 

Poems of Malware Analysis

Shadows in the Stack: Notes from the Binary Jungle

 

 

“To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet, still.”
— Jiddu Krishnamurti

 

Seeker(李标明) @clibm079

China (中国)

Independent Malware Analyst & Researcher | Author of The Path of Clarity

From 2025.6 to 2025.8

 Download the Full Report (PDF)

 

 

Prologue

For me, poetry is a quiet dialogue with myself, a way to give voice to emotions I cannot say aloud.

 

 

Over a decade ago, I immersed myself in literature and began learning to write poetry. During journeys to serve customers, I found myself capturing what I saw and felt in verse. Those experiences became some of the most vivid memories of my early life as a programmer.

 

Years later, I entered a new chapter of my life as a cybersecurity researcher in a lab, where I chose the path of malware analysis. A year and a half later, I left the lab, but still on the path. I carried on as an independent malware analyst and researcher, and during those days at home I wrote many poems in Chinese, reflecting on the strange beauty and struggles of malware analysis.

In this collection, I just share a few of my old poems, written in the quiet of night or in the morning while I worked on malware reverse analysis in user mode in 2023, and these poems were written not long after each other. Those were memories stored in the brain, but they have now been translated into English and modified several times since 2025, which may have altered both the memory and the associated feelings slightly. They are traces of real experiences, preserved in verse. Poetry was once one of my deepest joys, and through these lines, I return to that part of myself.

I believe poetry offers another interesting and meaningful way to express and share the feelings and experiences that come with studying and analyzing malware. While poems may not be technical reports, something inside me drives me to write them—and I see this as an important part of my work as well, and it’s another path expanding the research of malware analysis in the cybersecurity field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paths and Leaves

 

Press F7 to step in—then step again.

Deeper and deeper into the code’s hidden logic,

I descended into darkness, lost among shifting shadows.

Again and again I stepped out, restarted—

breakpoints multiplying, yet revealing nothing.

But I did not give up.

 

At last, I reached nameless subroutines,

where each branching path unlocked ever more doors.

 

This morning, outside my kitchen window, the earth lay fresh with rain.

Large, mottled yellow leaves were scattered beneath the trees, across the road.

I wish every morning might hold such quiet beauty.

 

2023.02.09 Chinese draft version,

2025.8.18, 2025.8.25, and 2025.8.28 English version improvements.

 

 

Exploring a Complex Ransomware Core

To break through its anti-debugging walls,

I lost count of how many times I failed.

The real entry point remained out of reach.

 

Again, I advanced one step at a time with F7 in x64dbg,

Moving forward as if on a roundabout path.

To learn the history, the background of the malware:

Gathering samples, running, observing, comparing.

To explore its complex encryption maze.

To guess, to read pseudocode, to statically analyze, to set flags, to debug.

 

All the while, pieces of A4 paper covered my desk,

Filled with diagrams of different algorithms:

ECC, Salsa20, AES, RC4, CRC32, SHA-256, and Base64.

Time after time, I checked and confirmed them,

Grasping the hidden mathematics of these emotions.

I continued to explore, challenging my own limits with each step.

Until clarity was achieved.

 

From morning to night, from night to morning,

The logic of algorithms filled my dreams.

The behavior of keys and the dance of data

Until I mastered them, and began again.

 

Another day arrived. I sat before the computer,

Restarted, set some API breakpoints, and stepped through once more.

Observing the whispers of registers and memory.

Yes, I was lucky—I unpacked the first layer.

But the obfuscation techniques? I didn't understand them.

 

Calm down. Breathe. Keep moving forward.

Navigating the stack, moving in and out.

Doing this countless times, I reached the critical part.

And then—lucky again—a massive block of data in memory.

Everything revealed. I was shocked and excited.

 

I don't remember how many weeks passed,

Nights under a starless sky.

The echo of keystrokes was clearer in the small and silence room.

The music that kept me company through the night.

Some black and white hairs whispered their farewell.

They startled me when I swept the floor.

 

2023.04.13 Chinese draft version,

2025.8.14 and 2025.8.27 English version improvements.

 

 

Tracing the Phantom String

 

From morning to night, the day slipped away.

Another cycle ended — too fast, with no breakthrough.

 

In the binary jungle,

All paths fail, leading nowhere.

I struggle to decide which logic branch to take next.

 

I marked a loop — one detail stood out:

a 48-byte random string, quietly wiped from memory.

Fleeting. Gone.

 

Back then, I would restore the virtual machine snapshots.

Set a fresh breakpoint.

Step by step, I descended into the stack once more.

 

Suddenly A hidden DLL surfaced —silent.

But the origin of those 48 bytes?

Still unknown.

 

I wanted to move fast and inspect them —

so I rushed.

Oh God—an exception triggered, and it exited again.

 

Now I faced it once more:

a long road stretching ahead.

The breakpoint was more than mere control—

it had turned into a flag of inquiry,

planted in shadowed depths.

 

2023.02.13 Chinese draft version,

2025.8.24, 2025.8.26, and 2025.8.28 English version improvements.

 

 

Left Click, Right Click, Breathe

 

I’ve learned to “stop” as time moves on.
Now, I pay closer attention—to details,
especially to what I don’t yet know.

 

I pause. I look up. I learn. 

The unknown becomes known, 

and the known returns to the unknown. 

Between them, life shifts and flows.

 

To study functionality.
To examine each parameter.
These are the basic kung fu of a programmer—
the quiet discipline behind the code.

 

Silence surrounds me,
from morning to night.
I try. I seek. I make mistakes. I change.

 

And beneath it all, the same patterns repeat—
different names, same essence,
like a person wearing many masks.

 

Step by step,

when understanding runs deep, 

I press on. 

Yet sometimes, I must retreat.

 

Forward. Retreat. Repetition is key.

In this rhythm, time becomes meaningful.

I’ve come to see that stopping is not idle.—

It is silence.

it is thinking,

It is preparation.

 

I move forward, as time passes, 

driven by the constant click— 

left, right, left, right— 

endless clicks, 

endless attempts, 

each one marking a step along the path to knowing.

 

2023.02.14 Chinese draft version,

2025.8.20 and 2025.8.29 English version improvements.

 

 

One Flag, One Light

 

Yesterday, the heavy clouds leaned close to the earth.
Today, I restart — not just the machine, but myself —
to be free.

 

Far beyond, the remote solar system,
tireless photons race across the void.
Falling, like seeds to the soil.
silent, countless, full of promise.

 

And Earth — generous, patient Earth —
receives them all.
Life stirs. again.

 

After a long and difficult time —
Face to face with malware, with darkness, with unclear intent.
And in that confrontation,
Finally, I emerged from the lost binary jungle —
from confusion, from obfuscation, from silence.

 

I try to move forward —
not in a straight line, but in circles,
through repetition, through patience, through return.

 

I began to set flags on the stack —
They are like candles,
lit one by one,
glowing with a quiet, steady light —

And from my heart,
That light now shines outward.

 

2023.02.15 Chinese draft version,

2025.8.20, 2025.8.26 and 2025.8.30 English version improvements.

 

 

The 24-Byte Trace

 

Continue the Journey Through the Load

One step at a time,

navigating the depths of the stack—moving in, moving out

A 24-byte unknown string lies hidden in memory.

In the stillness of night,

the echo of keystrokes is my only companion.

I pace the room, back and forth.

Outside the window, the sky is empty.

I restore the virtual machine snapshots and

Now, I attempt to seek a new path.

Repetition is the true adversary.

Keep moving forward and branching into a new, uncharted sub-function.

I press forward, stepping deeper into the unknown stack.

Calm and peace, carefully avoiding exceptions.

I set to hide the PEB.

Yes, I’ve found it—the value I first glimpsed days ago.

Damn it. What a cunning design.

 

2023.02.19 Chinese draft version,

2025.8.13 and 2025.8.27 English version improvements.

 

 

Boil Water, Then Begin

 

I woke earlier today.

Stepped out as usual for bread,

Back to the silent house.

 

My room remains untouched:

Books on literature, philosophy, and technology are scattered across the sofa.

electronic devices huddled in the corner,

Only the hum of machines —

 

And now—I must boil water.

Prepare cereal in a cup.

Back again to the same game—

the cat chasing the mouse.

 

I’m not sure that

when the changing moment will come.

There is no other Buddha.

only the quiet within,

only the stillness of the mind.

 

So I return:

to observe, to pause, to go deeper.

One step at a time.

 

Jump. Observe. Step into the loop.

The same commands repeat:

XOR, Add, Shift Left.

The pattern and characteristics are very obvious.

 

Time does not pass in hours.

but in clicks of the mouse—

each one a breath,

each one a step forward.

 

2023.02.26 Chinese draft version,

2025.8.23, 2025.8.26 and 2025.8.30 English version improvements.

 

 

The Silent Hunt

 

To analyze you,
I must become an explorer.

Each quiet night,
A special focus.
Logic shifts —
A jump to another branch.
In and out of the stack,
Exiting the loop,
I observe your reactions,
and the memory's whispered output.

Sometimes: frustration.
Sometimes: excitement.
Sometimes: peace.

This is another slow, tough night.
A moment in a small space:
Probing where you came from,
And where you're going.

Step in, or step over.
Mostly: step by step.
All around, silence.

I move the mouse.
Click.
Click again.

An hour passes —
still no hit.

The only certainty:
Endless exploration.

You move, I move.
You stay still, I stay still.
You hide,
but I must discover you.

You're cunning.
But I must expose you.

 

2023.04.02 Chinese draft version and English version improvements, But I changed the title from “malware analysis” to “the silence hunt” on 2025.8.20.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epilogue

In the process of writing and revising poems in English, I’ve discovered that using a foreign language can, in turn, deepen my understanding of my native tongue. I’ve found that it allows me to revisit my own language from a fresh perspective. My foundation in my native language is still relatively weak, and naturally, English itself also requires continual refinement, especially when approaching ideas from different angles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appreciation of Chinese Classical Poetry

I once asked myself: Is there an ancient Chinese poem that can describe the process of malware analysis? Later, I realized that it perfectly captures the subtle feelings of my work as home in 2023, so I decided to share it with everyone.

 

寻 隐 者 不 遇

贾岛

 

松下问童子，言师采药去。

只在此山中，云深不知处。

 

For an Absent Recluse

Jia Dao

I ask your lad beneath a pine.

"My master has gone for herbs fine.

He stays deep in the mountain proud,

I know not where, veiled by the cloud."

 

   ——Tr.by 许渊冲

 

 

Xu Yuanchong (许渊冲)

Xu Yuanchong (April 18, 1921 - June 17, 2021), born in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, was a translator and a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Peking University.

 

 

Jia Dao (贾岛)

Jia Dao was a renowned Chinese poet of the mid-Tang Dynasty (779–843 AD). He is best known for his meticulous and intense focus on wording, spending great effort on refining and choosing the perfect word for his lines. This earned him a reputation as a "bitter-verse poet" or "poet who labors over his lines."

 

 

 

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© Seeker (李标明) @clibm079, 2025. All rights reserved.
This document may be freely shared for non-commercial purposes, provided that it remains unmodified and proper attribution is given to the author.