Instruction Set Validator

This utility analyzes x86_64 ELF binaries to determine which CPU instruction sets (such as SSE, AVX, AVX2, AVX-512, etc.) are used by the binary. It is useful for verifying binary compatibility with target CPUs, especially when deploying to environments with varying hardware capabilities.

Features

• Detects and lists all CPU instruction sets used by a given binary.
• Accepts either a single binary file or a directory.
• If a directory is specified, recursively finds all executable files and reports the union of all instruction sets used.
• Supports Linux (uses Unix file permissions to detect executables).

Getting Started

Downloading the Sources

Clone the repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd instruction_set_validator

Replace <repository-url> with the actual URL of the repository if not already cloned.

Building

Make sure you have Rust installed (edition 2021 or newer).

Build the project in release mode:

cargo build --release

The compiled binary will be located in target/release/instruction-set-validator.

Usage

cargo run --release -- <path-to-binary-or-folder>

• If you provide a file, it will print the instruction sets used by that binary.
• If you provide a directory, it will recursively scan for executables and print the union of all instruction sets used.

Example Output

Binary ./my_binary uses the following CPU features:
  SSE2
  AVX
  AVX2

Or for a directory:

All binaries in ./bin/ use the following CPU features (union):
  SSE2
  AVX
  AVX2
  AVX512F

Requirements

• Rust (edition 2021)
• Linux (for directory scanning and executable detection)

License

MIT