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VB Decompiler

A modern, open-source decompiler for Visual Basic 6 executables (EXE, DLL, OCX) with a Ghidra/IDA-like GUI.

Features

  • Cross-platform: Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS
  • Multi-format support: Native code (x86), P-Code, DLL, and OCX files
  • Multi-level analysis: Disassembly → Intermediate Representation → High-level VB6 code
  • Advanced GUI: Qt 6-based interface with:
    • Disassembly viewer with syntax highlighting
    • Decompiled code viewer
    • Hex viewer
    • Function/Form browser
    • Cross-reference analysis
    • String and resource extraction
    • Control flow graph visualization
  • Fast core: Written in Zig for performance and safety
  • Extensible: C API for integration with other tools

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           Qt 6/C++ 23 GUI Frontend              │
│  (Ghidra/IDA-like interface with all features)  │
└───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┘
                │ C API (FFI)
┌───────────────▼─────────────────────────────────┐
│          libvbdecomp.so/.dll/.dylib             │
│         (Zig Shared Library - Core)             │
└───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┘
                │
┌───────────────▼─────────────────────────────────┐
│          vbdecomp CLI Tool (Zig)                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Building

Prerequisites

  • Zig 0.13.0 or later
  • CMake 3.20 or later
  • Qt 6 6.5 or later
  • C++ compiler with C++23 support (GCC 13+, Clang 16+, MSVC 2022+)

Build Instructions

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/VBDecompiler.git
cd VBDecompiler

# Build the Zig core
cd core
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe
cd ..

# Build with CMake (includes GUI)
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .

# Or use the build script
./scripts/build.sh

Build Options

  • BUILD_GUI=ON/OFF - Build Qt GUI (default: ON)
  • BUILD_CLI=ON/OFF - Build CLI tool (default: ON)
  • BUILD_TESTS=ON/OFF - Build tests (default: ON)

Usage

CLI Tool

# Analyze a VB6 executable
./vbdecomp analyze program.exe

# Disassemble a function
./vbdecomp disasm program.exe --address 0x401000

# Decompile a function
./vbdecomp decompile program.exe --address 0x401000

# Extract resources
./vbdecomp extract program.exe --output ./resources/

GUI

# Launch the GUI
./vbdecomp-gui

# Open a file directly
./vbdecomp-gui program.exe

Project Status

Current Phase: Phase 1 - Foundation

  • Project structure
  • Build system setup
  • PE parser implementation
  • VB6 detector
  • Basic CLI tool
  • C API skeleton

See docs/architecture.md for detailed architecture documentation.

Documentation

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 (LGPL-3.0). See LICENSE for details.

Acknowledgments

  • VB6 format research from the reverse engineering community
  • Inspiration from Ghidra, IDA Pro, and other decompiler projects
  • P-Code and LLVM IR concepts for intermediate representation

Disclaimer

This tool is intended for legitimate reverse engineering purposes such as:

  • Security research and vulnerability analysis
  • Software archaeology and preservation
  • Interoperability and compatibility work
  • Educational purposes

Users are responsible for ensuring their use complies with applicable laws and licenses.