Reverse engineer a classic game ROM via Ghidra MCP
Open on another device. Task: The author used Claude connected to Ghidra via an open-source MCP server to reverse engineer an Atari 8-bit ROM. The workflow involved importing the binary, identifying the 6502 architecture, and locating the lives decrement logic through pattern recognition. Human intervention was critical for manual memory rebasing and applying the binary patch, as the MCP tools lacked write access for these operations.; tools: Claude. Human role: The original post does not say how a person stayed involved.; limitations: MCP setup is fragile with no standard distribution, requiring manual git cloning. The tool chain (Claude → MCP → Ghidra) has multiple failure points. AI lacks write permissions for critical operations like memory rebasing and binary patching, necessitating manual intervention. Response times are slow for interactive sessions..
Tools
Published on Agent Work Atlas:
Overview
Open on another device
Workflow
The author used Claude connected to Ghidra via an open-source MCP server to reverse engineer an Atari 8-bit ROM. The workflow involved importing the binary, identifying the 6502 architecture, and locating the lives decrement logic through pattern recognition. Human intervention was critical for manual memory rebasing and applying the binary patch, as the MCP tools lacked write access for these operations.
Reported result
The AI successfully identified the platform and located the specific code pattern for the lives counter, but failed to correctly identify the game title. The final hack worked, with the lives counter remaining fixed at 3 in the emulator. The process was slow due to batch tool calls, and the AI could not perform necessary write operations like rebasing or patching directly.
Human role
The original post does not say how a person stayed involved.
Limitations
MCP setup is fragile with no standard distribution, requiring manual git cloning. The tool chain (Claude → MCP → Ghidra) has multiple failure points. AI lacks write permissions for critical operations like memory rebasing and binary patching, necessitating manual intervention. Response times are slow for interactive sessions.
Try it
Act as a reverse engineering assistant. I have an Atari 8-bit ROM file [replaceable: path/to/rom.bin] and want to find the code controlling the lives counter. Connect to Ghidra via MCP. First, import the ROM and identify the CPU architecture. Analyze hardware registers to confirm the platform. Search for the 'load, decrement, store' pattern associated with lives. Do not attempt to write to the binary or rebase memory; instead, provide the exact offset and instruction bytes for me to patch manually. Output the analysis in a structured format: Platform ID, Memory Issue, Target Offset, Original Byte, Proposed Byte. If the MCP connection fails or tools lack permissions, stop and report the specific error. Confirm with me before I apply any changes.
Source reports are not independently verified. Publication date is the catalog publication date, not the original article date.