How to Identify Shared Library Dependencies of Linux Executables and Processes

Viewing executable's shared library dependencies

To find the libraries required by a specific executable, use the ldd command, which invokes the dynamic linker to list the program's library dependencies.

ldd /path/to/program

Note: Running ldd on untrusted binaries is not recommended because some versions may execute the program to determine dependencies, posing a security risk.

Instead, use a safer method with objdump to display needed libraries without executing the binary:

objdump -p /path/to/program | grep NEEDED

Viewing running process's shared library dependencies

If you need to see which libraries a running process has loaded, the pldd command lists all shared objects loaded by the process.

sudo pldd <PID>

Root privileges are required to execute pldd.

Alternatively, the pmap tool reports a process's memory map and also shows library dependencies.

sudo pmap <PID>

These commands provide reliable ways to inspect shared library usage on Linux systems while avoiding the security pitfalls of executing untrusted binaries.