aarch64-cssc

AArch64 FEAT_CSSC instruction support for IDA Pro and Ghidra.

Installation

IDA Pro

# Install plugin
./plugins/ida/install.sh

# Development mode (symlinks for live editing)
IDA_PLUGIN_MODE=link ./plugins/ida/install.sh

# Custom IDA plugins directory
./plugins/ida/install.sh /path/to/ida/plugins

Restart IDA Pro after installation.

Ghidra

# Install and rebuild language pack
GHIDRA_HOME=/path/to/ghidra ./plugins/ghidra/install.sh

# Skip SLEIGH rebuild (manual rebuild required)
GHIDRA_HOME=/path/to/ghidra ./plugins/ghidra/install.sh --skip-build

Use my macOS app (shameless self-plug)

Install nice stand-alone macOS app packaged version of Ghidra

brew install --cask blacktop/tap/ghidra-app 

Install the lanuage extension

./plugins/ghidra/install.sh /Applications/Ghidra.app/Contents/Resources/ghidra

Re-import or reopen binaries in Ghidra after installation.

Usage

IDA Pro

The plugin auto-loads when opening AArch64 binaries. If needed, manually load via: Edit → Plugins → AArch64 CSSC

Ghidra

Instructions are automatically recognized after installation. No manual activation required.

Supported Instructions

IDA Pro

• UMAX/UMIN (register, 32/64-bit)
• Hex-Rays decompiler intrinsics: __cssc_umax, __cssc_umin

Ghidra

• ABS (register, 32/64-bit)
• CNT (register, 32/64-bit)
• CTZ (register, 32/64-bit)
• SMAX/SMIN (register, 32/64-bit)
• UMAX/UMIN (register, 32/64-bit)
• Decompiler intrinsics: __cssc_abs, __cssc_cnt, __cssc_ctz
• Min/max operations use conditional patterns recognized by the decompiler

Adding Instructions

IDA Pro

Edit plugins/ida/aarch64_cssc.py and add entries to CSSC_INSTRUCTIONS list.

Ghidra

Edit plugins/ghidra/sleigh/AARCH64_CSSC.sinc following existing patterns.

Reference

ARM instruction encodings: arm-xml/isa_a64/ISA_A64_xml_A_profile-2025-06/

Credit

Shout out to dougall's Apple AMX plugin

License

MIT Copyright (c) 2025 blacktop