is a core step in reverse engineering Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) based Android games. This process extracts the engine's library from the device's memory to bypass protection layers and generate an SDK for further analysis. Prerequisites Rooted Device or Virtual Space : Most dumping tools require root access via
in a terminal or must be run within a virtual environment (like VMOS) if the device is not rooted. Android NDK
: Required if you plan to build the dumper from source code. : Popular updated options include: kp7742/UE4Dumper
: A command-line tool used to dump the library and generate SDK structures. MJx0/AndUEDumper
: Supports both library injection and standalone executable usage. Spuckwaffel/UEDumper
: A powerful engine dumper that includes a live editor and offline mode. Step-by-Step Dumping Guide Prepare the Executable
Download the precompiled binaries for your architecture (arm64-v8a or armeabi-v7a). dump libue4so upd
to move the executable to a directory with execution permissions, typically /data/local/tmp . Note that usually does not allow executing binaries. Set the correct permissions using a terminal or adb: chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/ue4dumper Launch the Target Game
Open the game and let it reach the main menu or a stable state to ensure is fully loaded into memory. Execute the Dump Command Run the dumper with the required flags. For kp7742/UE4Dumper , the basic command is:
./ue4dumper --package
: (Optional) Outputs the raw library without rebuilding the ELF header. : (Optional) Speeds up the process but may miss some bytes. : Required for games running on UE 4.23 or newer. Verify the Output The dumped files (usually
and generated SDK headers) will be saved to your specified output path or the game's data folder (e.g., /sdcard/Android/data/
You can verify the functions in the dumped library using commands like nm --demangle -D libUE4.so Unreal Engine Troubleshooting Common Issues is a core step in reverse engineering Unreal
can I package ue4 project into so and call methods from android apps?
While the dump libue4.so upd technique is neutral in itself, using it to:
However, security research, modding on private servers, and academic analysis of game engine security are generally protected under fair use (depending on jurisdiction).
Always obtain explicit permission before dumping any commercial game’s libUE4.so.
radare2 or Ghidra to compare old vs new dumpUWorld::Tick).rodataPeriodically hash the .text section of libUE4.so in memory and crash if modified.
If a competitor releases an Unreal Engine game, dumping libUE4.so reveals their optimization level, custom allocators, and sometimes hardcoded server endpoints. Bypass in-app purchases – violates DMX/Copyright law
// Frida script to dump libUE4.so from memory var libUE4 = Process.getModuleByName("libUE4.so"); var base = libUE4.base; var size = libUE4.size;console.log(
[+] libUE4.so base: $base size: $size);
var data = base.readByteArray(size); var f = new File("/sdcard/dump_libUE4.so", "wb"); f.write(data); f.close(); console.log("[+] Dumped to /sdcard/dump_libUE4.so");
Run with:
frida -U -l dump_ue4.js com.target.game
Unlike Unity games that rely on global-metadata.dat and Assembly-CSharp.dll, Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) compiles its game logic into native code inside libUE4.so. This single file is often 100–300 MB compressed and contains:
When developers strip symbols (using strip --strip-all), the libUE4.so becomes "black box" binary—function names vanish, leaving only relative addresses.
This is where dumping comes in.