PE-bear — PE triage GUI
For legal, authorized and educational use only. Only analyze software you own or have written permission to examine.
Quick answer
PE-bear (hasherezade/pe-bear) is a Portable Executable reversing helper with a friendly GUI. Release v0.7.2 (2026-06-05 UTC) is GPL-2.0. It shines for first-look PE triage on Windows binaries you are authorized to open.
Snapshot
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| License | GPL-2.0 |
| Latest checked | v0.7.2 (2026-06-05 UTC) |
| Job | PE structure viewing / light reversing GUI |
| Stars (order of magnitude) | ~3.9k on GitHub (counts change daily) |
| Typical next step | Ghidra / Cutter / x64dbg / dnSpyEx (.NET) |
When PE-bear helps
- Confirm section layout, imports and anomalies before deep decompilation.
- Teach PE basics without overwhelming beginners.
- Compare clean vs suspicious builds you are allowed to keep.
When to use something else
| Need | Prefer |
|---|---|
| Packer/compiler guess | Detect It Easy |
| Hex patterns / templates | ImHex |
| .NET assemblies | dnSpyEx vs ILSpy |
| Live Windows debugging | x64dbg |
Legal boundaries
- No guidance for cracking commercial protectors on unauthorized software.
- No malware distribution.
- Official upstream releases only — BinBench does not host PE-bear binaries.
Which to pick
- Start with PE-bear for readable PE maps, then escalate to a full RE suite.
- Pair with DiE for packer hints and ImHex for raw bytes.
- Authorization first, GUI second.
For legal, authorized and educational use only.
FAQ
What is PE-bear?
A Portable Executable reversing tool with a friendly GUI for inspecting PE structure (headers, sections, imports, and related views).
Which version is cited?
v0.7.2 published 2026-06-05 UTC (checked 2026-10-24).
License?
GPL-2.0 per GitHub SPDX on hasherezade/pe-bear.
Is it a full decompiler?
No. Use it for PE structure triage, then open interesting code in Ghidra, Cutter, x64dbg or a commercial suite you licensed.
Can it unpack pirated software?
BinBench will not document unpacking unauthorized copies. Analyze software you own or may examine.