Best tool(s) for decompiling Lua bytecode?

scripting lua bytecode decompiling
Jonathan Prior picture Jonathan Prior · Apr 13, 2009 · Viewed 50.4k times · Source

I am really having trouble finding a good working Lua bytecode decompiler. I'm trying to decompile some scripting files I found in a game but they appear to be compiled, yet don't seem impossible to decode. What's the best tool to decompile Lua binaries?

Answer

RBerteig picture RBerteig · Apr 13, 2009

It looks like LuaDec itself was last updated for Lua 5.0.2. A new version targeting Lua 5.1.x bytecode has been released as LuaDec51. The wiki is always a good place to start looking for resources as mentioned by f3lix. The mailing list is also a good place to ask.

Do note that it is relatively easy to add obfuscation or even encryption to the bytecode loader. Neither would require edits to the Lua core. If the system you are analyzing has taken any of those measures, you might have more work to do.

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