NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · IOException

Program signature generation failure

Error message

Program signature generation failure: {e.getMessage()}

What it means

Thrown by UpdateRepository.process when GenSignatures throws an LSHException during metadata generation for a program. The original LSHException is caught and re-wrapped as an IOException with a 'Program signature generation failure' prefix. This is the metadata-only path (scanFunctionsMetadata), used for updates rather than full signature generation.

Solutions

1. Open the specific program in the Ghidra GUI and verify analysis completed successfully.
2. Check that the program's processor/language is supported by the BSim configuration (weight file, language module).
3. Run auto-analysis on the program before signature generation.
4. Inspect the original LSHException message (it is in the IOException message after the prefix) for the specific cause.

Example fix

// before
catch (LSHException e) {
    throw new IOException("Program signature generation failure: " + e.getMessage());
}

// after — include program name and preserve cause
catch (LSHException e) {
    throw new IOException("Signature generation failed for " +
        program.getDomainFile().getName() + ": " + e.getMessage(), e);
}

// Verify the program is analyzed and has functions before signature generation
FunctionManager fman = program.getFunctionManager();
if (fman.getFunctionCount() == 0) {
    throw new IllegalStateException(
        "Program has no functions: " + program.getName() +
        ". Run auto-analysis first.");
}
// Verify the processor is supported by checking against the weight configuration

public static boolean isProgramReadyForSignatures(Program program) {
    return program != null &&
        program.getFunctionManager().getFunctionCount() > 0 &&
        program.getLanguage() != null;
}

try {
    updateRepo.process(program, monitor);
} catch (IOException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("Program signature generation failure")) {
        // Log the program that failed and continue with remaining programs
        Msg.error(this, "Skipping " + program.getName() + ": " + e.getMessage());
        continue; // in a repository iteration loop
    }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: GenSignatures.openProgram or scanFunctionsMetadata fails with an LSHException — the program may have an unsupported processor/language, missing analysis, or the vector factory configuration may be incompatible. The UpdateRepository is iterating over programs in a Ghidra repository and generating metadata files.

Common situations: A program in the repository has an unsupported processor or was not fully analyzed; the BSim configuration's weight vector or language setting doesn't match the program's architecture; the program file is corrupted; the decompiler or function body extraction failed for all functions.

Related errors

• ${e.getMessage()}
• all function symbols are not from the same program
• all function symbols are not from the same program
• Already inserted
• Already inserted

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b52f6b805622cd39. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at Ghidra/Features/BSim/src/main/java/ghidra/features/bsim/query/ingest/BulkSignatures.java:1110

				gensig.setVectorFactory(vectorFactory);
				gensig.addExecutableCategories(info.execats);
				gensig.addFunctionTags(info.functionTags);
				gensig.addDateColumnName(info.dateColumnName);
				Msg.info(this, "Generating metadata for: " + program.getDomainFile().getName());
				String path = GenSignatures.getPathFromDomainFile(program);
				gensig.openProgram(program, null, null, null, repo, path);
				gensig.scanFunctionsMetadata(null, null);
				DescriptionManager manager = gensig.getDescriptionManager();
				if (manager.numFunctions() == 0) {
					Msg.warn(this,
						program.getDomainFile().getName() + " contains no functions with bodies");
				}
				try (FileWriter fwrite = new FileWriter(file)) {
					manager.saveXml(fwrite);
				}
			}
			catch (LSHException e) {
				throw new IOException("Program signature generation failure: " + e.getMessage());
			}
		}
	}

	private class SignatureRepository extends IterateRepository {

		private File outdirectory;
		private String repo; // Repository URL to include with signature metadata
		private boolean overwrite; // True if existing signature files should be overwritten
		private DatabaseInformation info; // Database configuration (may affect signature generation)
		private LSHVectorFactory vectorFactory;

		public SignatureRepository(File outdir, String rp, boolean owrite, DatabaseInformation i,
				LSHVectorFactory vFactory) {
			outdirectory = outdir;
			repo = rp;
			overwrite = owrite;
			info = i;

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