Microsoft Portable Executable and Common Object File Format Specification Updated: March 27, 2008
This document specifies the structure of executable (image) files and object files under the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems. These files are referred to as Portable Executable (PE) and Common Object File Format (COFF) files respectively. The name "Portable Executable" refers to the fact that the format is not architecture-specific. Revision 8.1 of the Microsoft Portable Executable and Common Object File Format Specification specifies the structure of object and executable files supported by Visual Studio 2008 (Version 9.0 of Visual Studio) and the current Microsoft Windows family of operating systems, including Windows Server 2008. Revision 8.1 replaces all previous versions of this specification. Revision 8.1 has been revised to better describe how Authenticode signing is accommodated, including: •Section 5.7, The Attribute Certificate Table (Image Only), has been substantially revised to clarify how Authenticode signatures are handled. •Appendix A, Calculating Authenticode PE Image Hash, has been removed from the specification and incorporated into a separate document, Windows Authenticode Portable Executable Signature Format