Glossary
Entry Point
The virtual address where the OS loader transfers control to a binary after loading it into memory.
The entry point is the virtual address stored in a binary's header (PE Format AddressOfEntryPoint or ELF Format e_entry) where the operating system's loader jumps after mapping the file into memory. For a C program this is typically the C runtime stub (_start or mainCRTStartup) rather than main itself. When a packer compresses or encrypts a binary, it replaces the entry point with its own stub; the address where execution eventually transfers to the original code is called the Original Entry Point (OEP).