Today, as we continue along through our .NET Exception Handling series, we're going to take a look at the System.BadImageFormatException. System.BadImageFormatException has nothing to do with gifs or jpgs, but instead, occurs when a .NET application attempts to load a dynamic link library (.dll) or executable (.exe) that doesn't match the proper format that the current common language runtime (CLR) expects.
Throughout this article we'll see exactly where System.BadImageFormatException sits within the .NET exception hierarchy and look at a few potential causes of System.BadImageFormatExceptions, so let's get to it!
System.Exception base class, or derived from another inherited class therein.System.SystemException is inherited from the System.Exception class.System.BadImageFormatException is inherited from the System.SystemException class.As previously mentioned, a System.BadImageFormatException occurs in very specific circumstances: When .NET attempts to make use of a .dll or .exe that is, in some way, incompatible with the current common language runtime. What qualifies as an "incompatible common language runtime" can vary somewhat, but typically this means either the .NET version (1.1, 2.0, etc) OR the CPU type (32-bit vs 64-bit) of the various compiled assemblies do not match.
Ultimately, System.BadImageFormatExceptions are an indication of incompatible versioning. For many modern software applications, major versions of often include breaking compatibility issues, preventing backward compatibility with some aspects of previous versions. .NET assemblies (.dlls or .exes) are much the same, and attempting to make use of two different types of assemblies that contain incompatibilities will often generate a System.BadImageFormatException.
To illustrate, we'll go through a few different examples. I've included the full code example below for reference, after which we'll explore the specifics in more detail:
using System;
using System.Reflection;
using Utility;namespace Airbrake.BadImageFormatException
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
LoadingNonDotNetLibraryExample();
Logging.Log("-----------------");
DifferingCPUExample();
Logging.Log("-----------------");
OldDotNetExample();
}private static void LoadingNonDotNetLibraryExample()
{
try
{
// Generate path to notepad.exe.
string filePath = Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables("%windir%") + @"\System32\notepad.exe";
Assembly assem = Assembly.LoadFile(filePath);
}
catch (System.BadImageFormatException exception)
{
Logging.Log(exception);
}
}private static void DifferingCPUExample()
{
try
{
// Load Utility.dll, a 64-bit assembly.
Assembly assem = Assembly.LoadFrom(@".\Utility.dll");
Logging.Log(assem.ToString());
}
catch (System.BadImageFormatException exception)
{
Logging.Log(exception);
}
}private static void OldDotNetExample()
{
try
{
// Load Author-1.1.dll (compiled in .NET 1.1).
Assembly assem = Assembly.LoadFrom(@".\Author-1.1.dll");
Logging.Log(assem.ToString());
}
catch (System.BadImageFormatException exception)
{
Logging.Log(exception);
}
}
}
}using System;
using System.Diagnostics;namespace Utility
{
/// <summary>
/// Houses all logging methods for various debug outputs.
/// </summary>
public static class Logging
{
/// <summary>
/// Outputs to <see cref="System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine"/> if DEBUG mode is enabled,
/// otherwise uses standard <see cref="Console.WriteLine"/>.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="value">Value to be output to log.</param>
public static void Log(object value)
{
#if DEBUG
Debug.WriteLine(value);
#else
Console.WriteLine(value);
#endif
}/// <summary>
/// When <see cref="Exception"/> parameter is passed, modifies the output to indicate
/// if <see cref="Exception"/> was expected, based on passed in `expected` parameter.
/// <para>Outputs the full <see cref="Exception"/> type and message.</para>
/// </summary>
/// <param name="exception">The <see cref="Exception"/> to output.</param>
/// <param name="expected">Boolean indicating if <see cref="Exception"/> was expected.</param>
public static void Log(Exception exception, bool expected = true)
{
string value = $"[{(expected ? "EXPECTED" : "UNEXPECTED")}] {exception.ToString()}: {exception.Message}";
#if DEBUG
Debug.WriteLine(value);
#else
Console.WriteLine(value);
#endif
}
}
}
The first (and arguably most common) way to raise a System.BadImageFormatException is when attempting to make use of an unmanaged assembly, as if it were an assembly created with the .NET Framework. Unmanaged assemblies are assemblies that have been generated from code that is not handled and compiled by the common language runtime of .NET. This includes many older applications and assemblies, particularly those created for 32-bit systems.
As an example, here we're trying to load an unmanaged assembly -- specifically the well-known notepad.exe assembly that resides in our Windows/System32 directory:
private static void LoadingNonDotNetLibraryExample()
{
try
{
// Generate path to notepad.exe.
string filePath = Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables("%windir%") + @"\System32\notepad.exe";
Assembly assem = Assembly.LoadFile(filePath);
}
catch (System.BadImageFormatException exception)
{
Logging.Log(exception);
}
}
.NET is not to pleased with this, since notepad.exe is not managed (wasn't compiled using .NET), and thus throws a System.BadImageFormatException:
[EXPECTED] System.BadImageFormatException: The module was expected to contain an assembly manifest. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131018)
at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.nLoadFile(String path, Evidence evidence)
at System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFile(String path)
at Airbrake.BadImageFormatException.Program.LoadingNonDotNetLibraryExample() in D:\work\Airbrake.io\Exceptions\.NET\Airbrake.BadImageFormatException\Program.cs:line 26: The module was expected to contain an assembly manifest. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131018)
Another way we might throw a System.BadImageFormatException is when trying to load an assembly that was compiled using a different CPU type than what we're executing .NET on currently.
For example, throughout many of our code snippets we've been making use of our simple Utility namespace that contains the Logging class, making it a bit easier to output log information during debugging and testing. By default, our Utility.dll is compiled as a 64-bit assembly. However, if we switch our current CPU configuration to execute as an x86 (32-bit) CPU, we run into some trouble:
private static void DifferingCPUExample()
{
try
{
// Generate path to Utility.dll, a 64-bit assembly.
Assembly assem = Assembly.LoadFrom(@".\Utility.dll");
Logging.Log(assem.ToString());
}
catch (System.BadImageFormatException exception)
{
Logging.Log(exception);
}
}
When attempting to load our Utility.dll assembly, which is 64-bit, while compiling our current code as 32-bit, .NET throws a System.BadImageFormatException, informing us these formats are mismatched:
[EXPECTED] System.BadImageFormatException: An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007000B)
at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.nLoadFile(String path, Evidence evidence)
at System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFile(String path)
at Airbrake.BadImageFormatException.Program.DifferingCPUExample() in D:\work\Airbrake.io\Exceptions\.NET\Airbrake.BadImageFormatException\Program.cs:line 40: An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007000B)
Lastly, we also run into trouble if we attempt to load an assembly that was compiled using a much older version of .NET (such as .NET 1.1):
private static void OldDotNetExample()
{
try
{
// Load Author-1.1.dll (compiled in .NET 1.1).
Assembly assem = Assembly.LoadFrom(@".\Author-1.1.dll");
Logging.Log(assem.ToString());
}
catch (System.BadImageFormatException exception)
{
Logging.Log(exception);
}
}
In cases like the one above, the System.BadImageFormatException will often be thrown at compile-time, rather than at runtime, since the .NET compiler recognizes the incompatibility before attempting to execute any of the code in the first place.
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