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Loading saved results is broken in IDA

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Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
35/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Stale

Research direction

Start by reproducing the saved-results workflow in IDA Pro using the listed steps: diff b.idb against a.idb, save the results, restart IDA, and reload them. Compare the reloaded results with the original diff; the issue is done when both produce the same results without the hash warning causing inaccurate output.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Describe the bug
Attempting to load saved bindiff results always yields the incorrect results.

To Reproduce

  1. Load IDB b.idb
  2. Diff idb a.idb
  3. Save results of diff b v a
  4. Close ida
  5. Load IDB b.idb
  6. Load results

Get the following message prompt

The original file hash from the database that is currently loaded is different
from the primary one in the result file:
hash (this IDB)
other-hash (programname.exe, to be loaded)

If you continue, the results will likely be inaccurate.

  1. Hit continue
    8)Results do not match the contents of the diff observed at step 2

Expected behavior

Step 6 and step 2 should yield the same results

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Environment (please complete the following information):

  • OS and version: Windows 11
  • Locale: US English]
  • Disassembler and version: IDA Pro 8.x, IDA Pro 9.x

Additional context
Been this way for a long time.

Dominant language
Java
Stars
3.2k
Forks
240
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

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