Word.ws English Dictionary

shellcode

shellcode noun: a small piece of code, used as the payload of a virus or other malware, that launches a shell so that the attacker can control the compromised computer.

Noun

shellcode (countable and uncountable, plural shellcodes)

  1. A small piece of code, used as the payload of a virus or other malware, that launches a shell so that the attacker can control the compromised computer.
    • In ELF executables, there aren't a whole lot of code caves (such as in the PE format), so you are not likely to be able to shove more than just a meager amount of shellcode into existing code slots […]2016, Ryan "elfmaster" O'Neill, Learning Linux Binary Analysis (page 97)

Forms of shellcode

pluralshellcodes

Origin of shellcode

From shell + code.

Questions about shellcode

What does shellcode mean?
Shellcode means a small piece of code, used as the payload of a virus or other malware, that launches a shell so that the attacker can control the compromised computer.
What part of speech is shellcode?
Shellcode is a noun.
What is the plural of shellcode?
The plural of shellcode is shellcodes.

Words near shellcode in the dictionary

  1. shellbeads
  2. shellbed
  3. shellbeds
  4. shellburst
  5. shellbursts
  6. shellcode
  7. shellcodes
  8. shellcracker
  9. shellcrackers
  10. shelldrake
  11. shelldrakes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shellcode (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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