There are also multiple reasons for a program to read its own executable. - Decompressing and inflating a compressed binary block with a generic decompressor a

There are also multiple reasons for a program to read its own executable. - Decompressing and inflating a compressed binary block with a generic decompressor at the top (e.g. a bash or python script with a binary blob at the end) - Checksumming its own executable (skipping the checksum string) to resist virus infection. Not bulletproof but viruses aren't usually smart enough to circumvent this