### 17.6 Patching Programs

By default, gdb opens the file containing your program's executable code (or the corefile) read-only. This prevents accidental alterations to machine code; but it also prevents you from intentionally patching your program's binary.

If you'd like to be able to patch the binary, you can specify that explicitly with the `set write` command. For example, you might want to turn on internal debugging flags, or even to make emergency repairs.

`set write on`
`set write off`
  If you specify ``set write on`', gdb opens executable and core files for both reading and writing; if you specify `set write off` (the default), gdb opens them read-only.

  If you have already loaded a file, you must load it again (using the `exec-file` or `core-file` command) after changing `set write`, for your new setting to take effect.

`show write`
  Display whether executable files and core files are opened for writing as well as reading.