SQLite Database Files as Executable ELF Binaries via binfmt_misc
Simon Willison's link blog reports Farid Zakaria's Linux pattern in which a SQLite database file is made directly executable by writing the four-byte application ID 'SELF' into the SQLite header at offset 68, arranging the ELF executable's components into SQLite tables, and registering a binfmt_misc handler that routes such files to a self-exec interpreter. The post is a brief secondary description and does not include the full schema, interpreter source, or performance analysis.
The pattern moves the constraint that a SQLite file is passive data only manipulable by database tooling: once tagged with 'SELF' and registered with binfmt_misc, the same file becomes the kernel-level entry point of a process, with its database tables supplying the executable components.
Evidence is limited to a short link-blog entry with one illustrative command. The core claims are plausible because binfmt_misc is a standard kernel mechanism, but the post does not provide the primary repository, schema details, or any evaluation of correctness, overhead, or security. The strongest support is the binfmt_misc registration snippet; the weakest is the vague description of ELF components stored in SQLite tables.