diff --git a/avocado/utils/process.py b/avocado/utils/process.py
index f091db36e8b92c94f7ef492ce76b032034863f8f..cfaf81deb37d289a4fe911af07e74687865d9454 100644
--- a/avocado/utils/process.py
+++ b/avocado/utils/process.py
@@ -22,8 +22,12 @@ import StringIO
 import signal
 import subprocess
 import time
+import stat
+import shlex
 import threading
 
+from avocado import gdb
+from avocado import runtime
 from avocado.core import exceptions
 
 log = logging.getLogger('avocado.test')
@@ -404,6 +408,226 @@ class SubProcess(object):
         return self.result
 
 
+class GDBSubProcess(object):
+
+    '''
+    Runs a subprocess inside the GNU Debugger
+    '''
+
+    def __init__(self, cmd, verbose=True):
+        self.cmd = cmd
+
+        self.args = shlex.split(cmd)
+        self.binary = self.args[0]
+        self.binary_path = os.path.abspath(self.cmd)
+        self.result = CmdResult(cmd)
+
+        self.gdb_server = gdb.GDBServer()
+        self.gdb = gdb.GDB()
+        self.gdb.connect(self.gdb_server.port)
+        self.gdb.set_file(self.binary)
+
+    def _get_breakpoints(self):
+        breakpoints = []
+        for expr in runtime.GDB_RUN_BINARY_NAMES_EXPR:
+            expr_binary_name, breakpoint = split_gdb_expr(expr)
+            binary_name = os.path.basename(self.binary)
+            if expr_binary_name == binary_name:
+                breakpoints.append(breakpoint)
+
+        if not breakpoints:
+            breakpoints.append(gdb.GDB.DEFAULT_BREAK)
+        return breakpoints
+
+    def generate_gdb_connect_cmds(self):
+        current_test = runtime.CURRENT_TEST
+        if current_test is not None:
+            binary_name = os.path.basename(self.binary)
+            script_name = '%s.gdb.connect_commands' % binary_name
+            path = os.path.join(current_test.outputdir, script_name)
+            cmds = open(path, 'w')
+            cmds.write('file %s\n' % self.binary)
+            cmds.write('target extended-remote :%s\n' % self.gdb_server.port)
+            cmds.close()
+            return path
+
+    def generate_gdb_connect_sh(self):
+        cmds = self.generate_gdb_connect_cmds()
+        if not cmds:
+            return
+
+        current_test = runtime.CURRENT_TEST
+        if current_test is not None:
+            binary_name = os.path.basename(self.binary)
+
+            fifo_name = "%s.gdb.cont.fifo" % os.path.basename(binary_name)
+            fifo_path = os.path.join(runtime.CURRENT_TEST.workdir, fifo_name)
+
+            script_name = '%s.gdb.sh' % binary_name
+            script_path = os.path.join(current_test.outputdir, script_name)
+            script = open(script_path, 'w')
+            script.write("#!/bin/sh\n")
+            script.write("%s -x %s\n" % (gdb.GDB.GDB_PATH, cmds))
+            script.write("echo -n 'C' > %s\n" % fifo_path)
+            script.close()
+            os.chmod(script_path, stat.S_IRUSR | stat.S_IWUSR | stat.S_IXUSR)
+            return (script_path, fifo_path)
+
+    def handle_break_hit(self, response):
+        self.gdb.disconnect()
+        script_path, fifo_path = self.generate_gdb_connect_sh()
+
+        msg = ("\n\nTEST PAUSED because of debugger breakpoint. "
+               "To DEBUG your application run:\n%s\n\n"
+               "NOTE: please use *disconnect* command in gdb before exiting, "
+               "or else the debugged process will be KILLED\n" % script_path)
+
+        runtime.CURRENT_TEST.paused = True
+        runtime.CURRENT_TEST.paused_msg = msg
+        runtime.CURRENT_TEST.report_state()
+        runtime.CURRENT_TEST.paused_msg = ''
+
+        os.mkfifo(fifo_path)
+        f = open(fifo_path, 'r')
+        c = f.read(1)
+        f.close()
+        os.unlink(fifo_path)
+        return c
+
+    def _is_thread_stopped(self):
+        result = False
+        thread_info_result = self.gdb.cmd("-thread-info")
+        thread_info_mi_result = thread_info_result.result
+        if hasattr(thread_info_mi_result, 'result'):
+            thread_info = thread_info_mi_result.result
+            current_thread = thread_info.current_thread_id
+            for thread in thread_info.threads:
+                if current_thread == thread.id and thread.state == "stopped":
+                    result = True
+                    break
+        return result
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _get_exit_status(parsed_msg):
+        """
+        Returns the exit code converted to an integer
+        """
+        code = parsed_msg.result.exit_code
+        if (code.startswith('0x') and len(code) > 2):
+            return int(code[2:], 16)
+        elif (code.startswith('0') and len(code) > 1):
+            return int(code[1:], 8)
+        else:
+            return int(code)
+
+    def wait_for_exit(self):
+        """
+        Waits until debugger receives a message about the binary exit
+        """
+        result = False
+        messages = []
+        while True:
+            try:
+                msgs = self.gdb.read_until_break()
+                messages += msgs
+            except:
+                pass
+
+            try:
+                msg = messages.pop(0)
+                parsed_msg = gdb.parse_mi(msg)
+                if gdb.is_exit(parsed_msg):
+                    self.result.exit_status = self._get_exit_status(parsed_msg)
+                    result = True
+                    break
+
+                elif gdb.is_break_hit(parsed_msg):
+                    # waits on fifo read() until end of debug session is notified
+                    r = self.handle_break_hit(parsed_msg)
+                    if r == 'C':
+                        self.gdb.connect(self.gdb_server.port)
+                        if self._is_thread_stopped():
+                            r = self.gdb.cli_cmd("continue")
+                        else:
+                            log.warn('Binary "%s" terminated inside the '
+                                     'debugger before avocado was resumed. '
+                                     'Because important information about the '
+                                     'process was lost, we will assume it '
+                                     'exited with status 0. Please let avocado'
+                                     ' finish the execution of your binary to '
+                                     'have dependable results.', self.binary)
+                            self.result.exit_status = 0
+                            result = True
+                            break
+
+            except IndexError:
+                continue
+
+        return result
+
+    def run(self, timeout=None):
+        for b in self._get_breakpoints():
+            self.gdb.set_break(b, ignore_error=True)
+
+        result = self.gdb.run(self.args[1:])
+        while True:
+            r = self.wait_for_exit()
+            if r:
+                self.gdb.disconnect()
+                self.gdb_server.exit()
+                return self.result
+
+
+def split_gdb_expr(expr):
+    '''
+    Splits a GDB expr into (binary_name, breakpoint_location)
+
+    Returns :attr:`avocado.gdb.GDB.DEFAULT_BREAK` as the default breakpoint
+    if one is not given.
+
+    :param expr: an expression of the form <binary_name>[:<breakpoint>]
+    :type expr: str
+    :returns: a (binary_name, breakpoint_location) tuple
+    :rtype: tuple
+    '''
+    expr_split = expr.split(':', 1)
+    if len(expr_split) == 2:
+        r = tuple(expr_split)
+    else:
+        r = (expr_split[0], gdb.GDB.DEFAULT_BREAK)
+    return r
+
+
+def should_run_inside_gdb(cmd):
+    '''
+    Wether the given command should be run inside the GNU debugger
+
+    :param cmd: the command arguments, from where we extract the binary name
+    '''
+    args = shlex.split(cmd)
+    cmd_binary_name = os.path.basename(args[0])
+
+    for expr in runtime.GDB_RUN_BINARY_NAMES_EXPR:
+        binary_name = os.path.basename(expr.split(':', 1)[0])
+        if cmd_binary_name == binary_name:
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
+def get_sub_process_klass(cmd):
+    '''
+    Which sub process implementation should be used
+
+    Either the regular one, or the GNU Debugger version
+
+    :param cmd: the command arguments, from where we extract the binary name
+    '''
+    if should_run_inside_gdb(cmd):
+        return GDBSubProcess
+    else:
+        return SubProcess
+
+
 def run(cmd, timeout=None, verbose=True, ignore_status=False):
     """
     Run a subprocess, returning a CmdResult object.
@@ -423,7 +647,8 @@ def run(cmd, timeout=None, verbose=True, ignore_status=False):
     :return: An :class:`avocado.utils.process.CmdResult` object.
     :raise: :class:`avocado.core.exceptions.CmdError`, if ``ignore_status=False``.
     """
-    sp = SubProcess(cmd=cmd, verbose=verbose)
+    klass = get_sub_process_klass(cmd)
+    sp = klass(cmd=cmd, verbose=verbose)
     cmd_result = sp.run(timeout=timeout)
     fail_condition = cmd_result.exit_status != 0 or cmd_result.interrupted
     if fail_condition and not ignore_status:
diff --git a/selftests/all/unit/avocado/utils_process_unittest.py b/selftests/all/unit/avocado/utils_process_unittest.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2c19ff30e1f9c4820e9322bd3b8e1afe09e31041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/selftests/all/unit/avocado/utils_process_unittest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python
+
+import unittest
+
+from avocado import runtime
+from avocado.utils import process
+
+
+class TestGDBProcess(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.current_runtime_expr = runtime.GDB_RUN_BINARY_NAMES_EXPR[:]
+
+    def cleanUp(self):
+        runtime.GDB_RUN_BINARY_NAMES_EXPR = self.current_runtime_expr
+
+    def test_should_run_inside_gdb(self):
+        runtime.GDB_RUN_BINARY_NAMES_EXPR = ['foo']
+        self.assertTrue(process.should_run_inside_gdb('foo'))
+        self.assertTrue(process.should_run_inside_gdb('/usr/bin/foo'))
+        self.assertFalse(process.should_run_inside_gdb('/usr/bin/fooz'))
+
+        runtime.GDB_RUN_BINARY_NAMES_EXPR.append('foo:main')
+        self.assertTrue(process.should_run_inside_gdb('foo'))
+        self.assertFalse(process.should_run_inside_gdb('bar'))
+
+        runtime.GDB_RUN_BINARY_NAMES_EXPR.append('bar:main.c:5')
+        self.assertTrue(process.should_run_inside_gdb('bar'))
+        self.assertFalse(process.should_run_inside_gdb('baz'))
+        self.assertTrue(process.should_run_inside_gdb('bar 1 2 3'))
+        self.assertTrue(process.should_run_inside_gdb('/usr/bin/bar 1 2 3'))
+
+    def test_get_sub_process_klass(self):
+        runtime.GDB_RUN_BINARY_NAMES_EXPR = []
+        self.assertIs(process.get_sub_process_klass('/bin/true'),
+                      process.SubProcess)
+
+        runtime.GDB_RUN_BINARY_NAMES_EXPR.append('/bin/false')
+        self.assertIs(process.get_sub_process_klass('/bin/false'),
+                      process.GDBSubProcess)
+        self.assertIs(process.get_sub_process_klass('false'),
+                      process.GDBSubProcess)
+        self.assertIs(process.get_sub_process_klass('true'),
+                      process.SubProcess)
+
+    def test_split_gdb_expr(self):
+        binary, breakpoint = process.split_gdb_expr('foo:debug_print')
+        self.assertEqual(binary, 'foo')
+        self.assertEqual(breakpoint, 'debug_print')
+        binary, breakpoint = process.split_gdb_expr('bar')
+        self.assertEqual(binary, 'bar')
+        self.assertEqual(breakpoint, 'main')
+        binary, breakpoint = process.split_gdb_expr('baz:main.c:57')
+        self.assertEqual(binary, 'baz')
+        self.assertEqual(breakpoint, 'main.c:57')
+        self.assertIsInstance(process.split_gdb_expr('foo'), tuple)
+        self.assertIsInstance(process.split_gdb_expr('foo:debug_print'), tuple)
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()