go-ext4 is a pure Go implementation of an Ext4 reader with support for reading the journal. An example of how to walk the file-structure:

inodeNumber := InodeRootDirectory

filepath := path.Join(assetsPath, "hierarchy_32.ext4")

f, err := os.Open(filepath)
log.PanicIf(err)

defer f.Close()

_, err = f.Seek(Superblock0Offset, io.SeekStart)
log.PanicIf(err)

sb, err := NewSuperblockWithReader(f)
log.PanicIf(err)

bgdl, err := NewBlockGroupDescriptorListWithReadSeeker(f, sb)
log.PanicIf(err)

bgd, err := bgdl.GetWithAbsoluteInode(inodeNumber)
log.PanicIf(err)

dw, err := NewDirectoryWalk(f, bgd, inodeNumber)
log.PanicIf(err)

allEntries := make([]string, 0)

for {
    fullPath, de, err := dw.Next()
    if err == io.EOF {
        break
    } else if err != nil {
        log.Panic(err)
    }

    description := fmt.Sprintf("%s: %s", fullPath, de.String())
    allEntries = append(allEntries, description)
}

sort.Strings(allEntries)

for _, entryDescription := range allEntries {
    fmt.Println(entryDescription)
}

// Output:
//
// directory1/fortune1: DirectoryEntry
// directory1/fortune2: DirectoryEntry
// directory1/fortune5: DirectoryEntry
// directory1/fortune6: DirectoryEntry
// directory1/subdirectory1/fortune3: DirectoryEntry
// directory1/subdirectory1/fortune4: DirectoryEntry
// directory1/subdirectory1: DirectoryEntry
// directory1/subdirectory2/fortune7: DirectoryEntry
// directory1/subdirectory2/fortune8: DirectoryEntry
// directory1/subdirectory2: DirectoryEntry
// directory1: DirectoryEntry
// directory2/fortune10: DirectoryEntry
// directory2/fortune9: DirectoryEntry
// directory2: DirectoryEntry
// lost+found: DirectoryEntry
// thejungle.txt: DirectoryEntry

This project is used to directly read the filesystem, file, and journal data without the support of kernel or the FUSE interface. Therefore, no elevated privileges are required.