Packet Capture
Sniffer, tcpdump, Ethereal,
ntop
What is Packet Capture?
Real time collection of data as it
travels over networks
Tools called:
packet sniffers
packet analysers
protocol analysers, and sometimes
even
traffic monitors
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
When Packet Capture?
Most powerful technique
When need to see what client and
server are actually saying to each
other
When need to analyse type of traffic
on network
Requires understanding of network
protocols to use effectively
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
Warning: Dont Get
Sacked!
Be sure that your boss agrees with you
capturing packets on your companys
network
People have been sacked for doing this
without permission!
Do not invade the privacy of others
Capturing passwords with insecure
protocols such as telnet, ftp, http (that is
not encrypted with TLS) is very easy
DONT DO IT!
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
tcpdump
Available everywhere
Windows: http://windump.polito.it/
Syntax also used by other programs (such as
Ethereal)
Often it is the only tool available, so good to
know
Works by putting network interface into
promiscuous mode
normal Ethernet interface will ignore packets not
addressed to it
in promiscuous mode, will examine all packets that
arrive, even those not addressed to it
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
How to use tcpdump
Can just type its name (as root):
$ sudo tcpdump
...but get a huge amount of data!
Can restrict the data collected
using a filter
A filter may select addresses,
protocols, port numbers,...
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
tcpdump: some options
-c n capture a count of n packets then stop
-w file write raw data to file.
-i interface collect from interface instead of lowest
numbered network interface
-s bytes collect no more than bytes of data from each
packet instead of default 68 bytes
-e show link level info, e.g., Ethernet addresses
-x gives a hexadecimal dump of packets
Very useful can filter and analyse this later with tcpdump,
ethereal or other tools
but you cannot see what you are capturing till later!
excluding link level data
-X display ASCII as well as hexadecimal if have x option too
Many more options: man tcpdump
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
tcpdump Filters: host and
port
Show all network traffic to and
from 192.168.0.1:
tcpdump host 192.168.0.1
Show packets to 192.168.0.1:
tcpdump dst 192.168.0.1
Show packets to port 68 on
192.168.0.1:
tcpdump dst 192.168.0.1 and port 68
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
tcpdump filters: networks
Capture traffic to or from
205.153.60/24:
tcpdump net 172.19.64/18
can specify network as source or
destination:
tcpdump src net 205.153.60/24
tcpdump dst net 172.19.64/18
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
tcpdump filters: protocol
tcpdump ip
tcpdump tcp
tcpdump ip proto ospf
This will catch DNS name lookups,
but not zone transfers (which use
tcp):
tcpdump udp port 53
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
10
tcpdump filters: combining
This will not work as you might expect:
tcpdump host ictlab and udp or
arp
Instead, need group with parentheses,
and quote:
tcpdump host ictlab and (udp or arp)
many more ways of filtering: man
tcpdump
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
11
IP Header
Version
Words
Time to Live
Source Address
Destination Address
Padding
Options (0 to 40 bytes)
Your data starts here
31
28
Fragmentation Offset
Header Checksum
Protocol
5-16
24
20
12
16
Total Length
Type of Service
Identification
2
3
8
IHL
DF
MF
Bits
TCP Header
Source Port
header
length
Reserved
URG
ACK
PSH
RST
SYN
FIN
Words
Acknowledgement Number
Window
Urgent Pointer
Checksum
Options (0 to 40 bytes)
5-15
Padding
Your data starts here
31
28
Sequence Number
24
Destination Port
20
16
12
Bits
UDP Header
31
16
Bits
Source Port
Destination Port
Length
Checksum
Your data starts here
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Network Troubleshoo
14
Writing data to a file
sudo tcpdump -c 1000 -w ~/tmp/tcpdump.pcap
tcpdump: listening on eth0
1014 packets received by filter
0 packets dropped by kernel
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
15
Reading a dumped file
$ tcpdump -nr ~/tmp/tcpdump.pcap arp
22:32:41.751452 arp who-has 172.19.127.254 tell 172.19.127.29
22:32:41.863173 arp who-has 172.19.64.52 tell 172.19.64.63
22:32:41.863198 arp reply 172.19.64.52 is-at 0:0:e2:35:af:ee
22:32:42.082584 arp who-has 172.19.65.16 tell 172.19.125.229
22:32:43.113655 arp who-has 172.19.123.211 tell 172.19.65.2
22:32:44.635149 arp who-has 172.19.65.16 tell 172.19.127.106
22:32:44.874117 arp who-has 172.19.65.6 tell 172.19.126.174
22:32:45.147178 arp who-has 172.19.65.16 tell 172.19.126.240
22:32:45.209507 arp who-has 172.19.127.254 tell 172.19.125.127
22:32:45.212484 arp who-has 172.19.127.175 tell 172.19.125.127
22:32:45.239445 arp who-has 172.19.127.254 tell 172.19.125.212
22:32:45.455863 arp who-has 172.19.65.16 tell 172.19.126.194
22:32:45.540507 arp who-has 172.19.126.50 (44:30:54:59:43:4d)
tell 172.19.65.10
22:32:45.562004 arp who-has 172.19.126.50 tell 172.19.65.2
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
16
HTTP
tcpdump -nr ~/tmp/tcpdump.pcap port http
22:43:32.633636 192.168.25.9.14075 > 172.19.64.52.http: S
1015952778:1015952778(0) win 6144 <mss 1460> (DF)
22:43:32.633693 172.19.64.52.http > 192.168.25.9.14075: S
1929920485:1929920485(0) ack 1015952779 win 5840 <mss 1460>
(DF)
22:43:32.635828 192.168.25.9.14075 > 172.19.64.52.http: P
1:590(589) ack 1 win 6144 (DF)
22:43:32.635906 172.19.64.52.http > 192.168.25.9.14075: . ack
590 win 6479 (DF)
22:43:32.636758 172.19.64.52.http > 192.168.25.9.14075: P
1:217(216) ack 590 win 6479 (DF)
22:43:32.636982 172.19.64.52.http > 192.168.25.9.14075: F
217:217(0) ack 590 win 6479 (DF)
22:43:32.639080 192.168.25.9.14075 > 172.19.64.52.http: R
590:590(0) ack 217 win 0 (DF)
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
17
tcpdump: When reading
TCP
format:
src > dst: flags data-seqno ack window urgent
options
Flags are some combination of S (SYN), F (FIN), P
(PUSH) or R (RST) or a single '.' (no flags).
The first time tcpdump sees a tcp 'conversation',
it prints the sequence number from the packet.
On subsequent packets of the conversation, the
difference between the current packet's sequence
number and this initial sequence number is printed.
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
18
Window
win nnn specifies data window the
sending host will accept in future
packets
I.e., the maximum number of bytes
TCP flow-control:
host reduces this number if congested or
overloaded
will sometimes set to 0 to temporarily halt
incoming traffic in this connection
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
19
Ethereal
King of the Packet Analysers!
Available for Linux, Unix,
Windows
Ethereal
Ethereal can read data captured by
tcpdump, e.g.,
$ ethereal r tcpdump.pcap
or File -> Open
Can capture data itself
Uses same filter language as
tcpdump
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
21
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Network Troubleshoo
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Network Troubleshoo
23
You can expand any
protocol:
If we click on the + next to
Bootstrap Protocol, we can see
the details of the DHCP Request:
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
24
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Network Troubleshoo
25
Display Filters
Note the box at the bottom of Ethereal for display
filters
Select only some of the packets captured for display
see man ethereal and search for DISPLAY FILTER
SYNTAX
Different syntax than the syntax for capture filters
Example:
ip.src==172.19.64.52 and ip.dest==172.19.64.57
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
26
Tools -> Follow TCP Stream
Can view the contents of an entire
TCP stream conversation, in ASCII or
in hexadecimal.
Be careful not to invade your
customers privacy.
Can use to check if a
communications stream is really
encrypted
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
27
Ntop: monitoring data at a
point
The Ntop program
listens on a network interface
puts an Ethernet interface into promiscuous
mode and
displays statistics through a web interface
Shows:
percentages of protocols,
which machines generate most traffic
which traffic is purely local, which traffic comes
from outside, which traffic goes from inside to
outside of network
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
28
Ntop RPM
I have made an RPM package of ntop
Can get from
/home/nfs/redhat/contrib/ntop-2.1.5120021031nu2.i386.rpm
its the best one available, or at least it was
when I made it :-)
source rpm is there too
Or search for it on http://rpmfind.net/
Note that you will be prompted for a
password when you install it.
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
29
Switched Networks
Problem: a switched network is really a pointto-point network
You cannot normally capture the unicast traffic
from other hosts on a single switch port
Solution: many switches support port
monitoring, where one port can monitor all
traffic on a specified VLAN
Example: Cisco 3500XL switches provide the
port monitor command:
port monitor vlan VLAN1
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
30
How monitor one
machine?
You are asked to check out a server on a switched network: what to do?
Use a small hub, and use a notebook running the capture software
Ethernet
Switch
mini-hub
Device under test
e.g., a server
Systems and
notebook
running capture software
Network Troubleshoo
31
Are switched networks
secure?
Is all unicast traffic on one port of a
switch private?
No, there are tools (dsniff) freely
available to temporarily make a
switch behave like a hub, or that
provide other ways to compromise
switch security.
Systems and
Network Troubleshoo
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