Security testing with hping
Firewalls and Session State
Suppose you want to determine how well your firewall is able to record requests for Microsoft protocols across the network. To use hping3 to generate the packets for this test, issue the following commands:
hping www.acme.net -S -c 1 -p 139 hping www.acme.net -S -A -c 1 -p 139 hping www.acme.net -S -A -c 1 -p 135
These commands generate packets that the firewall – if its capability for maintaining state is working – will record. To verify this, you'll need to check the firewall's logs and use a packet sniffer.
Christmas Tree Packet
A Christmas tree packet [5] is a TCP packet that has almost every flag set, which is useful for bypassing firewalls and for launching various other forms of attack.
To create a Christmas tree packet using hping3, issue the following command:
hping3 -F -P -U 10.44.45.15 -p 0
Firewalls and Time Stamps
In many cases, a firewall will automatically drop packets that don't have a time stamp. To add a time stamp to your packets, use the -timestamp option in your command:
hping3 -S 72.14.207.99 -p 80 --tcp-timestamp
The results will help you determine whether you need to enable timestamp filtering on the firewall.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
LibreOffice 7.5 has Arrived and is Loaded with New Features and Improvements
The favorite office suite of the Linux community has a new release that includes some visual refreshing and new features across all modules.
-
The Next Major Release of Elementary OS Has Arrived
It's been over a year since the developers of elementary OS released version 6.1 (Jólnir) but they've finally made their latest release (Horus) available with a renewed focus on the user.
-
KDE Plasma 5.27 Beta Is Ready for Testing
The latest beta iteration of the KDE Plasma desktop is now available and includes some important additions and fixes.
-
Netrunner OS 23 Is Now Available
The latest version of this Linux distribution is now based on Debian Bullseye and is ready for installation and finally hits the KDE 5.20 branch of the desktop.
-
New Linux Distribution Built for Gamers
With a Gnome desktop that offers different layouts and a custom kernel, PikaOS is a great option for gamers of all types.
-
System76 Beefs Up Popular Pangolin Laptop
The darling of open-source-powered laptops and desktops will soon drop a new AMD Ryzen 7-powered version of their popular Pangolin laptop.
-
Nobara Project Is a Modified Version of Fedora with User-Friendly Fixes
If you're looking for a version of Fedora that includes third-party and proprietary packages, look no further than the Nobara Project.
-
Gnome 44 Now Has a Release Date
Gnome 44 will be officially released on March 22, 2023.
-
Nitrux 2.6 Available with Kernel 6.1 and a Major Change
The developers of Nitrux have officially released version 2.6 of their Linux distribution with plenty of new features to excite users.
-
Vanilla OS Initial Release Is Now Available
A stock GNOME experience with on-demand immutability finally sees its first production release.