nmap / nmap/npcap

Enhancement idea: configuration option to write packets in pcapng format

Open
#552 8 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Dominant language
C
Stars
3.6k
Forks
592
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

Npcap inherits WinPcap's interface, which means packets are written in something resembling the "pcap" file format (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-gharris-opsawg-pcap). If we supported writing the extensible pcapng format (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-tuexen-opsawg-pcapng), we could do things like:

  • Report statistics directly in the packet stream, including adding new statistics as we like without being concerned about backwards compatibility.
  • Avoid clearing the entire packet buffer when a capture configuration change is made, preferring instead to inject a block of appropriately descriptive metadata indicating exactly when the change took place (e.g. a new packet filter, etc.)
  • Report diagnostic info directly in the packet stream, such as changes to the adapter reported via Status Indications or average buffer occupancy.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing Npcap's existing packet-writing path and comparing its current output with the pcap and pcapng specifications linked in the issue. Define how statistics, configuration-change metadata, and adapter diagnostics should be represented, then verify that captures remain readable and preserve those events in the packet stream.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
networking
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.