nmap / nmap/npcap

Time to drop WinPcap supprt and have NPCAP dlls in C:\WINDOWS\system32\

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Dominant language
C
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Description

Hi,
I recently stumbled across https://github.com/the-tcpdump-group/libpcap/issues/1368
At the very least I think it's time to have NPCAP as the default in the dll path and possibly get rid of all code related to
WinPcap, AirPcap and TurboPcap. WinPcap has not been supported for many years, AirPcap HW is no longer manufactured and I'm not sure how useful it would be with modern WiFi standards. I would guess turbopcap is outdated by now as well...
So geting rid of all that outdated code would make sense I think.

Contributor guide

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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

No files, tests, or entry points are named. Start by reviewing the linked libpcap issue and locating the DLL selection and WinPcap, AirPcap, and TurboPcap code; done means NPCAP is the default DLL path and the obsolete support is removed without breaking packet capture on Windows.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
networking, operating-systems
Issue type
Refactor
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
28/100

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