Packet Sniffer

A Python-based packet sniffer that captures and analyzes network packets, supporting various protocols including Ethernet, IPv4, TCP, UDP, ICMP, ARP, DNS, HTTP, and FTP.

Overview

This packet sniffer is a Python script designed for network administrators and cybersecurity enthusiasts to monitor and analyze network traffic. It utilizes raw sockets to capture packets directly from a specified network interface. The captured packets are processed to extract and display detailed information about each packet, including protocol-specific details such as IP addresses, port numbers, and payload data.

Features

• Protocol Support: Handles Ethernet, IPv4, TCP, UDP, ICMP, ARP, DNS, HTTP, and FTP protocols.
• Dynamic Capture Mode: Allows starting and stopping packet capture dynamically from the interactive command line prompt.
• Output Options: Supports saving captured packets to a file in raw text, JSON, or PCAP format.
• Filtering: Capture specific traffic types like tcp, udp, icmp, arp, dns, http, or ftp.
• Verbose Logging: Provides detailed logging with options for increased verbosity.
• Cross-platform: Designed to run on Linux (requires root permissions for raw sockets).

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your_username/packet-sniffer.git
   cd packet-sniffer

2. Install dependencies: Ensure Python 3.x is installed. Install the required libraries using pip:

   pip install scapy

   (If a requirements.txt is present, you can run pip install -r requirements.txt)

Usage

You must run the script with root privileges (sudo) to bind to raw sockets.

Basic Usage

Capture packets on a specific network interface (-i or --interface):

sudo python3 packet_sniffer.py -i wlan0

Filtering Traffic

Capture specific types of packets using the -f or --filter flag (e.g., tcp, udp, icmp, arp, dns, http, ftp, or all):

sudo python3 packet_sniffer.py -i eth0 -f http

Dynamic Mode

Enable dynamic start/stop of packet capture using the -d or --dynamic flag:

sudo python3 packet_sniffer.py -i eth0 -d

Once started, type start to begin capturing, stop to pause, and exit to quit.

Output Options

• Raw Output: Append raw packet data to a specified file (-o).

  sudo python3 packet_sniffer.py -i wlan0 -o captured_packets.txt

• JSON Output: Save packet details in JSON format to a file (-o and --json).

  sudo python3 packet_sniffer.py -i wlan0 -o packets.json --json

• PCAP Output: Save captured packets in PCAP format for analysis in tools like Wireshark (-o and --pcap).

  sudo python3 packet_sniffer.py -i wlan0 -o capture.pcap --pcap

Verbose Logging

Increase output verbosity with the -v or --verbose flag:

sudo python3 packet_sniffer.py -i wlan0 -v

Supported Protocols

The packet sniffer supports parsing the following protocols:

• Ethernet
• IPv4
• TCP
• UDP
• ICMP
• ARP
• DNS
• HTTP
• FTP

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please fork the repository and create a pull request for any enhancements, bug fixes, or new features. Ensure your code adheres to PEP 8 style guidelines and includes appropriate tests.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/YourFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/YourFeature)
5. Create a new Pull Request