Wireshark alternatives

Looking for an alternative tool to replace Wireshark? During the review of Wireshark we looked at other open source tools. Based on their category, tags, and text, these are the ones that have the best match.

Top 3

  1. EAPHammer (evil twin attack against WPA2-Enterprise network)
  2. Wifiphisher (phishing attack tool for WiFi)
  3. Chiron (IPv6 security assessment framework)

These tools are ranked as the best alternatives to Wireshark.

Alternatives (by score)

85

EAPHammer

Introduction

EAPHammer is a toolkit to perform a targeted evil twin attack against WPA2-Enterprise networks. It can be used during security assessments of the wireless network. The focus of EAPHammer is to provide a powerful interface while still being easy to use.

The attacks and features that EAPHammer supports are evil twin and karma attack, SSID cloaking, steal RADIUS credentials (WPA-EAP and WPA2-EAP), and hostile portal attacks to capture Active Directory credentials or perform indirect wireless pivots.

EAPHammer has an extensive set of features and comes with several WiFi related attacks. The GitHub page of the project has good documentation on the types of attacks and the requirements to perform them.

Project details

EAPHammer is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

  • + More than 500 GitHub stars
  • + The source code of this software is available
  • - No releases on GitHub available

Typical usage

  • Credential stealing
  • Network security assessment
  • Network spoofing

EAPHammer review

78

Wifiphisher

Introduction

Wifiphisher would have a good usage in security assessments to obtain credentials. In that regard it is considered to be an offensive tool, especially considering it could be used to infect the systems of victims with malware. Wifiphisher is not a brute forcing tool, but more focused to perform a social engineering attack.

Project details

Wifiphisher is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

  • + More than 25 contributors
  • + More than 5000 GitHub stars
  • + The source code of this software is available

    Typical usage

    • WiFi security analysis
    • Phishing attacks

    Wifiphisher review

    60

    Chiron

    Introduction

    Chiron is a security assessment framework for IPv6. It provides several modules including an IPv6 scanner, IPv6 Local Link, IPv4-to-IPv6 proxy, IPv6 attack module, and IPv6 proxy. These modules help to perform an assessment, like a penetration test.

    The tool uses IPv6 extension headers to create a headers chain. This may allow evading security devices like IDS, IPS, and firewalls. Due to the flexibility of the framework, the tool can also be used to perform fuzzing of the IPv6 stack of a device.

    Project details

    Chiron is written in Python.

    Strengths and weaknesses

    • + The source code of this software is available
    • - No releases on GitHub available

    Typical usage

    • Network analysis
    • Network scanning
    • Network security monitoring

    Chiron review

    64

    WarBerryPi

    Introduction

    WarBerryPi is a toolkit to provide a hardware implant during Physical penetration testing or red teaming. The primary goal of the tool is to obtain as much information as possible, in a short period of time. The secondary goal is to be stealthy to avoid detection. As the name implies, the tool can be used on a small device like a RaspberryPi.

    Another use-case of WarBerryPi is to be an entry point to the network. In that case, a 3G connection is suggested, to avoid the outgoing network filtering (egress rules).

    Project details

    WarBerryPi is written in Python.

    Strengths and weaknesses

    • + More than 2000 GitHub stars
    • + The source code of this software is available
    • - Minimal or no documentation available
    • - No releases on GitHub available

    Typical usage

    • Information gathering
    • Information snooping
    • Penetration testing
    • Red teaming

    WarBerryPi review

    100

    IVRE

    Introduction

    IVRE is a framework to perform reconnaissance for network traffic. It leverages other tools to pull in the data and show it in the web interface.

    Project details

    IVRE is written in Python.

    Strengths and weaknesses

    • + More than 10 contributors
    • + More than 1000 GitHub stars
    • + The source code of this software is available

      Typical usage

      • Digital forensics
      • Information gathering
      • Intrusion detection
      • Network analysis

      IVRE review

      64

      Pyersinia

      Introduction

      Pyersinia is a tool like Yersinia and can perform network attacks such as spoofing ARP, DHCP DoS , STP DoS, and more. It is written in Python and uses Scapy.

      Project details

      Pyersinia is written in Python.

      Strengths and weaknesses

      • + The source code of this software is available

        Typical usage

        • Network analysis
        • Penetration testing
        • Security assessment

        Pyersinia review

        63

        Zenmap

        Introduction

        Zenmap is a graphical user interface (GUI) for Nmap. It can be of great help to start a network scan by simply selecting the options you want. Besides Linux, it also runs on Microsoft Windows, macOS, BSD, and other flavors of Unix.

        One of the strengths of Zenmap is the ability to store profiles, which can be reused for later scans. The command creator is another one, which helps interactively create the right nmap commands. Recent scans are stored in a searchable database and scan results can be saved and compared.

        Project details

        Zenmap is written in Python.

        Strengths and weaknesses

        • + The source code of this software is available
        • + Well-known tool

          Typical usage

          • Network scanning
          • Penetration testing
          • Port scanning
          • Security assessment

          Zenmap review

          93

          Scapy

          Introduction

          Scapy can handle tasks like network scanning, tracerouting, probing, unit tests, attacks or network discovery. Due to its manipulation possibilities, Scapy can send invalid frames. It allows you also to inject custom 802.11 frames, or combine other attacking techniques.

          Project details

          Scapy is written in Python.

          Strengths and weaknesses

          • + More than 2000 GitHub stars
          • + The source code of this software is available
          • - Many provided pull requests are still open

          Typical usage

          • Network analysis
          • Security assessment

          Scapy review

          70

          Xplico

          Introduction

          With Xplico analysis can be performed on captured internet traffic. The data stored in a pcap file can then be displayed and the related protocol data can be extracted from the capture file. This may include emails, HTTP sessions, VoIP calls, or anything that can be recognized and stored.

          Project details

          93

          ntopng

          Introduction

          The ntopng replaced the older ntop utility. It now focuses on high-speed traffic analysis and flow collection. Typically this is useful for analysis of network traffic and troubleshooting of overused network links.

          Project details

          ntopng is written in C++.

          Strengths and weaknesses

          • + The source code of this software is available

            Typical usage

            • Network analysis
            • Troubleshooting

            ntopng review

            Some relevant tool missing as an alternative to Wireshark? Please contact us with your suggestion.