netsniff-ng

Spec sheet

Purpose

netsniff-ng is a free Linux network analyzer and networking toolkit for network development, debugging, analysis, auditing, and reconnaissance.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

Support

The project directs users to its public mailing list and online FAQ for questions and feedback.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

License

The toolkit is open source under the GNU General Public License version 2.0.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

Build and platform

The installation instructions support Linux kernels with CONFIG_PACKET_MMAP enabled and describe building from source with configure and make.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

Dependencies

Building the utilities can require libraries including libnl3, libpcap, libncurses, and libnetfilter-conntrack, depending on the tools built.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

Experimental tools

The project marks mausezahn and curvetun as experimental and says they should not be used in production environments.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

Included utilities

The toolkit also includes mausezahn, ifpps, curvetun, astraceroute, flowtop, and bpfc for packet generation, network statistics, tunneling, tracing, connection tracking, and BPF compilation.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

Limitations

The project describes its status as working, says it may not be feature complete, and provides no guarantee that the tools are free of bugs.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

Packet analysis

netsniff-ng provides a zero-copy packet analyzer that can capture and replay pcap files.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

Packet generation

trafgen is a multithreaded low-level zero-copy network packet generator.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

Performance

Built-in zero-copy mechanisms avoid copying packets between kernel space and user space during reception and transmission.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

Release verification

The project documents verifying releases with Git and GPG signatures.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com

Plans and prices

Every netsniff-ng plan and price →

Where Specifiction places it

• Network Protocol Analyzers#22 of 307.4