portwave

Spec sheet

Purpose

Portwave is an IPv4/IPv6 port scanner with HTTP(S) enrichment, SSL reconnaissance, and a nuclei pipeline.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Integrations

The README documents piping subfinder output into portwave and using ProjectDiscovery nuclei for vulnerability scanning when installed.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Support

The maker directs users to GitHub Issues and pull requests for contact and support.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

License

The repository identifies the software as MIT licensed.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

DNS and CDN handling

It resolves domains in parallel, filters wildcard DNS, and skips known CDN edge IPs by default, with options to enrich hostnames or scan CDN edges.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Enrichment

The pipeline includes banner grabbing, TLS inspection, native HTTP(S) probing, certificate SAN and issuer extraction, and nuclei scans of confirmed HTTP targets.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Inputs

It accepts IPs, CIDRs, ranges, domains, and ASNs, including mixed target types.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Installation

The maker provides install instructions for Linux and macOS and for Windows, plus commands to update, check for updates, and uninstall.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Intended use

The maker describes portwave as a security-research tool and says to scan only systems owned by the user or covered by written permission.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

IPv6 limits

Scopes larger than 2²⁰ hosts are refused unless an override is used; --smart-ipv6 can sample likely addresses in large ranges.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

IPv6 scope

Scopes larger than 2²⁰ hosts are refused unless an override is used; smart IPv6 mode samples likely addresses for large ranges.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

License and support

The repository identifies the project as MIT licensed and directs users to GitHub issues and pull requests.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Limitations

Portwave uses TCP connect scans without raw sockets or root, does not fingerprint service versions beyond protocol classification, and has no IDS evasion or ICMP discovery preflight.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Outputs

It writes scan results, HTTP enrichment, SSL findings, summaries, and run-to-run port differences to files.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Rate controls

Scans can be constrained by packet rate and maximum scan time, and small scopes pace simultaneous probes per host.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Results

Scan outputs include open-port evidence, HTTP enrichment, SSL findings, nuclei findings, summaries, and scan diffs.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Scanning

It uses adaptive TCP connect scanning and can scan all 65,535 TCP ports when explicitly requested.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Scope limits

A bare scan uses a curated port list; scanning all 65535 TCP ports requires the explicit --all-ports option.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Security behavior

The README says bundled OpenSSL accepts self-signed, expired, hostname-mismatched, and malformed certificates so the scanner can inspect responses.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Targets

It accepts IPs, CIDRs, ranges, domains, and ASNs, including mixed target inputs.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Technical limits

Portwave uses TCP connect scanning and does not provide SYN scans, service-version fingerprinting beyond a 9-label protocol classification, IDS evasion, or ICMP host discovery.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Where Specifiction places it

• Port Scanner Software#24 of 267.1