Black Hat Python, 2nd Edition

3 Writing a Sniffer

Network sniffers allow you to see packets entering and exiting a target machine. As a result, they have many practical uses before and after exploitation. In some cases, you’ll be able to use existing sniffing tools like Wireshark (https://wireshark.org/) or a Pythonic solution like Scapy (which we’ll explore in the next chapter). Nevertheless, there’s an advantage to knowing how to throw together your own quick sniffer to view and decode network traffic. Writing a tool like this will also give you a deep appreciation for the mature tools, as these can painlessly take care of the finer points with little effort on your ...