Question

How to capture packets to/from my linksys router using wireshark

Asked by: ambuli

Hi Experts,

I am learning some network security/cryptography materials and wanted to experiment with
capturing packets coming to/from my linksys(WRT54GS) router.  I have two computers connected through ethernet cables.  One PC has 192.168.1.100, and the other has 192.168.2.11 as the IP addresses.  If I want to see all the packets in the router how should I use wireshark.  Thanks.

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Asked On
2008-05-23 at 22:53:30ID23429487
Tags

OpenSource

,

Wireshark

,

LINKSYS router

Topics

Network Routers

,

Linux Networking

,

Miscellaneous Networking

Participating Experts
5
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Comments
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Answers

 

by: alaf22Posted on 2008-05-24 at 00:17:10ID: 21638148

I hope that you are really doing a research on a test environment... and not sniffing your office mate traffic.

However, you should know that wireshark is used to capture packets comming in or going out from the PC's network interface that it is running on and not on the router itself. Hence if you are running wireshark on PC A, it will only see traffic that is travelling to/from PC A's. As you can not install wireshark on your lynksys, I can not see an easy way for you to see all the traffic in travelling in the router using wireshark sitting any PC connected to the router.

 

by: uetian1707Posted on 2008-05-24 at 02:29:05ID: 21638435

If you enable ARP Poisoning only then can you get traffic from LinkSYS on the WireShark. For ARP Spoofing:

http://www.hackinthebox.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=12868&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

 

by: donjohnstonPosted on 2008-05-24 at 04:26:08ID: 21638660

Wireshark (and other protocol analyzers) will put the network interface card in promiscuous mode. Which means that it will process ALL packets that are seen by the network card.

That said, the device you're connecting to is a router with a 4 port switch. The switch will forward traffic out the port that the frame is addressed to. Which means that you won't see much.

Once you get past the SOHO switches, most other switches have a feature where you can mirror (or SPAN)  the traffic from one port to another so you can do protocol analysis.

In your situation, the only option is to get a hub and attach it to one port on the switch. Then connect one of the two PC's in question and your own to the hub. Since hub flood all traffic out all ports, you will now be able to see anything going to or from the other PC.

 

by: alaf22Posted on 2008-05-24 at 06:52:30ID: 21639201

ettercap (http://ettercap.sourceforge.net/) can be used to perform arp poisoning method as suggested by uetian1707. It can perform other thing too which can help you in collecting network data... read the documentation of ettercap. Note also the effect of arp poisoning to the network as described in the article reference by uetian1707.

 

by: donjohnstonPosted on 2008-05-24 at 07:47:27ID: 21639309

The problem with doing ARP Poisoning is that the traffic is directed to you. This won't let you monitor an exchange (or conversation) between two devices.

That's why, absent a switch that allows port monitoring (mirroring, spanning, etc.), the only way to see what's occurring between two devices on a switched network is to hang a hub off one of the ports.

 

by: alaf22Posted on 2008-05-24 at 08:01:02ID: 21639339

>>the only way to see what's occurring between two devices on a switched network is to hang a hub off one of the ports

It is quite true and perhaps the easiest. A 'tap' is also a possibility but why go the harder way.

 

by: donjohnstonPosted on 2008-05-24 at 08:48:48ID: 21639453

What's a "tap"?

 

by: alaf22Posted on 2008-05-24 at 18:54:30ID: 21640888

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_tap

As I said, it is not as all encompassing solution as having a hub as you have to place the tap at the exact point where you want to monitor the traffic. More points = more taps. So a hub is a better way as you say it.

 

by: The--CaptainPosted on 2008-05-25 at 00:07:26ID: 21641729

AFAIK, you really do *not* need a hub or a tap - the dsniff package (which includes to arp manipulation tools mentioned by uetian and alaf) should allow you to intercept the traffic, and then forward it on as appropriate, so that the traffic continues to flow.  Think about it - these tools *have* to support such an option, because if they didn't, you'd mostly only ever capture boring SYN packets, and the tools would be useless.

Cheers,
-Jon

 

by: The--CaptainPosted on 2008-05-25 at 00:10:37ID: 21641731

Oops - almost forgot - you mentioned two PCs (likely) on two different subnets.  If those subnets are physically separate (connected to two physically and separately configured ethernet interfaces (which is possible on the WRT54G), then you can forget about it (unless you run your sniffer directly on the WRT54G, which is *also* possible, AFAIK).

Cheers,
-Jon

 

by: donjohnstonPosted on 2008-05-25 at 06:49:33ID: 21642708

A "tap" is nothing more than a three port hub.

 

by: donjohnstonPosted on 2009-08-29 at 06:04:52ID: 25213916

Personally, I like my answer. (21638660)

:-)

 

by: The--CaptainPosted on 2009-10-11 at 16:10:30ID: 25547808

I think my answer was correct.  

Don, above you said ARP poisoning cannot intercept two-way conversations between machines.  That is a false assertion.  If you poison both machines, you can play man-in-the-middle.

Cheers,
-Jon

 

by: donjohnstonPosted on 2009-10-11 at 17:09:12ID: 25547956

Jon,

That would also require software running on the poisoning PC that will forward both flows of the traffic. While that is possible, it seems beyond the capability of the author. So while ARP poisoning is possible (as is installing a switch that supports port mirroring), the easiest, most cost efficient solution to the original post would be to attach either the source or destination PC and the protocol analyzer to a hub.

 

by: linewcomerPosted on 2009-11-29 at 11:56:53ID: 25930000

Sorry for the late entry but about the linksys router check etherpuppet (you can hack the kernel and install it :))

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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