impacket-ping

View documentation for the original command

$ tldr ping.py

impacket-ping [-h] [-timeout <seconds>] [-count <count>] [-interface <interface IP>] <target_ip>

-h, --help
    Shows the program's help message and exits.

-timeout <seconds>
    Specifies the timeout in seconds for receiving an ICMP Echo Reply. Default is typically 1 second.

-count <count>
    Defines the number of ICMP Echo Request packets to send. The command will exit after sending this many packets.

-interface <interface IP>
    Specifies the IP address of the local interface to bind to for sending packets. Useful when multiple network interfaces are present.

impacket-ping is a Python-based utility included in the Impacket library, a robust collection of network protocol manipulation tools. Unlike the standard ping command, impacket-ping is designed for more specialized scenarios, often in the context of penetration testing, security research, or network debugging where low-level ICMP protocol interaction is required.

It allows users to send ICMP Echo Request packets to a target host and receive Echo Reply packets, thereby checking host reachability. Its Python foundation and integration within Impacket make it flexible for scripting and incorporating into custom security tools, providing a granular approach to ICMP communications. It is particularly relevant in environments where Windows protocols are prevalent, as Impacket excels at interacting with such services.

impacket-ping often requires root privileges (or equivalent capabilities) to create raw sockets for sending and receiving ICMP packets. It is part of the Impacket library, so a Python environment with the installed library are prerequisites. It should not be confused with the standard ping(8) utility, which provides more generic network troubleshooting functionalities. Its primary use case revolves around security assessments and low-level protocol interaction.

While it performs basic host reachability checks similar to ping(8), impacket-ping is typically used by security professionals for active reconnaissance, network discovery, and testing network segmentation during penetration tests. Its integration within the Impacket framework makes it valuable when combined with other tools for specific protocol interactions.

impacket-ping is an integral part of the Impacket library, which originated from Core Security (later acquired by SecureAuth). The library was developed to provide programmatic access to network protocols, primarily focusing on Microsoft's network protocols like SMB, DCE/RPC, and MSRPC. While impacket-ping specifically handles ICMP, its inclusion supports the broader goal of offering low-level control over network communications for security research, penetration testing, and exploit development.

ping(8), nmap(1), fping(8)