impacket-ping6

View documentation for the original command

$ tldr ping6.py

impacket-ping6 [-h] [-v] [-i interface] [-t timeout] [-c count] [-r router_alert] target

target
    The IPv6 address or hostname of the target host to ping.

-h, --help
    Show the program's help message and exit.

-v, --verbose
    Increase output verbosity to display more details about the packets sent and received.

-i interface, --interface interface
    Specify the local network interface to use for sending packets. For example, 'eth0' or 'enp0s3'.

-t timeout, --timeout timeout
    Set the timeout in seconds to wait for an ICMPv6 Echo Reply packet after sending a request. Default is typically 1 second.

-c count, --count count
    Specify the number of ICMPv6 Echo Request packets to send. The command will exit after sending this many packets or receiving replies.

-r router_alert, --router-alert router_alert
    Add a Router Alert option to the ICMPv6 packet. This option is used by routers to indicate that they should process the packet further, even if it's not destined for them directly.

impacket-ping6 is a specialized Python-based utility from the Impacket toolkit, designed for network reconnaissance and host discovery in IPv6 environments. Unlike the standard ping6 command, this tool provides low-level control over ICMPv6 Echo Request packets, making it particularly useful for penetration testers and security researchers.

It functions by sending ICMPv6 Echo Request packets to a specified IPv6 target and listens for replies, thereby identifying live hosts on a network. Its integration within the Impacket framework means it can be used in conjunction with other tools for more advanced network protocol manipulation and security assessments. It is not intended as a general system diagnostic tool but rather as a focused utility for identifying active IPv6 addresses for security auditing purposes.

Requires the Impacket Python library to be installed.

Often requires root or elevated privileges to perform raw socket operations for sending and receiving ICMPv6 packets.

Primarily a security and testing tool, not a standard system diagnostic utility. Its use may be detected by network monitoring systems.

impacket-ping6 is a valuable tool for penetration testers and red teamers. It helps in mapping out IPv6 network segments, identifying active hosts, and understanding network topology during reconnaissance phases of security assessments. Its ability to craft specific ICMPv6 packets can sometimes reveal information or bypass simple filtering that standard ping utilities might not.

One of the key strengths of Impacket tools, including impacket-ping6, is their direct interaction with raw sockets. This allows for fine-grained control over packet headers and content, enabling advanced techniques for network analysis, spoofing, and protocol manipulation that are crucial for security research and ethical hacking.

Impacket, the suite to which impacket-ping6 belongs, was initially developed by SecureAuth Corporation (formerly Core Security). It was designed as a collection of Python classes and scripts for manipulating network protocols and providing low-level programmatic access to packets. impacket-ping6 specifically emerged as part of this toolkit to address the need for advanced IPv6 host discovery and network reconnaissance within the security community, offering capabilities beyond standard system utilities for penetration testing and vulnerability research.

ping6(8), impacket(1), nmap(1), hping3(8)