Nmap 5.00 Released, With Many Improvements

iago-vL writes "The long-awaited Nmap Security Scanner version 5.00 was just released (download)! This marks the most important release since 1997, and is a huge step in Nmap's evolution from a simple port scanner to an all-around security and networking tool suite. Significant performance improvements were made, and dozens of scripts were added. For example, Nmap can now log into Windows and perform local checks (PDF), including Conficker detection. New tools included in 5.00 are Ncat, a modern reimplementation of Netcat (with IPv6, SSL, NAT traversal, port redirection, and more!), and Ndiff, for quickly comparing scan results. Other tools are in the works for future releases, but we're still waiting for them to add email and ftp clients so we can finally get off Emacs!"

ncat

[arabagast]

i was just about to check out ncat. Seems interesting. The only downside is that is can never reach the same critical mass as the vanilla nc, and hence you cannot rely on the more advanced functions on an unknown computer. would be cool though, SSL could be handy in some situations.

Re:Bloat.

[arabagast]

I think that this is exactly what they are doing, only that all the small tools are bundled in the same tarball.

Re:Keep beating that horse

[timbrown]

Disclosure: I am an OpenVAS [openvas.org] developer...

Nmap does what it does very well. It would be a strange day that I stop using it for pentesting, in fact more likely I'll adopt some of the other tools the project has developed. Ncat in particular sounds great simply because it unifies multiple functions I currently use from other tools. The other thing I like is the NSE, great for quickly cooking up a scanner for 0day threats as we saw with Conficker check they produced.

If you want a Free Software vulnerability scanner, then support OpenVAS. The project is making quiet progress (cleaning up the code base, redesigning the architecture and most importantly adding new NVTs) and has just had a second DevCon in Germany with 16 developers from 4 continents making the trip. Nothings ever perfect but it now has NVT that are not in Nessus so if you're not using it, you're probably missing out. It's worth noting that we at OpenVAS like the nmap developments so much that a couple of the OpenVAS developers are looking to actively contribute and we're considering libnmap as a replacement for the rather fragile port / service discovery functionality we inherited.

A thousand HP Directjet boxes cry out in pain ...

[dbIII]

... and are forever silenced. Nmap is great but there are incredibly crappy devices out there that can be killed with a simple port scan. It's a good idea to make sure no such critters are on the subnet you scan when you start playing with nmap. Some non-HP older printers also need a full reset after they have been scanned. Hopefully newer devices are not designed so badly that they expect to be configured by just throwing a few bytes at a port with no attempts to find out if you should be allowed to do it.
Nmap and similar tools will show you that what in the past was called "enterprise" was simply becuase the vendors assumed you had a lot of expendable guys in red to throw at any problem. It can show you where there is none of the security the sales guy said was there.