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STROBE 1.03(1) STROBE 1.03(1)

NNAAMMEE
strobe - Super optimized TCP port surveyor

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
ssttrroobbee [ -vVmdbepPAtnSilfsaM ] [host1 ... [hostn]]

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
_s_t_r_o_b_e is a network/security tool that locates and
describes all listening tcp ports on a (remote) host or on
many hosts in a bandwidth utilisation maximising, and pro-
cess resource minimizing manner.

_s_t_r_o_b_e approximates a parallel finite state machine inter-
nally. In non-linear multi-host mode it attempts to appor-
tion bandwidth and sockets amoung the hosts very effi-
ciently. This can reap appreciable gains in speed for
multiple distinct hosts/routes.

On a machine with a reasonable number of sockets, _s_t_r_o_b_e
is fast enough to port scan entire Internet sub domains.
It is even possible to survey an entire small country in a
reasonable time from a fast machine on the network back-
bone, provided the machine in question uses dynamic socket
allocation or has had its static socket allocation
increased very appreciably (check your kernel options). In
this very limited application _s_t_r_o_b_e is said to be faster
than IISSSS22..11 (a high quality commercial security scanner by
cklaus@iss.net and friends) or PPiinnggWWaarree (also comercial).

OOPPTTIIOONNSS
--vv Verbose output.

--VV Verbose statistical output.

--mm Minimise output. Only print hostname, port tuples.
Implies --dd. Useful for automated output parsing.

--dd Delete duplicate entries for port descriptions. i.e
use only the first definition.

--gg Disable usage of ggeettppeeeerrnnaammee(2). On ssoollaarriiss 2.3
machines this causes a core dump, for reasons
unknown. This behavior is fixed with ssoollaarriiss 2.4.
Under Linux, HP and perhaps other unix implimenta-
tions, false tcp connection positives may occurr
when this option is activated.

--ss Statistical information describing the average of
all hosts surveyed is sent to stderr on completion.

--qq Quiet mode. Don't print non-fatal errors or the (c)
message.

--dd Display only the first description in the port

STROBE 1.03(1) STROBE 1.03(1)

services entry file (Cf. --BB).

--oo ffiillee
Direct output (but not any messages which can be
affected by --qq) to file.

--bb nnuummbbeerr
Beginning (starting) port number.

--ee nnuummbbeerr
Ending port number.

--pp nnuummbbeerr
Port number if you intend to scan a single port.

--PP nnuummbbeerr
Local port to bind outgoing connection requests to.
(you will normally need super-user privileges to
bind ports smaller than 1024)

--AA aaddddrreessss
Interface address to send outgoing connection
requests from for multi-homed machines.

--tt nnuummbbeerr
Time after which a connection attempt to a com-
pletely unresponsive host/port is aborted.

--nn nnuummbbeerr
Use this number of sockets in parallel (defaults to
64). _s_t_r_o_b_e attempts to figure out if nnuummbbeerr is
greater than the quantity of available sockets at
any point in time -- and if so, only use the amount
found. On some UNIX implimentations such as
Solaris, this appears not to work correctly and you
may find yourself with unusual errors such as NNOO
RROOUUTTEE TTOO HHOOSSTT when you hit the socket ceiling.
Remember that _s_t_r_o_b_e probably isn't the only pro-
cess on the system desiring a socket or two. Having
_s_t_r_o_b_e pilfer all the spare sockets away from
iinneettdd(8) and other daemons and clients isn't such a
crash hot idea, unless you want to stop all new
incoming and outgoing connections.

--SS ffiillee
Change the default port services description file
to ffiillee. Note that if --SS is not specified port
services are loaded from one of ssttrroobbee..sseerrvviicceess,
//uussrr//llooccaall//lliibb//ssttrroobbee..sseerrvviicceess, or //eettcc//sseerrvviicceess.

--ii ffiillee
Obtain hostnames to strobe from ffiillee rather than
from the command line. Note that only the first
white-space seperated word in each line of ffiillee is

STROBE 1.03(1) STROBE 1.03(1)

used, so one can feed in files such as //eettcc//hhoossttss.
If filename is ''--'' , stdin will be used.

--ll Probe hosts linearly (sequentually) rather than in
parallel. The actual ports on each host are still
checked in a parallel manner (with a parallelism of
--nn (defaults to 64)).

--ff Fast mode, probe only the tcp ports detailed in the
port services file (see --SS).

--aa nnuummbbeerr
Abort and skip to the next host after ports upto to
nnuummbbeerr have been probed and still no connections
have occurred. Due to the parallel nature of the
probing, reply packets for n+m may return before
those relating to n. What this means is that ports
> nnuummbbeerr may be probed. If _s_t_r_o_b_e see's a connec-
tion on any one of these higher ports before its
negated all possibility of a service listening on
ports <= nnuummbbeerr then despite the fact that all
ports up to and including nnuummbbeerr may turn out to be
connectionless, _s_t_r_o_b_e will `abort the abort'. This
is considered optimal, if unusual behavior.

--MM Mail a bug report, or tcp/udp port description to
the current source maintainer.

EEXXAAMMPPLLEESS
strobe -n 120 -a 80 -i /etc/hosts -s -f -V -S services -o
out

_s_t_r_o_b_e all entries in //eettcc//hhoossttss (identical ip addresses
are skipped automagically) using 120 sockets in parallel,
but only check the individual tcp ports mentioned in sseerr--
vviicceess. If we have probed up to port 80 on a host and have
still not yet evidenced a connection, then skip that host.
Display speed/time statistics for each host and for the
totality of hosts to stderr. Place the regular output in
oouutt.

ypcat hosts | strobe -p 80 -t 2 -A 203.4.184.1 -P 53

_s_t_r_o_b_e all hosts in your hosts YP/NIS-table for WWW-
servers. Use a timeout of two seconds. Set the source
address to the 203.4.184.1 interface. Make all connection
requests appear to come from port 53 (DNS).

BBUUGGSS
_S_t_r_o_b_e performs no other security functions (yet) and does
not verify route blocking against UDP or TCP handshake
sequence guessing one-way IP spoofing attacks.

STROBE 1.03(1) STROBE 1.03(1)

AAUUTTHHOORR
_J_u_l_i_a_n _A_s_s_a_n_g_e

EMAIL:
strobe@suburbia.net
proff@suburbia.net

OOFFFFIICCAALL DDIISSTTRRIIBBUUTTIIOONN
ftp://suburbia.net:/pub/strobe.tgz

This software maybe distributed only freely, in full and
without modification. It may not be bundled with any sort
of hardware or software if a fee is charged for that hard-
ware or software directly or indirectly, in whole or in
part. If you would like to include this software in such a
distribution then please contact the author to negotiate
reasonable (possibly free) terms.

The author shall not under any circumstances accept any
liability for this software, for its use, misuse, or any
failings it may have. Your on your own.

The author reserves the right to alter the aformentioned
conditions from time to time as he sees appropriate. The
author's most recent copyright notice and conditions for
this software always supersede any issued previously.

Use and or distribution of this software implies accep-
tance of the above.

SSoo tthheerree.

SSEEEE AALLSSOO
nnssllooookkuupp(1), hhoosstt(1), ddiigg(1), ssoocckkeett(2), bbiinndd(2), ccoonn--
nneecctt(2), iissss(1).

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