Port Scanner

A basic Port Scanner using Python with an Express Server to test!

Note: Please follow this link if you’re a GSSoC participant. Keep watching this repo, we’ll be opening more beginner-friendly issues.

With this port scanner, I just attempt to connect^{This is a form of “reconnaissance” for hackers and penetration testers} at various ports, and do nothing else. If I’m able to connect to open ports, then I know at least the port is open.

Pre-requisites

• Python >= v2.7.0
  • Install Python from here.
• Node.js >= v0.10.0
  • Install Node.js from here.
• Pip >= v9.0.1
  • Install pip from here.

How to run?

To run Port Scanner: (Via Terminal)

• Open terminal and type npm install: This will install the dependencies (Express).

• In the same terminal and type npm start: This will start multiple servers within the given range.

• Open another terminal and type python src/scanner.py: Enter localhost or 127.0.0.1. It will scan all the ports and print the open ports.

Note: You can enter remote host if you want to scan the ports for any remote host. Check the DISCLAIMER.md before doing this.

To run Port Scanner: (Via UI)

Install flask

Make sure you have Python27\Scripts path added to your system’s environment variables.

1. In PowerShell,

pip install flask

Install virtual environment

This step is required only if you are using Python2.7, skip this step when running Python3.X.

2. For Python 2, (via pip)

In PowerShell,

pip install virtualenv
virtualenv --help

Kindly check this if pip installation fails.

Create virtual environment

3. Create a venv folder inside src,

python -m virtualenv venv
\Python27\Scripts\virtualenv.exe venv

Activate the virtual environment

4. Activate venv,

venv\Scripts\activate

5. Run mainScanner.py,

pip install flask
python src/mainScanner.py

6. Go to the port url returned by your terminal.

To run IP Scanner:

• Open terminal and type python src/ipscanner.py: Enter any IP address XXX.XXX.XXX.YYY. It will scan all the addresses in the range XXX.XXX.XXX.0 to XXX.XXX.XXX.255 and print the addresses which are live.

Configuration

The servers are opened at multiple ports, you can change the low range and high range for the ports to be listened by the Express server.

{
    "range": {
        "low": "1",
        "high": "8888"
    },
    "ipRange": {
        "low": "0",
        "high": "255"
    },
    "count": "10",
    "thread": { 
        "count": 8
    }
}

• range.low: lowest port number (inclusive)
• range.high: highest port number (exclusive)
• ipRange.low: lowest IP address range (inclusive)
• ipRange.high: highest IP address range (inclusive)
• count: total number of ports
• thread.count: total number of concurrent threads

Contributing

Please read our Code of Conduct.

We’re accepting PRs for our open and unassigned issues. Please check CONTRIBUTING.md. We’d love your contributions! Kindly follow the steps below to get started:

1. Fork this repository.

2. Clone the forked repository.

git clone https://github.com/<your-github-username>/PortScanner

3. Navigate to the project directory.

cd PortScanner

4. Create a new branch.

git checkout -b <your_branch_name>

5. Make changes in source code.

6. Stage your changes and commit

git add .

git commit -m "<your_commit_message>"

7. Push your local commits to the remote repo.

git push -u origin <your_branch_name>

8. Create a PR to develop !

9. Congratulations! Sit and relax, you’ve made your contribution to Port Scanner project.

Branching

• master branch is maintained and tested regulary for Python 2.

• Please checkout feature/python3.8 if you’re using Python 3.

git checkout feature/python3.8

Need for Multithreading

The ability of a process to execute multiple threads parallelly is called multithreading. Ideally, multithreading can significantly improve the performance of any program.

Imagine scanning substantial number of ports(range.high = 8888) consecutively. The process would require quite a long time.

This calls for the need of concurrency in different parts of this range(1-8888). That is, running different parts(1-1111, 1112-2222, 2223-3333…) of the same process at the same time. This would reduce the time required for completion by significant amount. The reduction in time can be related to the number of concurrent ranges(threads) being scanned simultaneously. Checkout the Performance Analysis for a follow up.

Performance using threads

• src/single/scanner.py: Scanner without thread
• src/scanner.py: Scanner with multi threads

Range(low-high)	src/single/scanner.py (in milliseconds)	src/scanner.py (in milliseconds)
1-80	143243	30862

CONST_NUM_THREADS : 8

Performance on the basis of number of threads

Range of ports: 1-80

Number of threads	Execution time (in milliseconds)	Compared Performances
2	71627	50 % faster
4	40808	71.51 % faster
8	37003	74.17 % faster
16	36870	74.26 % faster
32	32674	77.19 % faster

Performance Analysis

Blog

• Check out Kashish’s story on Medium - GO-GREEN featuring GITHUB! She has shared her experience working on this project - How it marks the commencement of her perennial journey to open source?

• Check out Ishika’s story on Medium: git push: You just need a little PUSH! She has shared her experience in working on this project and making her identity in the open-source world.

Open Source Programs

We’re now a part of Leapcode. It helps you contribute to open-source projects right from your first PR to working on major projects. It’s still under construction and hopeful to have their platform up pretty soon. Click here to get an early access.

Useful resources

• Express: Node.js web framework used for creating server. Check server/index.js
• Socket: Low-level networking interface in Python. Check src/scanner.py
• Threading: Thread-based parallelism in python. Check src/scanner_thread.py
• Flask: A micro web framework written in Python. Check src/mainScanner.py

Contributors

Name	Social Media	GitHub
Vinit Shahdeo	Twitter LinkedIn	@vinitshahdeo
Kashish	Twitter LinkedIn	@Kashish121
Ishika Dubey	Twitter LinkedIn	@ishika1727

See the contribution graph here.

Admin

Vinit Shahdeo

License

TL;DR

Check out this gist if you’re only looking for a Python script for scanning ports.

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^{This repository is intended for individuals to test their own equipment for weak security, and the author(@vinitshahdeo) will take no responsibility if it is put to any other use. Check DISCLAIMER.md}