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ARP-FINGERPRINT(1)	     General Commands Manual	      ARP-FINGERPRINT(1)

NAME
     arp-fingerprint - Fingerprint a system using ARP

SYNOPSIS
     arp-fingerprint [options] target

     The  target  should  be  specified as a single IP address or hostname.  You
     cannot specify multiple targets, IP networks or ranges.

     If you use an IP address for the target, you can use the -o option to  pass
     the --numeric option to arp-scan, which will prevent it from attempting DNS
     lookups.	This can speed up the fingerprinting process, especially on sys-
     tems with a slow or faulty DNS configuration.

DESCRIPTION
     arp-fingerprint fingerprints the specified target host using the ARP proto-
     col.

     It sends various different types of ARP request to the target, and  records
     which  types  it responds to. From this, it constructs a fingerprint string
     consisting of "1" where the target responded and "0" where it did not.   An
     example of a fingerprint string is 01000100000.  This fingerprint string is
     then used to lookup the likely target operating system.

     Many of the fingerprint strings are shared by several operating systems, so
     there  is	not  always a one-to-one mapping between fingerprint strings and
     operating systems. Also the fact that a system's fingerprint matches a cer-
     tain operating system (or list of operating systems) does	not  necessarily
     mean that the system being fingerprinted is that operating system, although
     it  is  quite  likely. This is because the list of operating systems is not
     exhaustive; it is just what I have discovered to date, and there are  bound
     to be operating systems that are not listed.

     The  ARP  fingerprint  of a system is generally a function of that system's
     kernel (although it is possible for the ARP function to be  implemented  in
     user space, it almost never is).

     Sometimes, an operating system can give different fingerprints depending on
     the  configuration.  An example is Linux, which will respond to a non-local
     source IP address if that IP is routed through the interface being  tested.
     This  is  both  good  and bad: on one hand it makes the fingerprinting task
     more complex; but on the other, it can allow some	aspects  of  the  system
     configuration to be determined.

     Sometimes	the fact that two different operating systems share a common ARP
     fingerprint string points to a re-use of networking code.	One  example  of
     this is Windows NT and FreeBSD.

     arp-fingerprint  uses  arp-scan  to  send	the ARP requests and receive the
     replies.

     There are other methods that can be used to fingerprint a system using arp-
     scan which can be used in addition to  arp-fingerprint.   These  additional
     methods  are not included in arp-fingerprint either because they are likely
     to cause disruption to the target system, or because they require knowledge
     of the target's configuration that may not always be available.

     Most of the ARP requests that arp-fingerprint sends are non-standard, so it
     could disrupt systems that don't have a robust TCP/IP stack.

OPTIONS
     -h     Display a brief usage message and exit.

     -v     Display verbose progress messages.

     -o <option-string>
	    Pass specified options to arp-scan. You need to enclose the  options
	    string  in	quotes	if  it contains spaces. e.g.  -o "-I eth1".  The
	    commonly used options are --interface (-I) and --numeric (-N).

     -l     Fingerprint all hosts on the local network. You do not need to spec-
	    ify any target hosts if this option is given.

EXAMPLES
     $ arp-fingerprint 192.168.0.1
     192.168.0.1   01000100000	   Linux 2.2, 2.4, 2.6

     $ arp-fingerprint -o "-N -I eth1" 192.168.0.202
     192.168.0.202 11110100000	   FreeBSD 5.3, Win98, WinME, NT4, 2000, XP, 2003

NOTES
     arp-fingerprint is implemented in Perl, so you need to have the Perl inter-
     preter installed on your system to use it.

SEE ALSO
     arp-scan(1)

     http://www.royhills.co.uk/wiki/ The arp-scan wiki page.

				October 27, 2022	      ARP-FINGERPRINT(1)

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