BITTWISTE(1) General Commands Manual BITTWISTE(1)
NAME
bittwiste -- pcap capture file editor
SYNOPSIS
bittwiste [ -I input ] [ -O output ] [ -L layer ] [ -X payload ]
[ -C ] [ -M linktype ] [ -D offset ] [ -R range ]
[ -S timeframe ] [ -N repeat ] [ -G gaprange ] [ -P seed ]
[ -T header ] [ header-specific-options ] [ -h ]
DESCRIPTION
This document describes the bittwiste program, the pcap(3) capture file
editor. Bittwiste is designed to work only with Ethernet frame, e.g.
link type DLT_EN10MB in pcap(3), with a maximum frame size of 1514
bytes which is equivalent to an MTU of 1500 bytes, 14 bytes for Ether-
net header.
Bittwiste can currently edit Ethernet, ARP, IPv4, IPv6, ICMPv4, ICMPv6,
TCP, and UDP headers. IPv6 packets with extension headers or next
header field not matching ICMPv6, TCP, or UDP are not supported; bit-
twiste will simply write such packets as is to output trace file as it
encounters them in the input trace file.
If run with the -X flag, you can append your own payload after any of
the supported headers; specified using the -L and -T flag. Bittwiste
will, if not run with the -C flag, recalculate the checksums for IPv4,
ICMPv4, ICMPv6, TCP, and UDP headers, except for the last fragment of a
fragmented IPv4 datagram; bittwiste does not currently support checksum
correction for the last fragment of a fragmented IPv4 datagram.
While parsing the packets in an input trace file, bittwiste will skip,
i.e. write to output trace file as is, any truncated packet, for exam-
ple, an ICMPv4 packet with a captured length of 25 bytes (we need at
least 28 bytes; 14 bytes for Ethernet header, minimum 20 bytes for IP
header, and 4 bytes for ICMPv4 header) does not give enough information
on its ICMPv4 header for bittwiste to read and modify it. In this case,
you can utilize the -L and -T flag to copy the original packet up to
its IP header and append your customized ICMPv4 header and data to the
packet using the -X flag. When specifying payload that covers the
ICMPv4, ICMPv6, TCP, or UDP header and its data, you can use zeros,
e.g. 0000 for 2 bytes of zeros, for the header checksum which is then
corrected automatically by bittwiste.
In order to simplify the way options are specified, you can only edit
packets of a specific type supplied to the -T flag per execution of
bittwiste on an input trace file. In addition, the -T flag must appear
last among the general options which are the -I, -O, -L, -X, -C, -M,
-D, -R, -S, -N, -G, and -P flag.
OPTIONS
-I input
Input pcap based trace file. Typically, input should be a file
path to a pcap based trace file. However, for convenience, the
following template names are also accepted to load trace file
from one of the built-in templates:
eth : Ethernet header
arp : ARP header
ip : IPv4 header
ip6 : IPv6 header
icmp : ICMPv4 header
icmp6 : ICMPv6 header
tcp : IPv4 TCP header
ip6tcp : IPv6 TCP header
udp : IPv4 UDP header
ip6udp : IPv6 UDP header
Example: -I icmp
-O output
Output trace file.
-L layer
Copy up to the specified layer and discard the remaining data.
Value for layer must be either 2, 3, or 4 where 2 for Ethernet,
3 for ARP, IPv4, or IPv6, and 4 for ICMPv4, ICMPv6, TCP, or UDP.
-X payload
Append payload in hex digits to the end of each packet.
Example: -X 0302aad1
-X flag is ignored if -L and -T flag are not specified.
-C Specify this flag to disable checksum correction. Checksum cor-
rection is applicable for non-fragmented supported packets only.
-M linktype
Replace the linktype stored in the pcap file header. Typically,
value for linktype is 1 for Ethernet.
Example: -M 12 (for raw IP), -M 51 (for PPPoE)
For the complete list, see:
https://www.tcpdump.org/linktypes.html
-D offset
Delete the specified byte offset from each packet.
First byte (starting from link layer header) starts from 1.
-L, -X, -C and -T flag are ignored if -D flag is specified.
Example: -D 15-40, -D 10, or -D 18-9999
-R range
Save only the specified range of packets.
Example: -R 5-21 or -R 9
-S timeframe
Save only the packets within the specified timeframe with up to
one-second resolution using DD/MM/YYYY,HH:MM:SS as the format
for start and end time in timeframe.
Example: -S 22/10/2006,21:47:35-24/10/2006,13:16:05
-S flag is evaluated after -R flag.
-N repeat
Duplicate packets from the input trace file repeat times. Use
this flag to create a stream of packets, each with, for example,
a random tcp sequence number, from a 1-packet trace file.
Example: -N 100000
-N flag is evaluated after -R and -S flag.
-G gaprange
Apply inter-packet gap between packets in microseconds from 1 to
(2^31 - 1). Values in gaprange are inclusive and selected ran-
domly. A single value implies a fixed gap.
Example: -G 1000-10000 or -G 1000
-G flag is evaluated after -R, -S, and -N flag.
-P seed
Positive integer to seed the random number generator (RNG) used,
for example, to generate random port number. If unset, current
timestamp will be used as the RNG seed.
bittwiste uses Mersenne Twister for high-speed uniformly dis-
tributed random number generation.
-T header
Edit only the specified header. Possible keywords for header
are, eth, arp, ip, ip6, icmp, icmp6, tcp, or udp. -T flag must
appear last among the general options.
-h Print version information and usage.
header-specific-options
Each packet that matches the type supplied to the -T flag is
modified based on the options described below:
Options for eth (RFC 894):
-d dmac or omac,nmac
Destination MAC address. If omac and nmac are specified,
any instances of omac in the destination MAC address
field will be replaced with nmac. You can also use the
string 'rand' for a random MAC address.
Examples:
-d 00:08:55:64:65:6a
-d rand
-d 00:08:55:64:65:6a,rand
-s smac or omac,nmac
Source MAC address. If omac and nmac are specified, any
instances of omac in the source MAC address field will be
replaced with nmac. You can also use the string 'rand'
for a random MAC address.
Examples:
-s 00:13:20:3e:ab:cf
-s rand
-s 00:13:20:3e:ab:cf,rand
-t type
EtherType. Possible keywords for type are, ip, ip6, and
arp only.
Options for arp (RFC 826):
-o opcode
Operation code in integer value between 0 to 65535. For
example, you can set opcode to 1 for ARP request, 2 for
ARP reply.
-s smac or omac,nmac
Sender MAC address. If omac and nmac are specified, any
instances of omac in the sender MAC address field will be
replaced with nmac. You can also use the string 'rand'
for a random MAC address.
Examples:
-s 00:13:20:3e:ab:cf
-s rand
-s 00:13:20:3e:ab:cf,rand
-p sip or oip,nip
Sender IP address. Example: -p 192.168.0.1
If oip and nip are specified, any instances of oip in the
sender IP address field will be replaced with nip.
-t tmac or omac,nmac
Target MAC address. If omac and nmac are specified, any
instances of omac in the target MAC address field will be
replaced with nmac. You can also use the string 'rand'
for a random MAC address.
Examples:
-t 00:08:55:64:65:6a
-t rand
-t 00:08:55:64:65:6a,rand
-q tip or oip,nip
Target IP address. Example: -q 192.168.0.2
If oip and nip are specified, any instances of oip in the
target IP address field will be replaced with nip.
Options for ip (RFC 791):
-c ds_field
6-bit DS field (first 6-bit of 8-bit type of service
field).
Some of the service class name mapping to ds_field value
from RFC 4594:
0 : Standard (CS0)
8 : Low-priority data (CS1)
16 : OAM (CS2)
24 : Broadcast video (CS3)
32 : Real-time interactive (CS4)
Example: -c 16 or -c 0x10 (to classify packet for opera-
tion and management of the network)
For more information on DS field, see RFC 2474 and RFC
4594.
-e ecn_field
2-bit ECN field (last 2-bit of 8-bit type of service
field).
ecn_field can be set to one of the 4 values below:
0 : Not-ECT
1 : ECT(1)
2 : ECT(0)
3 : CE
Example: -e 3 or -e 0x03 (to indicate congestion to the
end hosts)
For more information on ECN field, see RFC 3168.
-i id or oi,ni
Identification in integer value between 0 to 65535. If oi
and ni are specified, any instances of oi in the identi-
fication field will be replaced with ni. You can also use
the string 'rand' for a random identification.
Example: -i 2000, -i rand, or -i 1000,rand
-f flags
Control flags. Possible characters for flags are:
- : remove all flags
r : set the reserved flag
d : set the don't fragment flag
m : set the more fragment flag
Example: -f d
If any of the flags is specified, all original flags are
removed automatically.
-o offset
Fragment offset in integer value between 0 to 7770. Value
for offset represents the number of 64-bit segments con-
tained in earlier fragments which must not exceed 7770
(62160 bytes).
-t ttl or ot,nt
Time to live in integer value between 0 to 255 (millisec-
onds). If ot and nt are specified, any instances of ot in
the time to live field will be replaced with nt. You can
also use the string 'rand' for a random time to live.
Example: -t 64, -i rand, or -i 64,rand
-p proto or op,np
Protocol number in integer value between 0 to 255. If op
and np are specified, any instances of op in the protocol
number field will be replaced with np. You can also use
the string 'rand' for a random protocol number. Some com-
mon protocol numbers are:
1 : Internet Control Message (ICMP)
6 : Transmission Control (TCP)
17 : User Datagram (UDP)
For the complete list, see:
https://www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-numbers
-s sip or oip,nip
Source IP address. If oip and nip are specified, any in-
stances of oip in the source IP address field will be re-
placed with nip. If CIDR notation (RFC 4632) is speci-
fied, e.g. 192.168.0.0/16, an IP address will be selected
at random from the range.
Examples:
-s 192.168.0.1
-s 127.0.0.1,192.168.0.0/16
-s 0.0.0.0/0 (random IPv4 throughout the entire range)
-d dip or oip,nip
Destination IP address. If oip and nip are specified, any
instances of oip in the destination IP address field will
be replaced with nip. If CIDR notation (RFC 4632) is
specified, e.g. 192.168.0.0/16, an IP address will be se-
lected at random from the range.
Examples:
-d 192.168.0.2
-d 127.0.0.2,192.168.0.0/16
-d 0.0.0.0/0 (random IPv4 throughout the entire range)
Options for ip6 (RFC 8200):
-c ds_field
6-bit DS field (first 6-bit of 8-bit traffic class
field).
Some of the service class name mapping to ds_field value
from RFC 4594:
0 : Standard (CS0)
8 : Low-priority data (CS1)
16 : OAM (CS2)
24 : Broadcast video (CS3)
32 : Real-time interactive (CS4)
Example: -c 16 or -c 0x10 (to classify packet for opera-
tion and management of the network)
For more information on DS field, see RFC 2474 and RFC
4594.
-e ecn_field
2-bit ECN field (last 2-bit of 8-bit traffic class
field).
ecn_field can be set to one of the 4 values below:
0 : Not-ECT
1 : ECT(1)
2 : ECT(0)
3 : CE
Example: -e 3 or -e 0x03 (to indicate congestion to the
end hosts)
For more information on ECN field, see RFC 3168.
-f flow_label
Flow label in integer value between 0 to 1048575 or hexa-
decimal value between 0x00000 to 0xfffff (20-bit).
Example: -f 0
Value of 0 is to indicate that the packet does not belong
to any flow. For more information, see RFC 6437.
-n next_header or on,nn
Next header number in integer value between 0 to 255. If
on and nn are specified, any instances of on in the next
header field will be replaced with nn. You can also use
the string 'rand' for a random next header number. Exam-
ple of next header numbers:
0 : IPv6 Hop-by-Hop Option (HOPOPT)
6 : Transmission Control (TCP)
17 : User Datagram (UDP)
50 : Encap Security Payload (ESP)
51 : Authentication Header (AH)
58 : ICMP for IPv6 (IPv6-ICMP)
For the complete list, see:
https://www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-numbers
-h hop_limit or oh,nh
Hop limit in integer value between 0 to 255. If oh and nh
are specified, any instances of oh in the hop limit field
will be replaced with nh. You can also use the string
'rand' for a random hop limit. Destination host should
not discard a packet with hop limit equal to 0.
-s sip or oip,nip
Source IP address. If oip and nip are specified, any in-
stances of oip in the source IP address field will be re-
placed with nip. If CIDR notation (RFC 4291) is speci-
fied, e.g. 2001:db8::/64, an IP address will be selected
at random from the range.
Examples:
-s fd00::1
-s ::1,2001:db8::/64
-s ::/0 (random IPv6 throughout the entire range)
-d dip or oip,nip
Destination IP address. If oip and nip are specified, any
instances of oip in the destination IP address field will
be replaced with nip. If CIDR notation (RFC 4291) is
specified, e.g. 2001:db8::/64, an IP address will be se-
lected at random from the range.
Examples:
-d fd00::2
-d ::2,2001:db8::/64
-d ::/0 (random IPv6 throughout the entire range)
Options for icmp (RFC 792):
-t type
Type of message in integer value between 0 to 255. Some
common messages are:
0 : Echo reply
3 : Destination unreachable
8 : Echo
11 : Time exceeded
For the complete list, see:
https://www.iana.org/assignments/icmp-parameters
-c code
Error code for this ICMPv4 message in integer value be-
tween 0 to 255. For example, code for time exceeded mes-
sage may have one of the following values:
0 : transit TTL exceeded
1 : reassembly TTL exceeded
For the complete list, see:
https://www.iana.org/assignments/icmp-parameters
Options for icmp6 (RFC 4443):
-t type
Type of message in integer value between 0 to 255. Some
common messages are:
3 : Time Exceeded
128 : Echo Request
129 : Echo Reply
For the complete list, see:
https://www.iana.org/assignments/icmpv6-parameters
-c code
Code for this ICMPv6 message in integer value between 0
to 255. For example, code for Time Exceeded message may
have one of the following values:
0 : hop limit exceeded in transit
1 : fragment reassembly time exceeded
For the complete list, see:
https://www.iana.org/assignments/icmpv6-parameters
Options for tcp (RFC 9293):
-s sport or op,np
Source port number in integer value between 0 to 65535.
If op and np are specified, any instances of op in the
source port field will be replaced with np. You can also
use the string 'rand' for a random port number.
Example: -s 2000, -s rand, or -s 1000,rand
-d dport or op,np
Destination port number in integer value between 0 to
65535. If op and np are specified, any instances of op in
the destination port field will be replaced with np. You
can also use the string 'rand' for a random port number.
Example: -d 2000, -d rand, or -d 1000,rand
-q seq or os,ns
Sequence number in integer value between 0 to 4294967295.
If SYN control bit is set, e.g. character s is supplied
to the -f flag, seq represents the initial sequence num-
ber (ISN) and the first data byte is ISN + 1. If os and
ns are specified, any instances of os in the sequence
number field will be replaced with ns. You can also use
the string 'rand' for a random sequence number.
Example: -q 100000, -q rand, or -q 100000,rand
-a ack or oa,na
Acknowledgment number in integer value between 0 to
4294967295. If ACK control bit is set, e.g. character a
is supplied to the -f flag, ack represents the value of
the next sequence number that the receiver is expecting
to receive. If oa and na are specified, any instances of
oa in the acknowledgment number field will be replaced
with na. You can also use the string 'rand' for a random
acknowledgment number.
Example: -a 100000, -a rand, or -a 100000,rand
-f flags
Control flags. Possible characters for flags are:
- : remove all flags
c : congestion window reduced
e : explicit congestion notification echo
u : urgent pointer field is significant
a : acknowledgment field is significant
p : push function
r : resets the connection
s : synchronizes the sequence numbers
f : no more data from sender
Example: -f s
If any of the flags is specified, all original flags are
removed automatically.
-w win
Window size in integer value between 0 to 65535. If ACK
control bit is set, e.g. character a is supplied to the
-f flag, win represents the number of data bytes, begin-
ning with the one indicated in the acknowledgment number
field that the receiver is willing to accept.
-u urg
Urgent pointer in integer value between 0 to 65535. If
URG control bit is set, e.g. character u is supplied to
the -f flag, urg represents a pointer that points to the
first data byte following the urgent data.
Options for udp (RFC 768):
-s sport or op,np
Source port number in integer value between 0 to 65535.
If op and np are specified, any instances of op in the
source port field will be replaced with np. You can also
use the string 'rand' for a random port number.
Example: -s 2000, -s rand, or -s 1000,rand
-d dport or op,np
Destination port number in integer value between 0 to
65535. If op and np are specified, any instances of op in
the destination port field will be replaced with np. You
can also use the string 'rand' for a random port number.
Example: -d 2000, -d rand, or -d 1000,rand
SEE ALSO
bittwist(1), pcap(3), tcpdump(1)
BUGS
File your bug report and send to:
Addy Yeow <ayeowch@gmail.com>
Make sure you are using the latest stable version before submitting
your bug report.
When running bittwiste with both the -N and -G flags, large inter-
packet gap may result in the packet timestamp beyond Unix epoch
2147483647 (2038-01-19 03:14:07 UTC) to overflow. This is due to the
use of signed 32-bit integer to store timestamp in pcap(3) header. Sim-
ply changing the data type, e.g. using unsigned 64-bit integer, would
break the compatibility of the output trace file with existing systems.
The workaround built into bittwiste is to use Unix epoch 946684800
(2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC) as the starting reference timestamp when -G
flag is specified. This translates to a maximum timespan of 38 years or
559165 packets in the output trace file when using the maximum inter-
packet gap, i.e. -G 2147483647.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2006 - 2023 Addy Yeow <ayeowch@gmail.com>
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MER-
CHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
AUTHORS
Original author and current maintainer:
Addy Yeow
The current version is available from https://bittwist.sourceforge.io
6 July 2023 BITTWISTE(1)