Packet Capture and Analysis

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Packet Capture and Analysis

It's crucial for any security or systems administrator to be able to capture and analyze network traffic. This allows for advanced troubleshooting as well as security review. Furthermore, having a working knowledge of the traditional capture filters, like those used in the `tcpdump` and `wireshark` utilities, is a requirement of some certification exams, such as the LPIC-3 303-200.

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Lab Info

Level

Intermediate

Last updated

Sep 20, 2025

Duration

1h 0m

Challenge

Use a `tshark` capture filter to collect TCP traffic on port 80.
1. Use a tshark capture filter to collect TCP traffic on port 80. Store the capture command output in /root/http_out.
  
  tshark -f "tcp port 80" -V -R http > http_out
2. In another SSH session, run curl www.example.com/index.html during the capture.
  
  curl www.example.com/index.html
  
  Note: curl may produce output but it does not need to be recorded.
Challenge

Use a `tshark` display filter to collect HTTP traffic and print only HTTP response codes.
1. Use a tshark display filter to collect HTTP traffic and print only HTTP response codes. Store the capture command output in /root/http_response.
  
  tshark -Y http -Tfields -e http.response.code > http_response
2. In a separate SSH session, run curl www.example.com/index.html and then curl www.example.com/error.html during the capture:
  
  curl www.example.com/index.html
  
  curl www.example.com/error.html
  
  Note: curl may produce output but it does not need to be recorded.
Challenge

Use a `tshark` capture filter that prints the IP address of hosts sending traffic to the test workstation on TCP port 22.
1. Use a tshark capture filter that prints the IP address of hosts sending traffic to the test workstation on TCP port 22. Observe any IP addresses printed after several seconds.
  
  tshark -f "tcp src port 22" -Tfields -e ip.dst
  
  Add the IP address(es) to /root/ssh_ip in a newline-delimited format.

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