Package: nmap
Version: 3.81-2
Severity: minor
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
There a wealth of options in NMAP and the on problem is that most of
the time regular user is faced with:
$ nmap -sU host
You requested a scan type which requires r00t privileges, and you do not
have them.
By reading the manual page, it is not crustal clear and easy to find what
exact options can only be user by privileged users and which can be be
used by all users. There are bits and pieces like:
-sS TCP SYN scan: This technique is often referred to as "half-open"
scanning, because you don't open a full TCP connection. You send
...
This is the default scan type for privileged users.
-sT TCP connect() scan: This is the most basic form of TCP scanning.
The connect() system call provided by your operating system is
...<tens of lines after>....
This is the default scan type for unprivileged users.
And this does not mention the issue at all (need 'root' btw):
-sU UDP scans: This method is used to determine which UDP (User
Datagram Protocol, RFC 768) ports are open on a host. The tech-
SOLUTION SUGGESTION
It would greatly help reading the manual if the need for privileves
would be mentiones at the beginning of option description. To the reader,
that is searching for usable options, this is the primary information that
should stike to the eye at a glance.
A simple notation like this could help a great deal:
-sS [priviledged user] TCP SYN scan: This technique is often
referred to as "half-open"
...
-sT [priviledged user] TCP connect() scan: This is the most
basic form of TCP scanning
...
-sU [priviledged user] UDP scans: This method is used
to determine which UDP (User
...
There would be no need to mention non-privileged user if it were
explained that all options that have NOT been marked as privileged
are free for all users to activate.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: testing/unstable
APT prefers unstable
APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'stable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.11-1-686
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C (charmap=ISO-8859-1) (ignored: LC_ALL set to en_US)
Versions of packages nmap depends on:
ii libc6 2.3.5-3 GNU C Library: Shared libraries an
ii libgcc1 1:4.0.1-4 GCC support library
ii libpcre3 5.0-1.1 Perl 5 Compatible Regular Expressi
ii libssl0.9.7 0.9.7g-1 SSL shared libraries
ii libstdc++5 1:3.3.6-7 The GNU Standard C++ Library v3
nmap recommends no packages.
-- no debconf information
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