Integrate WireShark in my application

Question

Can I integrate WireShark (as a command, or as system() command) into my C program in order to sniff all the received packets in my PC? I tried to use the NETCAT. but it doesn't work because the packets that I want to sniff are sent in an UDP multicast address: 224.1.1.113.

Answer 1

This tool seems to have what you want

http://www.netresec.com/?page=RawCap

Also, here is a reference to wireshark CLI

https://www.wireshark.org/docs/wsug_html_chunked/ChCustCommandLine.html

which has many options to do filtering so you can set it to the exact packet type you want. You could invoke this command.

Here is a wiki reference to a multicast filter

https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wireshark/IPv4_multicast that you could use.

Answer 2

You would be best served to utilize libpcap from within C. This is the low level packet capture library that tools like Wireshark and TCPDump use to sniff the packets.

It is generally better to use a library than shelling out with system() or exec().

Answer 3

After several days of hard work; I made this program that is based on the tutorials of winpcap library; It captures the packets, filters them and plots the received data:

/*
 * Copyright (c) 1999 - 2005 NetGroup, Politecnico di Torino (Italy)
 * Copyright (c) 2005 - 2006 CACE Technologies, Davis (California)
 * All rights reserved.
 *
 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
 * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
 * are met:
 *
 * 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
 * notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
 * 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
 * notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
 * documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
 * 3. Neither the name of the Politecnico di Torino, CACE Technologies
 * nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote
 * products derived from this software without specific prior written
 * permission.
 *
 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
 * "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
 * LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
 * A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
 * OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
 * SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
 * LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
 * DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
 * THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
 * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
 * OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 *
 */
#define HAVE_REMOTE
#include "pcap.h"
#include "winsock2.h "



/* 4 bytes IP address */
typedef struct ip_address{
    u_char byte1;
    u_char byte2;
    u_char byte3;
    u_char byte4;
}ip_address;

/* IPv4 header */
typedef struct ip_header{
    u_char  ver_ihl;        // Version (4 bits) + Internet header length (4 bits)
    u_char  tos;            // Type of service
    u_short tlen;           // Total length
    u_short identification; // Identification
    u_short flags_fo;       // Flags (3 bits) + Fragment offset (13 bits)
    u_char  ttl;            // Time to live
    u_char  proto;          // Protocol
    u_short crc;            // Header checksum
    ip_address  saddr;      // Source address
    ip_address  daddr;      // Destination address
    u_int   op_pad;         // Option + Padding
}ip_header;

/* UDP header*/
typedef struct udp_header{
    u_short sport;          // Source port
    u_short dport;          // Destination port
    u_short len;            // Datagram length
    u_short crc;            // Checksum
}udp_header;

/* prototype of the packet handler */
void packet_handler(u_char *param, const struct pcap_pkthdr *header, const u_char *pkt_data);


main()
{
pcap_if_t *alldevs;
pcap_if_t *d;
int inum;
int i=0;
pcap_t *adhandle;
char errbuf[PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE];
u_int netmask;
char packet_filter[] = "ip and udp";
struct bpf_program fcode;

    /* Retrieve the device list */
    if (pcap_findalldevs_ex(PCAP_SRC_IF_STRING, NULL, &alldevs, errbuf) == -1)
    {
        fprintf(stderr,"Error in pcap_findalldevs: %s\n", errbuf);
        exit(1);
    }

    /* Print the list */
    for(d=alldevs; d; d=d->next)
    {
        printf("%d. %s", ++i, d->name);
        if (d->description)
            printf(" (%s)\n", d->description);
        else
            printf(" (No description available)\n");
    }

    if(i==0)
    {
        printf("\nNo interfaces found! Make sure WinPcap is installed.\n");
        return -1;
    }

    printf("Enter the interface number (1-%d):",i);
    scanf("%d", &inum);

    if(inum < 1 || inum > i)
    {
        printf("\nInterface number out of range.\n");
        /* Free the device list */
        pcap_freealldevs(alldevs);
        return -1;
    }

    /* Jump to the selected adapter */
    for(d=alldevs, i=0; i< inum-1 ;d=d->next, i++);

    /* Open the adapter */
    if ( (adhandle= pcap_open(d->name,  // name of the device
                             65536,     // portion of the packet to capture.
                                        // 65536 grants that the whole packet will be captured on all the MACs.
                             PCAP_OPENFLAG_PROMISCUOUS,         // promiscuous mode
                             1000,      // read timeout
                             NULL,      // remote authentication
                             errbuf     // error buffer
                             ) ) == NULL)
    {
        fprintf(stderr,"\nUnable to open the adapter. %s is not supported by WinPcap\n");
        /* Free the device list */
        pcap_freealldevs(alldevs);
        return -1;
    }

    /* Check the link layer. We support only Ethernet for simplicity. */
    if(pcap_datalink(adhandle) != DLT_EN10MB)
    {
        fprintf(stderr,"\nThis program works only on Ethernet networks.\n");
        /* Free the device list */
        pcap_freealldevs(alldevs);
        return -1;
    }

    if(d->addresses != NULL)
        /* Retrieve the mask of the first address of the interface */
        netmask=((struct sockaddr_in *)(d->addresses->netmask))->sin_addr.S_un.S_addr;
    else
        /* If the interface is without addresses we suppose to be in a C class network */
        netmask=0xffffff;


    //compile the filter
    if (pcap_compile(adhandle, &fcode, packet_filter, 1, netmask) <0 )
    {
        fprintf(stderr,"\nUnable to compile the packet filter. Check the syntax.\n");
        /* Free the device list */
        pcap_freealldevs(alldevs);
        return -1;
    }

    //set the filter
    if (pcap_setfilter(adhandle, &fcode)<0)
    {
        fprintf(stderr,"\nError setting the filter.\n");
        /* Free the device list */
        pcap_freealldevs(alldevs);
        return -1;
    }

    printf("\nlistening on %s...\n", d->description);

    /* At this point, we don't need any more the device list. Free it */
    pcap_freealldevs(alldevs);

    /* start the capture */
    pcap_loop(adhandle, 0, packet_handler, NULL);

    return 0;
}

/* Callback function invoked by libpcap for every incoming packet */
void packet_handler(u_char *param, const struct pcap_pkthdr *header, const u_char *pkt_data)
{
    struct tm *ltime;
    char timestr[16];
    ip_header *ih;
    udp_header *uh;
    u_int ip_len;
    u_short sport,dport;
    time_t local_tv_sec;

    /* convert the timestamp to readable format */
    local_tv_sec = header->ts.tv_sec;
    ltime=localtime(&local_tv_sec);
    strftime( timestr, sizeof timestr, "%H:%M:%S", ltime);

    /* print timestamp and length of the packet */
    printf("%s.%.6d len:%d ", timestr, header->ts.tv_usec, header->len);

    /* retrieve the position of the ip header */
    ih = (ip_header *) (pkt_data +
        14); //length of ethernet header

    /* retrieve the position of the udp header */
    ip_len = (ih->ver_ihl & 0xf) * 4;
    uh = (udp_header *) ((u_char*)ih + ip_len);

    /* convert from network byte order to host byte order */
    sport = ntohs( uh->sport );
    dport = ntohs( uh->dport );

    /* print ip addresses and udp ports */
    printf("%d.%d.%d.%d.%d -> %d.%d.%d.%d.%d\n",
        ih->saddr.byte1,
        ih->saddr.byte2,
        ih->saddr.byte3,
        ih->saddr.byte4,
        sport,
        ih->daddr.byte1,
        ih->daddr.byte2,
        ih->daddr.byte3,
        ih->daddr.byte4,
        dport);
}