Nmap 7.90 released: New fingerprints, NSE scripts, and Npcap 1.0.0

Over a year has passed since Nmap had last been updated, but this weekend Gordon “Fyodor” Lyon announced Nmap 7.90.

Nmap 7.90

About Nmap

Nmap is a widely used free and open-source network scanner.

The utility is used for network inventorying, port scanning, managing service upgrade schedules, monitoring host or service uptime, etc.

It works on most operating systems: Linux, Windows, macOS, Solaris, and BSD.

Nmap 7.90

First and foremost, Nmap 7.90 comes with Npcap 1.0.0, the first completely stable version of the raw packet capturing/sending driver for Windows.

Prior to Npcap, Nmap used Winpcap, but the driver hasn’t been updated since 2013, didn’t always work on Windows 10, and depended on long-deprecated Windows APIs.

“While we created Npcap for Nmap, it turns out that many other projects and companies had the same need. Wireshark switched to Npcap with their big 3.0.0 release last February, and Microsoft publicly recommends Npcap for their Azure ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) product,” Lyon explained.

“We introduced the Npcap OEM program allowing companies to license Npcap OEM for use within their products or for company-internal use with commercial support and deployment automation. This project that was expected to be a drain on our resources (but worthwhile since it makes Nmap so much better) is now helping to fund the Nmap project. The Npcap OEM program has also helped ensure Npcap’s stability by deploying it on some of the fastest networks at some of the largest enterprises in the world.”

Nmap 7.90 also comes with:

  • New fingerprints for better OS and service/version detection
  • 3 new NSE scripts, new protocol libraries and payloads for host discovery, port scanning and version detection
  • 70+ smaller bug fixes and improvements
  • Build system upgrades and code quality improvements

“We also created a special ‘Nmap OEM Edition’ for the companies who license Nmap to handle host discovery within their products. We have been selling such licenses for more than 20 years and it’s about time OEM’s have an installer more customized to their needs,” Lyon added.

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