Unicornscan: Low-Level Network Scanner for When You Need to See It All
Most scanners try to be smart — interpret results, summarize things, smooth over the raw data. Unicornscan doesn’t do that. It’s more like: here’s what the network gave you back, figure it out. That might sound like a drawback, but for some, it’s exactly the point.
It was built to be fast, quiet, and detailed. Not beautiful. Not “user-friendly.” Just efficient, and honest about what’s happening on the wire. People still reach for it when they need to cover large address spaces fast, without raising flags or depending on high-level tools.
What Makes It Different
| Capability | What It’s Actually Good For |
| Stateless async scans | High-speed probing without waiting for replies — ideal for large nets |
| Raw TCP/UDP customization | Adjust flags, headers, source ports — useful in research and evasion |
| Passive response catching | Can log responses even if the target didn’t answer directly |
| Service fingerprinting | Pulls banners and metadata from open ports |
| Custom output formats | Exports to binary, pcap, or plain text logs |
| Queue-based target system | Handles thousands of hosts without choking |
| Traffic stats | Gives real-time insight into scan behavior and response timings |
When and Where It’s Still Used
– In penetration tests where detection must be kept to a minimum
– In isolated test labs scanning private ranges with noisy or legacy systems
– As part of protocol testing frameworks and traffic simulation setups
– When building fingerprint datasets from real-world infrastructure
Requirements and Compatibility
| Component | Notes |
| OS | Linux/BSD — no native Windows support |
| Privileges | Requires root/admin for raw socket operations |
| Dependencies | `libpcap`, `libnet`, `libsqlite3`, basic toolchain |
| Interfaces | Supports multiple NICs for sniffing + sending |
Installing It the Classic Way
If it’s in your package manager:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install unicornscan
Or build it:
git clone https://github.com/unicornscan/unicornscan.git
cd unicornscan
sudo apt install libpcap-dev libnet1-dev libsqlite3-dev build-essential
./configure
make
sudo make install
Usage Examples
Scan full TCP range of a host:
sudo unicornscan -Iv 192.168.88.1:a
Quick UDP scan of a subnet:
sudo unicornscan -mU 10.10.0.0/24
Log results in PCAP:
sudo unicornscan -Iv 192.168.0.1:a -w capture.pcap
What Users Say (Anecdotally)
“I use it in air-gapped labs. No other scanner gives me that much control over packet behavior.”
“It’s not pretty, and that’s fine. I’m not looking for pretty when I need a clean raw TCP map overnight.”
“If you’re doing scanning as part of research or low-noise recon, it still outperforms a lot of tools.”
Final Word
Unicornscan won’t win design awards, and it’s not for every job. But for specific tasks — low-detection recon, research-grade probing, or bulk scanning with precision — it earns its keep. Especially in hands that know what they’re doing.
