Rust Network Scanner

A memory-safe, asynchronous network security scanner for vulnerability assessment and network monitoring. Built with Rust and Tokio for high-performance concurrent scanning.

Security-First Design

Eliminates memory vulnerabilities in network security tools through Rust's ownership system. Aligns with 2024 CISA/FBI guidance for memory-safe security tooling.

Features

• Memory Safety - No buffer overflows or memory corruption in scanning operations
• Async/Await - High-performance concurrent scanning using Tokio runtime
• Port Scanning - Detect open, closed, and filtered ports
• Service Detection - Identify common services (HTTP, SSH, MySQL, etc.)
• Configurable - Adjust timeouts, concurrency, and scanning behavior
• JSON Export - Export results in structured JSON format for SIEM integration

Use Cases

• Financial infrastructure security assessment
• Network vulnerability scanning
• Service discovery and monitoring
• Compliance auditing (PCI-DSS, NIST)
• Penetration testing for authorized engagements

Installation

Add to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
rust-network-scanner = "0.1.0"

Quick Start

Scan Common Ports

use rust_network_scanner::NetworkScanner;
use std::net::IpAddr;
use std::str::FromStr;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    let scanner = NetworkScanner::new();
    let ip = IpAddr::from_str("192.168.1.1").unwrap();

    // Scan top 20 common ports
    let result = scanner.scan_common_ports(ip).await.unwrap();

    println!("Scan Results: {}", result.summary());
    for port in &result.open_ports {
        println!("  Port {}: {} ({})",
                 port.port,
                 port.service.as_ref().unwrap_or(&"Unknown".to_string()),
                 port.response_time_ms.unwrap_or(0));
    }
}

Scan Port Range

use rust_network_scanner::NetworkScanner;
use std::net::IpAddr;
use std::str::FromStr;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    let scanner = NetworkScanner::new();
    let ip = IpAddr::from_str("192.168.1.100").unwrap();

    // Scan ports 1-1000
    let result = scanner.scan_ports(ip, 1, 1000).await.unwrap();

    println!("Found {} open ports", result.open_ports.len());

    // Export as JSON
    let json = result.to_json().unwrap();
    std::fs::write("scan_results.json", json).unwrap();
}

Custom Configuration

use rust_network_scanner::{NetworkScanner, ScannerConfig};

let config = ScannerConfig {
    timeout_ms: 2000,          // 2 second timeout
    concurrent_scans: 200,     // 200 concurrent connections
    detect_services: true,     // Enable service detection
};

let scanner = NetworkScanner::with_config(config);

Security Features

Memory Safety

Traditional C/C++ network scanners are vulnerable to:

• Buffer overflows in packet parsing
• Use-after-free in connection handling
• Memory leaks in long-running scans

This implementation eliminates these vulnerabilities through Rust's ownership system.

Concurrent Scanning

Safe concurrent scanning without data races:

// Scan multiple targets concurrently
let targets = vec!["192.168.1.1", "192.168.1.2", "192.168.1.3"];
let scanner = NetworkScanner::new();

let mut tasks = vec![];
for target in targets {
    let ip = IpAddr::from_str(target).unwrap();
    tasks.push(scanner.scan_common_ports(ip));
}

let results = futures::future::join_all(tasks).await;

Service Detection

Automatically identifies common services:

• Web servers (HTTP/HTTPS)
• Database servers (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB)
• Remote access (SSH, RDP, VNC)
• Email servers (SMTP, IMAP, POP3)
• File sharing (FTP, SMB)

Examples

See the examples/ directory:

cargo run --example scan_network

Testing

cargo test

Alignment with Standards

This scanner implements security assessment practices from:

• NIST SP 800-115 - Technical Guide to Information Security Testing
• OWASP Testing Guide - Network and Infrastructure Testing
• CISA/FBI Joint Guidance (2024) - Memory-safe security tools
• PCI-DSS Requirement 11.3 - External and internal penetration testing

Performance

• High throughput - Concurrent scanning with configurable parallelism
• Low overhead - Efficient async I/O using Tokio
• Scalable - Handles large IP ranges and port ranges
• Fast - Typical port scan: 100 ports in <2 seconds

Ethical Use

This tool is designed for:

• Authorized security assessments
• Penetration testing with written permission
• Internal network auditing
• Compliance testing

Unauthorized scanning is illegal. Always obtain proper authorization before scanning networks.

Use in Financial Systems

Designed for financial institutions requiring:

• PCI-DSS compliance - Network segmentation verification
• NIST CSF - Asset discovery and vulnerability assessment
• SOX compliance - IT control testing
• Regulatory audits - Network security verification

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file

Author

Tony Chuks Awunor

• M.S. Computer Science (CGPA: 4.52/5.00)
• EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker v13 AI (CEH v13 AI)
• EC-Council Certified SOC Analyst (CSA)
• Specialization: Memory-safe cryptographic systems and financial security infrastructure
• Research interests: Rust security implementations, threat detection, and vulnerability assessment
• Published crates: rust-crypto-utils, rust-secure-logger, rust-threat-detector, rust-transaction-validator, rust-network-scanner, rust-memory-safety-examples

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please open an issue or pull request.

Disclaimer

This tool is for authorized security testing only. The author is not responsible for misuse or illegal activity. Always obtain proper authorization before scanning networks you do not own.

Related Projects

• rust-secure-logger - Secure logging with cryptographic integrity
• rust-threat-detector - SIEM threat detection
• rust-crypto-utils - Cryptographic utilities

Citation

If you use this scanner in research or security assessments, please cite:

Awunor, T.C. (2024). Rust Network Scanner: Memory-Safe Network Security Assessment.
https://github.com/guardsarm/rust-network-scanner

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Built for security assessment. Designed for memory safety. Implemented in Rust.