Traceroute Path Analyzer

Trace network paths and diagnose latency using traceroute and mtr.

Tool Status

Tool installed: !command -v traceroute > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo "YES -- traceroute installed" || echo "NO -- Install: pre-installed on macOS | apt install traceroute (Debian/Ubuntu)"
mtr installed: !command -v mtr > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo "YES -- $(mtr --version 2>/dev/null | head -1)" || echo "NO -- Install: brew install mtr (macOS) | apt install mtr (Debian/Ubuntu)"
Wrapper scripts available: !test -f scripts/traceroute/trace-network-path.sh && echo "YES -- use wrapper scripts for structured JSON output" || echo "NO -- using standalone mode with direct commands"

Mode: Wrapper Scripts Available

If wrapper scripts are available (shown as YES above), prefer these commands. They provide structured JSON output and educational context.

Path Tracing

bash scripts/traceroute/trace-network-path.sh <target> -j -x -- Trace network path showing each hop and latency

Route Comparison

bash scripts/traceroute/compare-routes.sh <target> -j -x -- Compare TCP, UDP, and ICMP route paths to detect filtering

Latency Diagnosis

bash scripts/traceroute/diagnose-latency.sh <target> -j -x -- Diagnose network latency issues using mtr real-time analysis

Learning Mode

bash scripts/traceroute/examples.sh <target> -- 10 common traceroute patterns with explanations

Always add -j for JSON output and -x to execute (vs display-only).

Mode: Standalone (Direct Commands)

If wrapper scripts are NOT available, use these direct traceroute/mtr commands.

Basic Path Tracing

Traceroute sends packets with incrementing TTL values to map each hop between source and destination. Reveals routers, latency per hop, and routing paths.

traceroute <target> -- UDP traceroute (default)
traceroute -I <target> -- ICMP traceroute (like ping path)
traceroute -T <target> -- TCP traceroute (port 80, good for firewall traversal)
traceroute -n <target> -- Numeric output (skip DNS resolution, faster)
traceroute -m 30 <target> -- Set max hops (default 30)
traceroute -w 3 <target> -- Set wait time per probe (seconds)

Route Comparison

Compare different protocol paths to detect where filtering occurs. If TCP reaches the target but UDP does not, a firewall is blocking UDP.

traceroute -T -p 80 <target> -- TCP traceroute to port 80
traceroute -T -p 443 <target> -- TCP traceroute to port 443
traceroute -U <target> -- Explicit UDP traceroute
traceroute -I -n <target> -- ICMP with numeric output for comparison

MTR (My Traceroute)

MTR combines traceroute and ping into a real-time display. Shows packet loss and latency statistics per hop over multiple rounds.

mtr --report <target> -- Generate text report (default 10 rounds)
mtr -r -c 20 <target> -- Report mode with 20 rounds
mtr -r -c 10 -n <target> -- Report with numeric output (no DNS)
mtr -r --tcp -P 80 <target> -- TCP mode to port 80
mtr -r --tcp -P 443 <target> -- TCP mode to port 443

Defaults

Target defaults to example.com when not provided
Requires sudo on macOS for raw socket access
diagnose-latency requires mtr (install separately if needed)

Target Validation

All commands validate targets against .pentest/scope.json via the PreToolUse hook.