🛠️ Responder

Installation

sudo apt install responder

Usage

LLMNR/NBT-NS/mDNS poisoner and rogue multi-protocol (SMB/HTTP/LDAP/FTP/…) authentication-capture listener. Answers name-resolution broadcast requests as if it were the requested host, then captures whatever NTLM authentication a victim sends when it connects — also works as a bare listener with no poisoning at all, capturing anything pointed at it directly (see Forced NTLM Authentication (SCF, LNK, URL)).

Common Flags

FlagDescription
-I <iface>Interface to listen/poison on, e.g. tun0.
-wStart the rogue WPAD proxy server alongside the poisoners.
-AAnalyze-only mode — observe broadcast traffic without answering/poisoning anything.
-fAttempt to fingerprint hosts that send requests.

Common Commands

CommandDescription
sudo responder -I <iface> -wStart poisoning/listening on the given interface.

Tips & Tricks

  • Poisoning and forced-authentication delivery (a malicious .scf/.lnk file, a coerced UNC path) are two different ways of getting a victim to authenticate to Responder — the capture mechanism once that authentication arrives is identical either way.
  • Captured hashes are written under /usr/share/responder/logs/, split by protocol and victim IP — check there if a capture scrolled past in the live terminal output.
  • Captured NetNTLMv2 values are challenge-responses, not directly reusable hashes — crack them offline with John the Ripper (--format=netntlmv2) or Hashcat (-m 5600).
FileCreated
HTB - DriverJuly 24, 2026

References: Responder GitHub