Information Gatheringport scannermulti threadednetwork scanningtcp scanner

pnscan

Pnscan is a multi threaded port scanner that can scan a large network very quickly. It does not have all the features that nmap has but is much faster.

Description

Pnscan is a multi threaded port scanning tool designed for rapid scanning of large networks. It implements a multithreaded TCP port scanner, making it significantly faster than tools like nmap for basic port scanning tasks, though it lacks some advanced features.

Use cases include quick reconnaissance of network hosts and open ports across IP ranges or CIDR notations. It is particularly useful in scenarios where speed is prioritized over comprehensive feature sets, such as initial network mapping in penetration testing.

The tool supports various output and scanning modes, with more detailed options available in the man page.

How It Works

Pnscan operates as a multithreaded TCP port scanner, enabling parallel scanning of multiple hosts and ports for efficient coverage of large networks. It accepts CIDR notations, host-ranges with port-ranges, or service names as input targets.

Installation

bash
sudo apt install pnscan

Flags

-hDisplay this information.
-VPrint version.
-vBe verbose.
-dPrint debugging info.
-sLookup and print hostnames.
-iIgnore case when scanning responses.
-SEnable shutdown mode.
-lLine oriented output.

Examples

Display usage information and command line options.
pnscan -h
Scan ports in a CIDR network range using default ports.
pnscan <CIDR>
Scan a range of hosts for a specified range of ports.
pnscan <host-range> <port-range>
Scan for a specific service across targets.
pnscan <service>
Perform verbose port scanning on a host range.
pnscan -v <host-range> <port-range>
Scan CIDR range and lookup/print hostnames.
pnscan -s <CIDR>
Scan host range with line oriented output.
pnscan -l <host-range> <port-range>
Updated 2026-04-16kali.org ↗