Cerberus Recon
A multi-threaded network scanner written with nothing but Python's standard library.
Context
Cerberus Recon is a tool for mapping a network’s attack surface. I wrote it with one strict rule: zero external dependencies, only Python’s standard library. It has to run anywhere Python does, with nothing to install.
What I built
A multi-threaded scanner with an interactive menu. It scans ports over configurable ranges, identifies services by probing them directly (HTTP headers, raw TCP) and sorts the results by risk level.
It has three modes — most common ports, standard range, every TCP port — and a small reference table that links each port to the known risks of its service, to give results some context instead of a bare list of open ports.
Technical choices
Standard library only: socket, threading, queue, json. The rule was
a learning choice: it made me understand how sockets and multi-threading really
work, instead of leaning on a library that hides everything. The result is a
script you copy onto a machine and run, no pip install.
Status
Finished, the code is on GitHub. It covers reconnaissance next to BadHand: same goal, no shared code.
Intended use
Use it only on systems you own or have written permission to test. Scanning other people’s networks without authorisation is illegal.