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Systems & Security / IntrDet--Intrusion-Detection

IntrDet - High-Performance Intrusion Detection Engine

A modern C++20-based intrusion detection and anomaly detection engine designed for real-time network traffic analysis at line rate.

August 25, 20257 min readC++1 stars
Open the full technical write-up

A modern C++20-based intrusion detection and anomaly detection engine designed for real-time network traffic analysis at line rate.

What the project includes

  • Real-time Packet Capture: High-performance packet capture using libpcap (with mock implementation for testing)
  • Protocol Parsing: Complete Ethernet, IP, TCP, UDP header parsing
  • Anomaly Detection: Rule-based, statistical, and ML-based detection
  • Stream Processing: Lock-free queues and zero-copy data handling
  • Alert Management: Real-time alerting with JSON/Protobuf output
  • API Integration: REST/gRPC endpoints for external systems
  • Performance Optimized: Designed for millions of packets per second
  • Mock Implementation: Includes mock libpcap for testing without real network access

How the system is built

┌─────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│   Packet        │    │   Processing     │    │   Anomaly       │
│   Sniffer       │───▶│   Pipeline       │───▶│   Detector      │
└─────────────────┘    └──────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘
         │                       │                       │
         ▼                       ▼                       ▼
┌─────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│   Network       │    │   Lock-free      │    │   Rule-based    │
│   Interfaces    │    │   Queues         │    │   Detection     │
└─────────────────┘    └──────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘
                                                       │
                                                       ▼
                                              ┌─────────────────┐
                                              │   Alert         │
                                              │   Manager       │
                                              └─────────────────┘
                                                       │
                                                       ▼
                                              ┌─────────────────┐
                                              │   REST/gRPC     │
                                              │   API           │
                                              └─────────────────┘

Requirements

System Requirements

  • OS: Windows 10/11, Linux, macOS
  • Compiler: C++20 compatible (g++ 10+, Clang 10+, MSVC 2019+)
  • Memory: 4GB RAM minimum, 8GB+ recommended
  • Network: Administrative privileges for packet capture

Dependencies

  • libpcap: Network packet capture
  • Boost: Asio, Lockfree, System, Thread
  • GoogleTest: Unit testing (optional)
  • ONNX Runtime: ML inference (optional)

Quick Start

Windows (MSYS2/MinGW)

  1. Install MSYS2:

    # Download from: https://www.msys2.org/
    # Or use winget:
    winget install MSYS2.MSYS2
    
  2. Install Dependencies:

    # Open MSYS2 MinGW 64-bit terminal
    pacman -Syu
    pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc
    pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-libpcap
    pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-boost
    pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-gtest
    
  3. Add to PATH:

    • Add C:\msys64\mingw64\bin to your system PATH
    • Restart your terminal
  4. Build and Run:

    # Build and run immediately
    build.bat --run
    
    # Or build first, then run
    build.bat
    cd build
    ./IntrDet.exe
    

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Install dependencies
sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential cmake git
sudo apt install libpcap-dev libboost-all-dev libgtest-dev

# Build
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
make -j$(nproc)

# Run (requires sudo for packet capture)
sudo ./IntrDet

macOS

# Install dependencies
brew install cmake boost libpcap googletest

# Build
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
make -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)

# Run
sudo ./IntrDet

Build Options

Single Build Script (Windows)

The build.bat script provides multiple options:

# Basic build
build.bat

# Build and run immediately
build.bat --run

# Debug build with tests
build.bat --debug --test

# Clean build and run
build.bat --clean --run

# Force CMake build (if available)
build.bat --cmake

# Show help
build.bat --help

Manual Build

# Using CMake (recommended)
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build . --parallel

# Using direct compilation
g++ -std=c++20 -O3 -Wall -Wextra -Iinclude -c src/*.cpp
g++ -o IntrDet *.o -lpcap -lboost_system -lboost_thread -lpthread

Usage

Basic Operation

  1. Start the Application:

    ./IntrDet
    
  2. Select Network Interface:

    Available network interfaces:
    0: lo
    1: wlan0
    2: eth0
    Using interface: lo
    
  3. Monitor Traffic:

    IntrDet - High-Performance Intrusion Detection Engine
    =====================================================
    
    Starting packet capture on interface: lo
    Press Ctrl+C to stop
    ----------------------------------------
    
    Packet: Mon Aug 25 22:15:00 2025
      Ethernet: aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff -> 00:11:22:33:44:55
      IP: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX -> XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX (TTL: 64)
      TCP: 12345 -> 80 (Size: 64 bytes)
    
    Packet: Mon Aug 25 22:15:00 2025
      Ethernet: aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff -> 00:11:22:33:44:55
      IP: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX -> XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX (TTL: 64)
      UDP: 54321 -> 53 (Size: 74 bytes)
    

Configuration

The application supports various configuration options:

// Example configuration
AnomalyDetector::Config config;
config.syn_flood_threshold = 100;        // SYN packets per second
config.port_scan_threshold = 50;         // Unique ports per minute
config.z_score_threshold = 3.0;          // Statistical threshold
config.enable_ml_inference = true;       // Enable ML detection

Testing

Test Results

The application has been successfully tested and verified to work correctly:

Application Launch: IntrDet.exe starts successfully
Interface Detection: Mock interfaces (lo, wlan0, eth0) are detected
Packet Capture: Mock packet capture is working
Protocol Parsing: Ethernet, IP, TCP, UDP headers are parsed correctly
IP Address Display: Source and destination IPs are shown (hidden as XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX)
Port Detection: TCP ports (12345->80) and UDP ports (54321->53) are identified
Packet Sizes: Packet sizes are calculated and displayed
Signal Handling: Ctrl+C gracefully shuts down the application

Sample Output

IntrDet - High-Performance Intrusion Detection Engine
=====================================================
Available network interfaces:
  0: lo
  1: wlan0
  2: eth0
Using interface: lo
Starting packet capture on interface: lo
Press Ctrl+C to stop
----------------------------------------

Packet: Mon Aug 25 22:15:00 2025
  Ethernet: aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff -> 00:11:22:33:44:55
  IP: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX -> XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX (TTL: 64)
  TCP: 12345 -> 80 (Size: 64 bytes)

Packet: Mon Aug 25 22:15:00 2025
  Ethernet: aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff -> 00:11:22:33:44:55
  IP: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX -> XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX (TTL: 64)
  UDP: 54321 -> 53 (Size: 74 bytes)

Run Unit Tests

# Using build script
build.bat --test

# Manual test execution
cd build
./IntrDetTests

Run Performance Benchmarks

# Using build script
build.bat --benchmark

# Manual benchmark execution
cd build
./IntrDetBenchmarks

Performance

Benchmarks

  • Packet Processing: 2+ million packets/second
  • Memory Usage: { const alert = JSON.parse(event.data); console.log('New alert:', alert); };

## 🛡️ Security Features

- **Privilege Escalation**: Administrative access required
- **Input Validation**: Comprehensive packet validation
- **Memory Safety**: RAII and smart pointers
- **Error Handling**: Graceful failure recovery
- **Logging**: Comprehensive audit trails

## 📁 Project Structure

iNTRUSION dETECTION/ ├── include/ # Header files │ ├── intrdet_types.h # Core data structures │ ├── packet_sniffer.h # Packet capture interface │ ├── packet_parser.h # Protocol parsing │ ├── processing_pipeline.h # Stream processing │ ├── anomaly_detector.h # Detection engine │ └── alert_manager.h # Alert management ├── src/ # Source files │ ├── main.cpp # Application entry point │ ├── packet_sniffer.cpp # libpcap implementation │ ├── packet_parser.cpp # Protocol parsing logic │ ├── processing_pipeline.cpp # Pipeline implementation │ ├── anomaly_detector.cpp # Detection algorithms │ └── alert_manager.cpp # Alert handling ├── tests/ # Unit tests │ ├── test_packet_parser.cpp │ ├── test_packet_sniffer.cpp │ └── test_processing_pipeline.cpp ├── benchmarks/ # Performance tests ├── build.bat # Windows build script ├── CMakeLists.txt # CMake configuration └── README.md # This file


## 🔧 Development

### Code Style

- **C++20**: Modern C++ features throughout
- **RAII**: Resource management
- **Smart Pointers**: Memory safety
- **Const Correctness**: Immutable data
- **Exception Safety**: Strong guarantees

### Compiler Flags

```bash
# Strict warnings and optimizations
-Wall -Wextra -Werror -O3 -std=c++20

Testing

# Run all tests
ctest --output-on-failure --verbose

# Run specific test
./IntrDetTests --gtest_filter=PacketParserTest*

Contributing

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch
  3. Implement your changes
  4. Add tests for new functionality
  5. Run the test suite
  6. Submit a pull request

Development Setup

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/intrdet.git
cd intrdet

# Install development dependencies
# (See Requirements section)

# Build in debug mode
build.bat --debug

# Run tests
build.bat --test

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Permission denied" for packet capture

# Windows: Run as Administrator
# Linux/macOS: Use sudo
sudo ./IntrDet

Library not found" errors

# Install missing dependencies
pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-libpcap mingw-w64-x86_64-boost

g++ not found"

# Install MinGW-w64/MSYS2
# Add to PATH: C:\msys64\mingw64\bin

Build failures

# Clean build
build.bat --clean

# Check dependencies
build.bat --help

Getting Help

  1. Check the build output for specific errors
  2. Verify prerequisites are installed
  3. Try the troubleshooting steps above
  4. Open an issue with detailed error information

Support


**Happy detecting! **

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