NMAP, also known as Network Mapper, is a widely used free and open-source network discovery and security auditing tool. While using NMAP, if you encounter a bug, it’s beneficial to report it to the development community to help improve the program. The process of reporting a bug on NMAP has a few steps and must be done properly for effective communication with the developers.
Before you report a bug, it’s recommended to confirm that you’re using the latest version of NMAP. This is because the bug you’ve encountered might have already been solved in a recent release. You can check for the latest version on the official NMAP website.
NMAP, as an open-source community, appreciates users to first check the existing known issues, so the developers are not overwhelmed with the same issues. You may find the active and closed issues on the official NMAP Github repository (https://github.com/nmap/nmap/issues).
When you confirm the newly found issue is undocumented, you will need to provide a clear and complete description of the bug to make it easier for the developers to reproduce the error. The more detail provided, the easier it would be for them to fix it. The bug report should include the following:
1. NMAP version number.
2. Operating system used.
3. The command that caused the problem.
4. Details about the network environment, if the bug is network-related.
5. Error message or the unexpected behavior you encountered.
6. Steps to reproduce the bug.
Once you have all of this information, you can formally report the bug. A proper medium would be to use GitHub repositories maintained by the NMAP project. By creating a new issue in the NMAP GitHub page (https://github.com/nmap/nmap/issues/new), you can describe the problem along with the details.
Remember, reporting bugs isn’t just about outlining the issue. It’s also about clear communication. Make sure to be courteous and appreciative towards the developers, and to respond if they ask for additional information.
Additionally, you can report bugs in the NMAP Development mailing list (https://seclists.org/nmap-dev/). This mailing list focuses on the discussion and development of NMAP. With a community of users and developers, you can possibly gain more immediate attention to your bug report.
Keep in mind that bug fixes might not be immediate. Therefore, it’s important to patient and check back periodically for status updates or requests for more information.
Sources:
1. Official NMAP Website (https://nmap.org/)
2. NMAP GitHub Page (https://github.com/nmap/nmap)
3. NMAP Development Mailing List (https://seclists.org/nmap-dev/)
