Does traceroute require ICMP?
Emily Ross
Published Jan 16, 2026
A traceroute works by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) packets, and every router involved in transferring the data gets these packets.
Does traceroute use ICMP or UDP?
On Windows, tracert sends ICMP Echo Request packets, rather than the UDP packets traceroute sends by default. The time-to-live (TTL) value, also known as hop limit, is used in determining the intermediate routers being traversed towards the destination.
Will traceroute work if ICMP is blocked?
This means that if you only block outgoing ICMP packets, ping won't work but traceroute will. But if you block incoming ICMP packets traceroute won't be able to receive the ICMP responses from the routers in the route and then it won't work.
Does traceroute use ICMP echo?
Traceroute most commonly uses Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo packets with variable time to live (TTL) values. The response time of each hop is calculated.
What ICMP type is traceroute?
Traceroute is implemented with ICMP messages. It works by sending ICMP echo (ICMP type '8') messages to the same destination with increasing value of the time-to-live (TTL) field. The routers along the traceroute path return ICMP Time Exceeded (ICMP type '11' ) when the TTL field become zero.
33 related questions foundWhy traceroute uses UDP by default not ICMP?
According to the Stevens (TCP/IP Illustrated) the traceroute program sends UDP packets to the destination host with an incremental TTL (1, 2, 3, etc) to get the intermediate hops info from the ICMP TTL EXPIRED messages.
Is ICMP UDP or TCP?
ICMP is a network-layer protocol. There is no TCP or UDP port number associated with ICMP packets as these numbers are associated with the transport layer above.
Does ping use ICMP?
ICMP is probably most well known as the message protocol used for the ping command. A ping command sends an ICMP echo request to the target host. The target host responds with an echo reply.
Does Linux use ICMP?
Linux ICMP internally uses a raw socket to send ICMPs. This raw socket may appear in netstat(8) output with a zero inode.
Is traceroute under UDP or TCP?
Traditional traceroute uses UDP on incrementing ports for every hop. You can use any sort of packet to implement it - ICMP, TCP SYN, etc. All it takes is the IP packet expiring and you are golden.
Should ICMP be blocked?
Many network administrators feel that ICMP is a security risk, and should therefore always be blocked at the firewall. It is true that ICMP does have some security issues associated with it, and that a lot of ICMP should be blocked. But this is no reason to block all ICMP traffic!
Why is traceroute not working?
There are several possible reasons a traceroute fails to reach the target server: The traceroute packets are blocked or rejected by a router in the path. Usually, the router immediately after the last visible hop is the one causing the blockage. Check the routing table and the status of this device.
Is traceroute a TCP?
The Trace TCP/IP Route (TRCTCPRTE) command, also known as TRACEROUTE, traces the route of IP packets to a user-specified destination system. The route can involve many different systems along the way. Each system along the route is referred to as a hop.
What protocol does traceroute use Cisco?
“ Traceroute, sourced from Cisco devices, uses UDP packets with unreachable port by default to get “icmp port unreachable” packet from designated router to check the path connectivity.
Is traceroute illegal?
Currently hosting with Big Brain Global Networks
But no - it's not illegal under the laws of any country I'm aware of. That said: The college will have house-rules for use of its network, and by using any college computers, or one of your own connected to their network, you agree to work within them.
What command uses ICMP?
The ping command operates by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo Request messages to the destination computer and waiting for a response.
How do I enable ICMP?
To allow all ICMP network traffic, click All ICMP types, and then click OK. To select one of the predefined ICMP types, click Specific ICMP types, and then select each type in the list that you want to allow. Click OK.
Why ICMP has no port number?
The ICMP packet does not have source and destination port numbers because it was designed to communicate network-layer information between hosts and routers, not between application layer processes. Each ICMP packet has a "Type" and a "Code". The Type/Code combination identifies the specific message being received.
How does UDP traceroute work?
The traceroute command attempts to trace the route an IP packet follows to an Internet host by launching UDP probe packets with a small maximum time-to-live (Hops parameter), then listening for an ICMP TIME_EXCEEDED response from gateways along the way.
How do I enable ICMP in Linux?
If it's disabled and you want to enable it:
- change 1 to 0 in the above file.
- Or run the command: iptables -I INPUT -i ech0 -p icmp -s 0/0 -d 0/0 -j ACCEPT.
What is the difference between ICMP and ping?
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is one of the protocols of the TCP/IP suite. The ICMP echo request and the ICMP echo reply messages are commonly known as ping messages.
Does UDP need ICMP?
How does ICMP work? Unlike the Internet Protocol (IP), ICMP is not associated with a transport layer protocol such as TCP or UDP. This makes ICMP a connectionless protocol: one device does not need to open a connection with another device before sending an ICMP message.
What is ICMP vs UDP?
The primary difference is that TCP and UDP are for transferring application data (i.e. whatever the app desires), whereas ICMP is a "control" protocol that transfers information about other protocols.
What does ICMP do in Wireshark?
ICMP in Wireshark
As shown above, the type of an ICMP packet contains the overall message that the message is intended to convey. For example, a type value of 3 means that the intended destination is unreachable. For some types, there are multiple code values intended to provide additional information.