Hacking PPPoE

📰 Medium · Cybersecurity

Learn how to hack PPPoE by exploring Ethernet and using tools like Iris to capture and edit packets, and understand the security risks of plaintext usernames and passwords

advanced Published 10 Jul 2026

Action Steps

Use Iris to capture and edit PPPoE packets and learn how the protocol works
Write a simple BRAS to respond to PPPoE dial-up requests and redirect them to your own machine
Analyze the security risks of sending usernames and passwords in plaintext over PPPoE
Configure your network to use secure authentication methods, such as encryption or secure password protocols
Test your network's vulnerability to PPPoE hacking using tools like Iris and Ethereal

Who Needs to Know This

This article is relevant to cybersecurity teams and network administrators who need to understand the security risks of PPPoE and how to protect against them. It can also be useful for developers and researchers who want to learn about packet sniffing and editing tools like Iris.

Key Insight

💡 PPPoE sends usernames and passwords in plaintext, making it vulnerable to hacking and eavesdropping

Key Takeaways

Learn how to hack PPPoE by exploring Ethernet and using tools like Iris to capture and edit packets, and understand the security risks of plaintext usernames and passwords

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Title: Hacking PPPoE

URL Source: https://medium.com/@etherdream/hacking-pppoe-150ee66ebac5?source=rss------cybersecurity-5

Published Time: 2026-07-10T07:49:46Z

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# **Hacking PPPoE**

## My first exploration of Ethernet — enjoying free internet, even taking down the city’s network.

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In 2005, bored with high school life, I threw myself into learning Ethernet.

Early that year, I tried another packet sniffer: Iris.

It was less famous than Ethereal, but it had one feature I loved — it could edit captured packets and replay them. That made learning much faster. I could tweak a few fields, send the packet back out, and watch how the other side responded.

With Iris, I quickly learned how PPPoE worked and even wrote a simple BRAS of my own. Around the same time, I also started learning C, which was far better suited than VB for packet handling.

Once I had a fake BRAS, I could respond to PPPoE dial-up requests in my neighborhood before the real server did, redirecting them to my own machine. Better still, the usernames and passwords were sent in plaintext, and multiple apartment buildings shared

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Hacking PPPoE

Key Takeaways

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