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Interesting ping trick, it ignores leading zeros in an IP address.

The IP address you supply the ping command with can have a leading zero or multiple leading zeros and they will be ignored by the ping command.

This is an example.

jason@jason-desktop:~$ ping 192.168.00001.00002
PING 192.168.00001.00002 (192.168.1.2) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.012 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.018 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.019 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.018 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.018 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=0.017 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=0.018 ms

This is a very cool but pointless ping trick.

Even this does not affect it at all.

jason@jason-desktop:~$ ping 192.168.000000001.000000002
PING 192.168.000000001.000000002 (192.168.1.2) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.013 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.024 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.021 ms
^C
--- 192.168.000000001.000000002 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2054ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.013/0.019/0.024/0.005 ms

This trick also works on Windows with CMD.

C:\Users\jason>ping 192.168.00001.00002
 
Pinging 192.168.1.2 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
 
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.2:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

This is interesting, but a useless trick. Creating an IP address with zeros in the wrong places could be interpreted as the wrong number when you try and ping it. A good explanation here: https://superuser.com/questions/857603/are-ip-addresses-with-and-without-leading-zeroes-the-same.

This is an example in Windows 8.1 of the ping command interpreting 192.168.1.010 as 192.168.1.8.

C:\Users\jason>ping 192.168.1.010
 
Pinging 192.168.1.8 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.2: Destination host unreachable.
 
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.8:
    Packets: Sent = 1, Received = 1, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Control-C
^C

This is further proof that having a leading zero in an IP address is a very bad idea.

Yet another example.

C:\Users\jason>ping 192.168.1.020
 
Pinging 192.168.1.16 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.2: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.2: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.2: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.1.2: Destination host unreachable.
 
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.16:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

2 thoughts on “Interesting ping trick, it ignores leading zeros in an IP address.”

  1. C:Usersalex>ping 127.1
     
    Pinging 127.0.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:
    Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time&lt;1ms TTL=128
    Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128
    Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128
    Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time&lt;1ms TTL=128
     
    Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
        Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
    Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
        Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 0ms

    ;)

    Reply
    • jason@jason-desktop:~$ ping 127.0000.0000.00001
      PING 127.0000.0000.00001 (127.0.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
      64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.014 ms
      64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.018 ms
      64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.018 ms
      64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.017 ms
      64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.019 ms
      64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=0.018 ms
      64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=0.016 ms
      ^C
      --- 127.0000.0000.00001 ping statistics ---
      7 packets transmitted, 7 received, 0% packet loss, time 6128ms
      rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.014/0.017/0.019/0.002 ms
      Reply

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