socat
Multipurpose relay for bidirectional data transfer
non-application-layer-protocolRed Team
Toolnon-application-layer-protocolredLinuxKali LinuxPlatforms: Linux · Last verified September 6, 2026
Socat (for SOcket CAT) establishes two bidirectional byte streams and transfers data between them. Data channels may be files, pipes, devices (terminal or modem, etc.), or sockets (Unix, IPv4, IPv6, raw, UDP, TCP, SSL). It provides forking, logging and tracing, different modes for interprocess communication and many more options.
Only use this tool against systems you own or are explicitly authorized to test — see the disclaimer.
Getting started
See the official Kali tool page and upstream homepage linked above for installation and usage details.
