# dndx/phantun

Transforms UDP stream into (fake) TCP streams that can go through Layer 3 & Layer 4 (NAPT) firewalls/NATs.

Repository: https://github.com/dndx/phantun
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/phantun
Language: Rust
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-22T03:22:33+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 72/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 20, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1812, "days_push": 11, "days_rel": 375, "gap_med": 136.5, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2376, forks 219 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:42.092180+00:00)

## What it is
Phantun is a lightweight, high-performance UDP-to-TCP obfuscator written in safe Rust that disguises UDP packets as TCP streams to pass through Layer 3/Layer 4 firewalls and NATs. It preserves UDP semantics like out-of-order delivery while avoiding TCP retransmission and flow-control overhead, and is commonly used where UDP is blocked or throttled but TCP is allowed.

## Use cases
- make udp traffic pass through firewalls that block udp
- run wireguard over tcp to bypass nat restrictions
- obfuscate udp packets as tcp streams
- tunnel udp through stateful firewalls
- avoid udp throttling by isps
- traverse napt devices with fake tcp connections

## When to choose
- UDP is blocked or throttled but TCP passes through L3/L4 firewalls or NATs
- you need high throughput without TCP retransmission/flow-control overhead
- you want a fast, low-overhead alternative to udp2raw
- you need to tunnel WireGuard or other UDP protocols through restrictive networks

## When to avoid
- traffic must pass through L7 proxies or deep packet inspection that validates real TCP behavior
- you need full TCP reliability features like retransmission and congestion control
- you need a cross-platform GUI tool - Phantun is Linux-focused and requires kernel IP forwarding and nftables/iptables rules
- you need MIPS support as a first-class target

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: networking, proxy, security, cli
- domain: networking, privacy, censorship-circumvention, security
- platform: rust, cli, self-hosted
- tags: udp-over-tcp, traffic-obfuscation, nat-traversal, firewall-bypass, wireguard, tun, fake-tcp, linux

## Member repositories
- dndx/phantun (main) score 72

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:42.092180+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:34:59.088572+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/dndx/phantun (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:42.092180+00:00, sha 70eac6ed12ed)
  - registry_crates: https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/phantun (fetched 2026-08-29T10:15:50.943363+00:00, sha ee68708720b3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.