# darkk/redsocks

transparent TCP-to-proxy redirector

Repository: https://github.com/darkk/redsocks
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/redsocks
Homepage: http://darkk.net.ru/redsocks
Language: C
License Family: other
Last push: 2024-06-29T14:46:22+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 6589, "days_push": 795, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3617, forks 900 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:11.814596+00:00)

## What it is
redsocks is a transparent TCP-to-proxy redirector written in C that uses firewall rules (iptables, pf, ipfw) to redirect any TCP connection through SOCKS4, SOCKS5, or HTTPS (HTTP/CONNECT) proxies. It runs as a daemon on Linux/BSD systems and supports proxy authentication plus a fake DNS server that forces resolvers to fall back to TCP.

## Use cases
- redirect all system TCP traffic through a SOCKS5 proxy using iptables
- route traffic through an OpenSSH DynamicForward SOCKS port via firewall policies
- make a non-transparent proxy work transparently on a Linux router
- force DNS queries over TCP so they can be proxied
- pass traffic through a corporate proxy without configuring each application
- use a DVB ISP accelerator proxy that lacks transparent proxy support

## When to choose
- you need system-wide or network-wide proxy redirection on Linux/BSD with firewall control
- your proxy is SOCKS4/5 or HTTPS CONNECT and apps don't natively support proxies
- you run a router (e.g., OpenWrt) and want to route selected traffic through a proxy

## When to avoid
- you want to redirect traffic to Tor - use Tor's TransPort or tor-aware software instead
- you need to proxy many connections over a single SSH tunnel (head-of-line blocking degrades performance)
- you need a truly transparent proxy at the connection level - redsocks completes the local TCP handshake first
- you're on Android/iOS without root - use VpnService/NETunnelProvider-based apps instead
- you rely on the http-relay module for plain HTTP proxies - it's hacky and vulnerable to CVE-2009-0801

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: proxy, networking, security, privacy
- domain: networking, privacy, security, self-hosted
- platform: bsd, cli
- tags: transparent-proxy, socks5, iptables, traffic-redirection, c, linux, android

## Member repositories
- darkk/redsocks (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:11.814596+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 2026-08-29T18:31:59.780094+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/darkk/redsocks (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:11.814596+00:00, sha fe9bb51264c6)
  - homepage: http://darkk.net.ru/redsocks (fetched 2026-08-29T09:26:40.004241+00:00, sha 841a135d4768)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.