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libnfc-bin

Command-line tools for PN53x-based NFC readers

What it does

Utilities for the libnfc library: listing attached readers, polling for tags, reading and writing MIFARE Classic and Ultralight cards, and relaying or emulating tags with supported hardware.

Why you would want it

It is the free-software baseline for NFC work and covers the cheap PN532 readers that most people already own or can buy for a few pounds. It is a different device family from a Proxmark -- 13.56 MHz only, and no low- frequency support -- so the two complement rather than replace each other.

Before it will work

A PN53x-based reader on USB or serial — the nfc-reader hardware class carries the identifiers and permissions story — and a /etc/nfc/libnfc.conf entry for serial devices. USB readers are usually found without configuration.

How it installs

  • apt: libnfc-bin

Known problems

It does not do low-frequency (125 kHz) at all, which is half of what people arrive at this profile for. MIFARE Classic support depends on the reader firmware as much as on the software, and some cheap clones misreport what they can do.

Keeping it current

  • probe: apt policy
  • strategy: apt_upgrade

Source: catalog/packages/libnfc-bin.yaml