RTSP Streaming with Dahua P2P Protocol Implementation

This is a proof of concept implementation of RTSP over Dahua P2P protocol. It works with Dahua and derived cameras / NVRs.

Motivation

The Dahua P2P protocol is utilized for remote access to Dahua devices. It is commonly used by Dahua apps such as gDMSS Lite on Android or SmartPSS, KBiVMS on Windows.

In my specific scenario, I have a KBVision CCTV system. Although I can access the cameras using the KBiVMS client, I primarily use non-Windows platforms. Therefore, I wanted to explore alternative options for streaming the video using an RTSP client, which is more widely supported. As a result, I decided to experiment with reimplementing the Dahua P2P protocol.

Files

• Rust implementation:
  • src/*.rs - Rust source files
  • Cargo.toml - Rust dependencies
• Python implementation:
  • main.py - Main script
  • helpers.py - Helper functions
  • requirements.txt - Python dependencies
• Others:
  • dh-p2p.lua - Wireshark dissector for Dahua P2P protocol

Rust implementation

Rust implementation utilizing async programming and message passing pattern, making it more efficient and flexible.

Rust usage

A PoC implementation of TCP tunneling over Dahua P2P protocol.

Usage: dh-p2p [OPTIONS] <SERIAL>

Arguments:
  <SERIAL>  Serial number of the camera

Options:
  -p, --port <[bind_address:]port:remote_port>
          Bind address, port and remote port. Default: 127.0.0.1:1554:554
  -h, --help
          Print help

Python implementation

The Python implementation of DH-P2P is a simple and straightforward approach. It is used for drafting and testing purposes due to its quick and easy-to-write nature. Additionally, the implementation is more linear and follows a top-down execution flow, making it easier to understand. Python, being a popular programming language, further contributes to its accessibility and familiarity among developers.

Setup

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run
python main.py [CAMERA_SERIAL]

# Stream (e.g. with ffplay) rtsp://[username]:[password]@127.0.0.1/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0
ffplay -rtsp_transport tcp -i "rtsp://[username]:[password]@127.0.0.1/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0"

Python usage

To use the script with a device that requires authentication when creating a channel, use the -t 1 option.

When running in --debug mode or when the --type > 0, the USERNAME and PASSWORD arguments are mandatory. Additionally, make sure that ffplay is in the system path when debug mode is enabled.

usage: main.py [-h] [-u USERNAME] [-p PASSWORD] [-d] serial

positional arguments:
  serial                Serial number of the camera

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -d, --debug           Enable debug mode
  -t TYPE, --type TYPE  Type of the camera
  -u USERNAME, --username USERNAME
                        Username of the camera
  -p PASSWORD, --password PASSWORD
                        Password of the camer

Limitations

• Single threaded, so only one client can connect at a time
• Polling based, so it's inefficient and inflexible
• Not fully implemented (e.g. only simplex keep-alive, no mulpile connections, etc.)
• Work better with ffplay and -rtsp_transport tcp option
• Still unstable, can crash at any time

Protocol description

For reverse engineering the protocol, I used Wireshark and KBiVMS V2.02.0 as a client on Windows. Using dh-p2p.lua dissector, you can see the protocol in Wireshark easier.

For RTSP client, either VLC or ffplay can be used for easier control of the signals.

Overview

graph LR
  App[[This script]]
  Service[Easy4IPCloud]
  Device[Camera/NVR]
  App -- 1 --> Service
  Service -- 2 --> Device
  App <-. 3 .-> Device

The Dahua P2P protocol initiates with a P2P handshake. This process involves locating the device using its Serial Number (SN) via a third-party service, Easy4IPCloud:

1. The script queries the service to retrieve the device's status and IP address.
2. The service then communicates with the device to prepare it for connection.
3. Finally, the script establishes a connection with the device.

graph LR
  Device[Camera/NVR]
  App[[This script]]
  Client1[RTSP Client 1]
  Client2[RTSP Client 2]
  Clientn[RTSP Client n]
  Client1 -- TCP --> App
  Client2 -- TCP --> App
  Clientn -- TCP --> App
  App <-. UDP\nPTCP protocol .-> Device

Following the P2P handshake, the script begins to listen for RTSP connections on port 554. Upon a client's connection, the script initiates a new realm within the PTCP protocol. Essentially, this script serves as a tunnel between the client and the device, facilitating communication through PTCP encapsulation.

P2P handshake

sequenceDiagram
  participant A as This script
  participant B as Easy4IPCloud
  participant C1 as P2P Server
  participant C2 as Relay Server
  participant C3 as Agent Server
  participant D as Camera/NVR

  A->>B: /probe/p2psrv
  B-->>A: ;
  A->>B: /online/p2psrv/{SN}
  B-->>A: p2psrv info

  A->>C1: /probe/device/{SN}
  C1-->>A: ;

  A->>B: /online/relay
  B-->>A: relay info

  A->>B: /device/{SN}/p2p-channel (*)

  par
    A->>C2: /relay/agent
    C2-->>A: agent info + token
    A->>C3: /relay/start/{token}
    C3-->>A: ;
  end

  B-->>A: device info

  A->>B: /device/{SN}/relay-channel + agent info

  C3-->>A: Server Nat Info!
  A->>C3: PTCP SYN
  A->>C3: PTCP request sign
  C3-->>A: PTCP sign

  A->>D: PTCP handshake (*)

Note: Both connections marked with (*) and all subsequent connections to the device must use the same UDP local port.

PTCP protocol

PTCP (PhonyTCP) is a proprietary protocol developed by Dahua. It serves the purpose of encapsulating TCP packets within UDP packets, enabling the creation of a tunnel between a client and a device behind a NAT.

Please note that official documentation for PTCP is not available. The information provided here is based on reverse engineering.

PTCP packet header

The PTCP packet header is a fixed 24-byte structure, as outlined below:

 0                   1                   2                   3
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                             magic                             |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                             sent                              |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                             recv                              |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                             pid                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                             lmid                              |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                             rmid                              |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

• magic: A constant value, PTCP.
• sent and recv: Track the number of bytes sent and received, respectively.
• pid: The Packet ID.
• lmid: The Local ID.
• rmid: The Local ID of previously received packet.

PTCP packet body

The packet body varies in size (0, 4, 12 bytes or more) based on the packet type. Its structure is as follows:

 0                   1                   2                   3
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|      type       |                     len                     |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                             realm                             |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                             padding                           |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                             data                              |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

• type: Specifies the packet type.
• len: The length of the data field.
• realm: The Realm ID of the connection.
• padding: Padding bytes, always set to 0.
• data: The packet data.

Packet types:

• Special:
  • Empty body
  • 0x00: SYN, the body is always 4 bytes 0x00030100.
• Realm:
  • 0x10: TCP data, where len is the length of the TCP data.
  • 0x11: Binding port request.
  • 0x12: Connection status, where the data is either CONN or DISC.
• Common (with realm set to 0):
  • 0x13: Heartbeat, where len is always 0.
  • 0x17
  • 0x18
  • 0x19: Authentication.
  • 0x1a: Server response after 0x19.
  • 0x1b: Client response after 0x1a.

Acknowledgments

This project has been inspired and influenced by the following projects and people:

• mcw0/PoC: The foundational structure for the handshake and the PTCP protocol.
• @p2p-sys: The idea of inverting the STUN protocol.