macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install passtlocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew / rank 701
Install passt with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, Nix, pacman, zypper
User-mode networking daemons for virtual machines and namespaces. Version 2026_07_28.f8df3f1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-29. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install passt.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add passtAlpine Linux edge package indexes · passt · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install passtDebian stable package indexes · passt · source: deb.debian.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install passtFedora Rawhide package metadata · passt · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#passtnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/pa/passt/package.nix · source: api.github.com
Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S passtArch Linux sync databases · passt · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install passtopenSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · passt · source: download.opensuse.org
overview
Package summary
User-mode networking daemons for virtual machines and namespaces
Project links
Commands and aliases
- passt
- passt-repair
- pasta
- pesto
history
Project history and usage
passt is an unprivileged user-mode networking daemon that translates packets from a guest-facing Layer-2 interface into native TCP, UDP, and ICMP sockets on the host. The companion pasta mode performs equivalent forwarding for network namespaces.
Project history
Development began at Red Hat around 2020. The project produced passt for virtual-machine networking and pasta for network namespaces, with both modes sharing the same binary and core translation machinery.
Adoption history
passt is available in numerous Linux distributions as well as Homebrew and Nix, as recorded by source_facts.package-manager and the official project's availability listings. It is used as a lightweight networking option around virtual machines, containers, and network namespaces.
How it is used
passt commonly supplies networking to a virtual machine through a tap-like interface, while pasta joins or creates a network namespace and forwards its traffic without requiring host-side interface setup or elevated capabilities.
Why package nerds care
passt is notable for forwarding guest or namespace traffic through native host Layer-4 sockets without embedding a complete userspace TCP/IP stack. Its unprivileged design, small syscall surface, and pairing of VM-oriented passt with namespace-oriented pasta make it attractive in rootless virtualization and container tooling.
Timeline
- 2020: Initial Red Hat-authored development began.
- 2021–2022: passt and pasta developed into paired VM and namespace networking modes.
- Subsequent releases: Distribution packaging and integration expanded across major Linux ecosystems and Homebrew.
Related projects
- pasta is the network-namespace mode supplied by the same codebase.
- QEMU and libvirt can use passt for virtual-machine networking.
- slirp and libslirp are alternative user-mode networking approaches.
- slirp4netns addresses a related rootless-container networking use case.
Sources
- Official manual source: https://passt.top/passt/tree/passt.1
- Official overview: https://passt.top/passt/about/
- Official repository: https://passt.top/passt/
- Package availability: source_facts.package-manager
security posture
Risk level: orange
infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal.
Risk classifier
orange risk · medium confidence · infrastructure
Why
- infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal
Signals
- text:virtual machine
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 2 platform targets.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
passt | cli | global executable | |
passt-repair | cli | global executable | |
pasta | cli | global executable | |
pesto | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-09-19
manager version2026_07_28.f8df3f1
manager updated2026-07-29
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://passt.top/passt/about/
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://passt.top/passt/about/none confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:passt |
|---|---|
| Version | 2026_07_28.f8df3f1 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/passt |
| Homepage | https://passt.top/passt/about/ |
| Upstream docs | https://passt.top/passt/about/ |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later AND BSD-3-Clause |
| Source archive | https://passt.top/passt/snapshot/passt-2026_07_28.f8df3f1.tar.xz |
| Last updated | 2026-07-29T10:28:49Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | passt |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Head Version | HEAD |
| Requirements |
|
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt95%
passt 0.0~git20250503.587980c-2+deb13u1
user-mode networking daemons for virtual machines and namespaces
sudo apt install passt- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- 1 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Passt
Nix95%
passt
nix profile install nixpkgs#passt- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Passt
Ubuntu apt95%
passt 0.0~git20240220.1e6f92b-1
user-mode networking daemons for virtual machines and namespaces
sudo apt install passt- Section: universe/net
- Architecture: amd64
- 1 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Passt
apk95%
passt 2026.07.16-r0
Plug A Simple Socket Transport
sudo apk add passt- License: BSD-3-Clause AND GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: passt
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Passt
apk95%
passt-doc 2026.07.16-r0
Plug A Simple Socket Transport (documentation)
sudo apk add passt-doc- License: BSD-3-Clause AND GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: passt
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Passt
dnf95%
passt 0^20260728.gf8df3f1-2.fc45
User-mode networking daemons for virtual machines and namespaces
sudo dnf install passt- License: GPL-2.0-or-later AND BSD-3-Clause
- Category: System Environment/Daemons
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: passt
- 2 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Passt
dnf95%
passt-selinux 0^20260728.gf8df3f1-2.fc45
SELinux support for passt and pasta
sudo dnf install passt-selinux- License: GPL-2.0-or-later AND BSD-3-Clause
- Category: System Environment/Daemons
- Architecture: noarch
- Source Package: passt
- 7 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Passt
pacman95%
passt 2026_07_28.f8df3f1-1
Plug A Simple Socket Transport
https://passt.top/passt/about/
sudo pacman -S passt- License: BSD-3-Clause AND GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- 1 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Passt
zypper95%
passt 20260612.a9c61ff-1.3
User-mode networking daemons for virtual machines and namespaces
sudo zypper install passt- License: GPL-2.0-or-later AND BSD-3-Clause
- Category: System/Daemons
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: passt
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Passt
zypper95%
passt-apparmor 20260612.a9c61ff-1.3
Apparmor profiles for passt and pasta
sudo zypper install passt-apparmor- License: GPL-2.0-or-later AND BSD-3-Clause
- Category: System/Daemons
- Architecture: noarch
- Source Package: passt
- 4 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Passt
zypper95%
passt-selinux 20260612.a9c61ff-1.3
SELinux support for passt and pasta
sudo zypper install passt-selinux- License: GPL-2.0-or-later AND BSD-3-Clause
- Category: System/Daemons
- Architecture: noarch
- Source Package: passt
- 7 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Passt
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment
- pkg.so package database
- pkgdb category and tag curation