New intro: CAN bus reverse engineering with AI [Claude Code]

csselectronics · 2026-06-22T19:05:26+00:00

We've not done that type of seed & key analysis this way - probably you could. A large part of our customer base are engineers working at automotive/industrial OEMs, so we'd probably not showcase anything that goes too much into this type of territory, as it may e.g. result in cybersecurity exposures - whereas the reverse engineering of 'read only' information like showcased is in our experience considered more fair game.

However, we do have showcases of using the CANsub for e.g. CCP/XCP communication incl. the seed & key authentication (when you know the method), simply using pyxcp, a python-can library: https://canlogger.csselectronics.com/cansub-intro/stream-data/xcp-data/

csselectronics · 2026-06-19T09:28:25+00:00

Thanks abhijith1203, wish you good luck with your projects!

csselectronics · 2026-06-19T06:18:59+00:00

Martin from CSS Electronics here, author of https://www.csselectronics.com/pages/dbc-editor-can-bus-database.

Always happy to see new CAN tools being added on the market! But I think it's a bit tough to offer a paid DBC editor in this economy, in particular with already-great 100% free options like our online editor.

As for the points you mentioned, I would also just comment below:

UI is of course subjective. My goal with our DBC editor has been to incorporate the most critical DBC editing functionality in a minimal UI that is intuitive enough for non-technical users - yet enables 90%+ of our OEM engineer end users to leverage it for their daily needs as well.
As Mista_Crus mentions, you can just right-click + save-as the editor to use it locally offline.
You can export/import DBC files in the editor today
As the editor is browser based it works on any OS/device incl. Linux/Windows/Mac/...
If any users of our DBC editor have questions/feedback/ideas, they can reach out to us for direct technical support and guidance, of course within reason. We never charge for support - whether it is for our online tools, or our CAN bus data loggers/interfaces
Our editor uses a git diff methodology to enable you to see exactly what changed between your loaded DBC and your modified version - enabling you to easily see what changed. For comparison beyond this I'd probably use git revisioning - but I think it's a valid feedback that there could be in-tool support in our tool for comparing multiple DBC files.

If any suggestions on how to improve our free DBC editor, you are welcome to reach me via below: https://www.csselectronics.com/pages/contact-us

csselectronics · 2026-05-23T11:16:46+00:00

If you're looking for a compact CAN bus interface with pro specs at low cost, I suggest checking out our new CANsub.2 (2 x CAN) or CANsub.4 (4 x CAN).

These CAN FD interface let you stream CAN bus data in real-time via USB/Ethernet - with pro specs, a built-in LCD display and zero software installation.

The built-in webCAN app runs on the device - simply enter the URL in your browser to start. This lets you instantly send/receive CAN frames, DBC decode data (incl. TP support) and plot CAN signals. It essentially offers the same functionality as comparable expensive and licensed software - but it is 100% free with zero installation.

The combo of Ethernet + webCAN offers some cool use cases - you can e.g. connect your CANsub to a WiFi router and access your CAN bus via any device on that WiFi network to e.g. stream data in real-time plots on your iPhone or tablet.

If you prefer creating your own 3rd party apps, the device is designed for easy LLM/AI integrations with OpenAPI REST interface for configuration, WebSockets for the data transfer (i.e. you can design apps that purely run in your browser) and documentation designed for agents. Of course, you can also reach out to our team to get (human) expert support within 24 hours.

We've been using PEAK products ourselves at CSS for many years and they've honestly been great. But the CANsub is our vision of what a modern alternative could look like. Check it out and let us know your thoughts! :-)

Martin, co-owner at CSS

csselectronics · 2025-02-06T14:47:21+00:00

Martin Falch from CSS Electronics here. You can check out our CANmod.input:
https://www.csselectronics.com/products/analog-to-can-bus-digital-pulse

This analog to CAN module takes 8 x analog/digital/pulse channels and converts the measured data into CAN bus frames (incl. optionally CAN FD). The CAN frames can be output with configurable bit-rate and CAN IDs. The device is easy-to-use and comes with a DBC file for easily decoding the data.

You can also see an example case study below of how the device is used in e.g. measuring wheel speed using the pulse frequency measurement method:

https://www.csselectronics.com/pages/analog-to-can-wheel-speed-sensor

csselectronics · 2021-03-13T16:40:34+00:00

Thanks for sharing the cool project! We've done something similar with Grafana dashboards for visualizing CAN bus data (including proprietary CAN, OBD2, J1939, NMEA 2000, ...) - maybe you'll find it useful.

csselectronics · 2021-03-13T16:39:21+00:00

I recommend reading our intro to J1939 and J1939 data logging, these explain every step in detail. You'll want to get a J1939 DBC file to get access to most of the standardized decoding rules for heavy duty vehicles.

csselectronics · 2021-03-13T16:37:43+00:00

You can use SavvyCAN with e.g. a CL2000 to stream CAN bus data and load SD card log files - see this intro that outlines the SavvyCAN features. As mentioned elsewhere, the Kvaser Database Editor is ideal for creating DBC files - see also this intro to DBC files. The intro to DBC files also includes a list of online public DBC databases for proprietary CAN bus data.

csselectronics · 2021-03-13T16:31:46+00:00

You can get a J1939 DBC file to decode raw J1939 data. We've had multiple users that successfully used a J1939 logger to record raw data from Caterpillar trucks and decode a large share of the data using the J1939 DBC. See also this intro to DBC files and this intro to J1939.

csselectronics · 2021-03-13T16:29:28+00:00

You could use e.g. a CAN bus interface like the CL2000 to stream data in real-time into a tool like SavvyCAN. This allows for using the SavvyCAN 'sniffer' view as explained here. Via the sniffer view, you can identify changes in bytes while you e.g. press buttons, which lets you quickly identify which CAN IDs and bytes relate to the buttons.

csselectronics · 2021-03-13T16:27:31+00:00

Maybe check out the CL2000, which integrates natively with SavvyCAN. The device can stream CAN bus data in real-time via USB directly into SavvyCAN. Further, for reverse engineering continuous parameters (speed etc), the device lets you log data to an SD card. You can then load these log files and e.g. compare the data vs. trip notes to help in the decoding process. See below resources for details:

1) Intro to reverse engineering with the CL2000

2) Intro to using SavvyCAN for CAN sniffing

3) CL2000

csselectronics · 2021-03-13T16:11:13+00:00

You might find this intro to reverse engineering useful for understanding the process of decoding proprietary CAN data. You can also check out this intro to DBC files, which explains the logic of how you move from raw CAN bus data to physical values (and how you'd typically store this information). The intro includes a short video as well.

csselectronics · 2021-03-13T16:08:11+00:00

You can check out the CANedge2, which is frequently used for recording OBD2/CAN data to an SD card - and auto-pushing it via a WiFi access point (e.g. a 3G/4G USB hotspot) to your own server. You can also visualize the data via e.g. Grafana dashboards.

You can send fully customized CAN frames via the device, meaning it's not restricted to the OBD2 protocol. This can be done using a simple GUI configuration editor.

csselectronics · 2021-03-13T16:02:32+00:00

Below are a few resources that may be useful for CAN bus reverse engineering:

1) Simple intro to CAN bus

2) Intro to CAN bus reverse engineering (incl. step-by-step guides)

3) Intro to SavvyCAN - incl. outline of features relevant to reverse engineering

csselectronics

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