CCcam vs OScam: technical review 2026

The choice between CCcam and OScam is one of the key questions for anyone setting up satellite television reception via card sharing. Both solutions allow access to encrypted channels, but they fundamentally differ in architecture, configuration flexibility, and supported conditional access systems. Below is a detailed technical comparison of the current versions CCcam 2.3.x and OScam rev 11836+.

What are CCcam and OScam: brief technical essence

CCcam — protocol and card sharing server

CCcam is both a conditional access data transmission protocol and server software. Developed by a closed team, it is distributed in binary form without open source code. The server listens for incoming connections on port 12000 (by default), accepts requests for decrypting ECM packets, and returns CW (Control Word) to clients. Configuration is entirely concentrated in one file —CCcam.cfg.

Example of a minimal line to add a client in CCcam.cfg:

N: 12000 username password 01 01 0 0 0 0 0

Here, the port, login, password, and access rights mask for packets are specified. The syntax is simple but limited: there is no fine filtering by CAID, SID, or provider-id — only binary flags.

OScam — open conditional access manager

OScam (Open Source Conditional Access Module) is an open-source project developed on the Streamboard forum. Unlike CCcam, OScam is not just a card sharing server, but a full-fledged conditional access manager: it can work with physical smart cards, software emulators, accept connections via multiple protocols (CCcam, CS357/378, GBOX, CCCAM, Newcamd) simultaneously, and distribute access via the same protocols.

The OScam configuration is divided into several files:

• oscam.conf — global parameters, web interface, logging
• oscam.server — description of readers (cards, remote servers)
• oscam.user — users with detailed rights
• oscam.services — grouping of services by CAID+SID+provider
• oscam.dvbapi — parameters for integration with the DVB demultiplexer

Supported conditional access systems (CA)

CCcam: limited list

CCcam supports the main commercial conditional access systems prevalent in the European market:

• Viaccess (CAID 0500)
• Irdeto 2 (CAID 0604, 0622)
• Nagravision 2/3 (CAID 1801, 1830)
• Cryptoworks (CAID 0D00)
• Seca/Mediaguard (CAID 0100)
• Conax (CAID 0B00)

Support for BISS, PowerVU, DRE-Crypt, and a number of Asian systems is absent — this is critical for those working with channels on Eutelsat 36B or ABS-2A.

OScam: extended compatibility

OScam supports a significantly wider range of systems, including:

• Everything that CCcam supports
• BISS (CAID 2600) — often used for sports feeds
• PowerVU (CAID 0E00) — relevant for NSS7, SES-6
• DRE-Crypt (CAID 4AE1) — Russian packages of NTV+
• Tongfang (CAID 4B00) — Chinese operators
• Tanberg (CAID 1010)
• Videoguard (CAID 0919) — Sky UK

For working with NTV+ (DRE-Crypt) OScam remains the only practical choice among the two considered solutions.

Performance and decryption delays

Response time to ECM request

The performance of the card sharing server is measured by the response time to the ECM request — the lower it is, the less likely there are to be picture freezes when switching channels.

When used locally (smart card connected to the server directly via USB reader like Smargo SmartReader):

• OScam: typical response time 300–600 ms for Viaccess, 200–400 ms for Nagravision 3 with correctly configured parameterdetect=cd in oscam.server
• CCcam: 400–700 ms for similar cards, without the possibility of fine-tuning the timing

When using a remote C-Line (network card sharing), the difference is leveled by network latency, however, OScam processes the request queue more efficiently due to its multithreaded architecture and CW cache (parametercwcache).

Control Word caching

OScam implements multi-level CW caching: local cache in memory and optional cache exchange between servers via CWS protocol (cachex). This allows servicing repeated requests for the same ECM without accessing the card, reducing load and response time to 5–20 ms for cached packages.

In CCcam, CW caching is implemented much more simply: only in the memory of the current session, without the possibility of fine-tuning the cache lifetime or exchanging with other servers.

Flexibility of configuration and access rights management

Filtering in CCcam: minimalism

CCcam offers basic filtering: in the C-Line string, you can specify a package mask using numerical flags. Configuring access so that one user receives channels from only a specific provider (for example, only the Viasat package at position 5°W with CAID 0500/provider 032820), without changing others — is a non-trivial task and requires manual editing of binary masks.

Filtering in OScam: services and profiles

OScam allows creating a named service in oscam.services:

[viasat_nordics]

Then in oscam.user this service is assigned to a specific user:

[account]

Thus, client1 will have access strictly to the listed SIDs, even if the server has cards for dozens of other packages. This is critical when organizing multi-user sharing servers.

Web interface and monitoring

OScam: built-in web interface

OScam includes a built-in HTTP server (configured in the section[webif] of the oscam.conf file). The status page displays in real-time:

• Active client connections with IP address, time of last request, and number of processed ECMs
• Status of readers: card status, ATR, percentage of successful responses (ok/timeout/error)
• ECM/min load chart
• CW cache: hit rate and volume

Example configuration of the web interface:

[webif]

CCcam: external tools

CCcam does not have a built-in web interface. Third-party solutions are used for monitoring — CCcam Info PHP (a web script that reads data via a TCP connection on port 16001) or utilities like CCcam2Oscam. This adds an additional point of failure and complexity in server maintenance.

Connection protocols: compatibility with clients

CCcam: only native protocol

The CCcam server accepts connections exclusively via the native CCcam protocol (TCP, port 12000 by default). Clients are receivers with built-in support for CCcam (Dreambox, VU+, Formuler, Amiko) or software clients like CCcam on PC.

OScam: multi-protocol support

OScam simultaneously runs several server modules. Example configuration where the server accepts connections via four protocols:

[cs357x]

This allows connecting heterogeneous clients to a single OScam server: old receivers that only support Newcamd (Dreambox 500S with OE 1.6), modern Android set-top boxes via CCcam, and softcam clients via CS378x.

Installation and system requirements

CCcam: binary installation

CCcam is distributed as a ready-made binary file for a specific architecture (MIPS, SH4, ARM). Installation involves copying the binary and creating CCcam.cfg. On Dreambox 800 HD, installation takes 2–3 minutes. Compilation from source is not possible.

OScam: compilation for the task

OScam is compiled from source with module selection via cmake. For a minimal build with support for the CCcam protocol and physical cards:

cmake -DMODULE_CCCAM=1 -DMODULE_SERIAL=1 -DCARD_IRDETO=1 -DCARD_VIACCESS=1 .

On Raspberry Pi 3, a full build takes about 4 minutes. Ready-made binaries for popular platforms are published on third-party resources; however, for production environments, self-compilation with current revisions is recommended.

Security

CCcam has documented vulnerabilities in handshake processing that allowed for a buffer overflow attack when connecting a specially crafted client up to version 2.3.0. The closed source code does not allow for independent auditing.

OScam with open source is regularly reviewed by the community. To restrict access, IP whitelists are supported (allowedremoteip in oscam.user), limiting the number of simultaneous connections (numusers), and TLS traffic encryption via stunnel.

When to choose CCcam and when to choose OScam

Choose CCcam if:

• You need quick setup without studying a multi-file configuration
• You are only working with European CA systems (Viaccess, Nagravision, Irdeto)
• The receiver only supports the native CCcam client and cannot install OScam
• The server is used by one user without the need for granular access control

Choose OScam if:

• You need support for DRE-Crypt (NTV+), BISS, PowerVU, or other non-standard CAs
• You plan to have a multi-user sharing server with rights segregation
• You require simultaneous operation with multiple physical cards and load balancing
• Real-time monitoring via a browser is important
• You need compatibility with clients on different protocols

Final comparison

Parameter	CCcam 2.3.x	OScam rev 11836+
Open source	No	Yes
Supported CAs	6–8 main	20+ including DRE, BISS
Client protocols	Only CCcam	CCcam, Newcamd, CS357x, CS378x, GBOX
Web interface	Only external tools	Built-in
CW cache	Basic	Extended + cachex
Granularity of rights	Binary masks	By CAID/SID/provider
Configuration complexity	Low	Medium/high
Security audit	Not possible	Open code

OScam outperforms CCcam in all technical parameters except for the ease of initial setup. For tasks more serious than a home receiver, OScam is a justified choice. CCcam maintains its position where a minimal entry point is important and there are no non-standard CA systems.