diff --git a/pkg/nimble/Makefile b/pkg/nimble/Makefile
index 147437c6d4..69c8072862 100644
--- a/pkg/nimble/Makefile
+++ b/pkg/nimble/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 PKG_NAME    = nimble
 PKG_URL     = https://github.com/apache/mynewt-nimble.git
-PKG_VERSION = 7d3f3cc6afce62a628404856fe4f90e27e04350a
+PKG_VERSION = cddb7c4ccee72e718c8b1a57166e702917e02c13
 PKG_LICENSE = Apache-2.0
 
 include $(RIOTBASE)/pkg/pkg.mk
diff --git a/pkg/nimble/netif/include/nimble_netif.h b/pkg/nimble/netif/include/nimble_netif.h
index 9b019ddd40..3abff75ece 100644
--- a/pkg/nimble/netif/include/nimble_netif.h
+++ b/pkg/nimble/netif/include/nimble_netif.h
@@ -288,6 +288,24 @@ int nimble_netif_update(int handle,
  */
 int nimble_netif_used_chanmap(int handle, uint8_t map[5]);
 
+/**
+ * @brief   Trigger a L2CAP ping procedure for the specified connection
+ *
+ * This is a convenience wrapper around the NimBLE ble_l2cap_ping() function.
+ *
+ * @param[in] handle        connection handle
+ * @param[in] cb            callback triggered when the PING_RSP is received,
+ *                          executed in the NimBLE host thread context
+ * @param[in] data          payload included in the PING_REQ and PING_RSP
+ *                          messages
+ * @param[in] data_len      length of @p data in bytes
+ *
+ * @return  0 on success
+ * @return  <0 on error
+ */
+int nimble_netif_l2cap_ping(int handle, ble_l2cap_ping_fn cb,
+                            const void *data, uint16_t data_len);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/pkg/nimble/netif/nimble_netif.c b/pkg/nimble/netif/nimble_netif.c
index 18bfb642db..e6a6937920 100644
--- a/pkg/nimble/netif/nimble_netif.c
+++ b/pkg/nimble/netif/nimble_netif.c
@@ -736,3 +736,13 @@ int nimble_netif_used_chanmap(int handle, uint8_t map[5])
 
     return 0;
 }
+
+int nimble_netif_l2cap_ping(int handle, ble_l2cap_ping_fn cb,
+                            const void *data, uint16_t data_len)
+{
+    nimble_netif_conn_t *conn = nimble_netif_conn_get(handle);
+    if (conn == NULL) {
+        return -1;
+    }
+    return ble_l2cap_ping(conn->gaphandle, cb, data, data_len);
+}
diff --git a/sys/shell/commands/sc_nimble_netif.c b/sys/shell/commands/sc_nimble_netif.c
index 14674a79db..423baeea04 100644
--- a/sys/shell/commands/sc_nimble_netif.c
+++ b/sys/shell/commands/sc_nimble_netif.c
@@ -398,6 +398,13 @@ static void _cmd_update(int handle, int itvl, int timeout)
     }
 }
 
+static void _on_echo_rsp(uint16_t gap_handle, uint32_t rtt, struct os_mbuf *om)
+{
+    int handle = nimble_netif_conn_get_by_gaphandle(gap_handle);
+    printf("ECHO_RSP handle:%i rtt:%u size:%u\n",
+           handle, (unsigned)rtt, (unsigned)OS_MBUF_PKTLEN(om));
+}
+
 static int _ishelp(char *argv)
 {
     return memcmp(argv, "help", 4) == 0;
@@ -418,9 +425,9 @@ int _nimble_netif_handler(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     if ((argc == 1) || _ishelp(argv[1])) {
 #if !IS_USED(MODULE_NIMBLE_AUTOCONN) && !IS_USED(MODULE_NIMBLE_STATCONN)
-        printf("usage: %s [help|info|adv|scan|connect|close|update|chanmap]\n", argv[0]);
+        printf("usage: %s [help|info|adv|scan|connect|close|update|chanmap|ping]\n", argv[0]);
 #else
-        printf("usage: %s [help|info|close|update|chanmap]\n", argv[0]);
+        printf("usage: %s [help|info|close|update|chanmap|ping]\n", argv[0]);
 #endif
         return 0;
     }
@@ -543,7 +550,21 @@ int _nimble_netif_handler(int argc, char **argv)
         }
         return 0;
     }
+    else if ((memcmp(argv[1], "ping", 4) == 0)) {
+        if ((argc < 3) || _ishelp(argv[2])) {
+            printf("usage: %s %s <handle>\n", argv[0], argv[1]);
+            return 0;
+        }
 
+        int handle = atoi(argv[2]);
+        char *data = (argc > 3) ? argv[3] : NULL;
+        uint16_t data_len = (data != NULL) ? (uint16_t)strlen(data) : 0;
+
+        int res = nimble_netif_l2cap_ping(handle, _on_echo_rsp, data, data_len);
+        if (res != 0) {
+            printf("err: unable to send ping (%i)\n", res);
+        }
+    }
     else {
         printf("unable to parse the command. Use '%s help' for more help\n",
                argv[0]);