prefixkit Ask an engineerAsk RU

Port 427 SLP

Service Location Protocol, found on VMware ESXi and printers; exploited by ransomware and DDoS.

Protocol
UDP
Service
SLP
Exposing to the internet
Do not expose

This is a UDP port: UDP reachability cannot be tested reliably with a simple connect; check firewall rules and packet counters.

Is it safe to open

Management interfaces give full control of the system. Make them reachable only from an admin network or VPN, change default credentials and keep the software patched.

How to open port 427

Open to everyone

# Linux iptables
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 427 -j ACCEPT
# Ubuntu ufw
ufw allow 427/udp
# firewalld
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=427/udp && firewall-cmd --reload
# MikroTik
/ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=427 action=accept place-before=0 comment="port 427"
# Windows (PowerShell)
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Port 427 UDP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 427 -Action Allow

Only for your addresses

# allow only one address or network (replace 203.0.113.0/24)
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 427 -s 203.0.113.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 427 -j DROP
ufw allow from 203.0.113.0/24 to any port 427 proto udp
/ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=427 src-address=203.0.113.0/24 action=accept
/ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=427 action=drop

If the server is behind a router, you also need a port forward (dst-nat). Behind ISP CGNAT (100.64.0.0/10 on the WAN) forwarding will not help: you need a public IP or a VPN.

What is listening

Check on the server

# what listens on the port
ss -lntup | grep ':427 '
netstat -ano | findstr :427   # Windows
lsof -i :427   # macOS

Related ports