Is it safe to open
Infrastructure services (DNS, NTP, DHCP, routing) should answer only the networks they serve. Open resolvers and time servers get abused for DDoS amplification.
How to open port 53
Open to everyone
# Linux iptables iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT # Ubuntu ufw ufw allow 53/tcp ufw allow 53/udp # firewalld firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=53/tcp && firewall-cmd --reload firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=53/udp && firewall-cmd --reload # MikroTik /ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=tcp dst-port=53 action=accept place-before=0 comment="port 53" /ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=53 action=accept place-before=0 comment="port 53" # Windows (PowerShell) New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Port 53 TCP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 53 -Action Allow New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Port 53 UDP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 53 -Action Allow
Only for your addresses
# allow only one address or network (replace 203.0.113.0/24) iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 53 -s 203.0.113.0/24 -j ACCEPT iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 53 -s 203.0.113.0/24 -j ACCEPT iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 53 -j DROP iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 53 -j DROP ufw allow from 203.0.113.0/24 to any port 53 proto tcp ufw allow from 203.0.113.0/24 to any port 53 proto udp /ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=tcp dst-port=53 src-address=203.0.113.0/24 action=accept /ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=53 src-address=203.0.113.0/24 action=accept /ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=tcp dst-port=53 action=drop /ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=53 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 ':53 ' netstat -ano | findstr :53 # Windows lsof -i :53 # macOS # test from another machine nc -vz example.com 53