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 623
Open to everyone
# Linux iptables iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 623 -j ACCEPT # Ubuntu ufw ufw allow 623/udp # firewalld firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=623/udp && firewall-cmd --reload # MikroTik /ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=623 action=accept place-before=0 comment="port 623" # Windows (PowerShell) New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Port 623 UDP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 623 -Action Allow
Only for your addresses
# allow only one address or network (replace 203.0.113.0/24) iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 623 -s 203.0.113.0/24 -j ACCEPT iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 623 -j DROP ufw allow from 203.0.113.0/24 to any port 623 proto udp /ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=623 src-address=203.0.113.0/24 action=accept /ip firewall filter add chain=input protocol=udp dst-port=623 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 ':623 ' netstat -ano | findstr :623 # Windows lsof -i :623 # macOS