Port 5357 Hacktricks Hot! ★ Best & Working
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to test and secure this port from a red team and blue team perspective.
By querying this port, an attacker can discover hostnames, network paths, and unique device metadata.
Port 5357 is utilized by the "Function Discovery Resource Publication" service in Windows. This service allows the computer to publish its presence and discover other devices on the local network without requiring a centralized DNS server. While this is convenient for home users setting up printers or sharing media, in an enterprise environment, it creates a channel where machines broadcast their existence to anyone listening. In the context of penetration testing, as outlined in HackTricks methodology, the first phase of an attack is enumeration. An open port 5357 offers a low-effort, high-yield target for reconnaissance.
Disable the "Network Discovery" feature in the Windows Control Panel (Network and Sharing Center > Advanced sharing settings) to close the port. port 5357 hacktricks
Restrict access to Port 5357 so that it cannot be reached from outside the local subnet or untrusted zones: Block Port 5357 inbound at the perimeter firewall.
The "HackTricks" approach to this port typically involves information disclosure and enumeration rather than direct, modern exploits. 🛠️ Feature: Service Information Enumeration
: If the server does not need to discover local printers or shares, turn off Network Discovery in the Windows Advanced Sharing settings. This guide will walk you through everything you
This guide is for educational and authorized security testing purposes only.
In local network environments, services tied to network discovery can sometimes be coerced into authenticating against an attacker-controlled machine. While tools like Responder target LLMNR/NBT-NS (UDP 137/138) or mDNS, WSD configurations can occasionally be manipulated to force a machine to initiate an outbound SMB connection, exposing NTLM hashes for cracking or relaying. 4. Remediation and Hardening
If the WSD endpoint belongs to a , the host might be vulnerable to the PrintNightmare chain: This service allows the computer to publish its
TCP 0.0.0.0:5357 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING ```
To confirm the port is open and attempt to identify the service version, use the following Nmap command: nmap -p 5357 -sV -sC Use code with caution.
Exposed printer or scanner interfaces can sometimes be accessed without authentication, potentially allowing job manipulation or further reconnaissance within a local network. Mitigation Additional WS-Discovery Functionality - Win32 apps
Details about the operating system and service versions.
Because WS-Discovery relies on multicast communication to discover devices, an attacker inside the network can spoof WS-Discovery responses. : Set up a malicious rogue device.