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Author Topic: Is port forwarding secure?  (Read 1973 times)

ianhudson

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Is port forwarding secure?
« on: January 05, 2022, 08:00:01 pm »

Hi all, I have been scouring the forums for one simple answer and I just can’t find it so I’ll ask.

I just easily set up my router to Port forward on Port 52199. Works great. I tested by taking my phone off Wi-Fi and now it’s on 5G, and I can access and control my music…… BUT, am I secure? I saw an earlier post about how 52199 is only used for JRiver. Should I do anything else?
I use the access Key and I have a user and password.

Some kid can’t hack into my home now can they?

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BryanC

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Re: Is port forwarding secure?
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2022, 08:07:21 pm »

If you open a port to the internet then it is as secure as the service running on the port. MC uses password authentication, which places a lot of the security implications on the user (i.e. use a strong password).

If you don't want the world to know which bits you are sending around then enable SSL too.

For a little additional security I'd recommend using IP whitelists at the firewall to limit incoming connections to those from trusted devices. At the very minimum you can geoblock IP ranges from outside your country, etc.

For the best security I wouldn't expose MC to the internet at all and use a VPN/Wireguard connection to connect to the LAN or server using public key cryptography.
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rec head

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Re: Is port forwarding secure?
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2022, 07:00:12 am »

Hi all, I have been scouring the forums for one simple answer and I just can’t find it so I’ll ask.

I just easily set up my router to Port forward on Port 52199. Works great. I tested by taking my phone off Wi-Fi and now it’s on 5G, and I can access and control my music…… BUT, am I secure? I saw an earlier post about how 52199 is only used for JRiver. Should I do anything else?
I use the access Key and I have a user and password.

Some kid can’t hack into my home now can they?

Thanks. I have been wondering the same thing.
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ianhudson

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Re: Is port forwarding secure?
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2022, 07:42:58 am »

Thanks for the answers. I have a background in IT so I understand all this, I'm just not a routing expert. Always wished I was. I just get the basics.

Anyway, another way to ask this question is:

Now that I have port forwarding open for that port, if some person scanned my router, saw the port was open and thought “I’m going in”…… What would they be presented with?
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marko

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Re: Is port forwarding secure?
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2022, 11:46:29 am »

Anyway, another way to ask this question is:

Now that I have port forwarding open for that port, if some person scanned my router, saw the port was open and thought “I’m going in”…… What would they be presented with?
That's the question, thank you again from me for asking.

For no good reason, I always believed that Johnny Hacker would need to know it was MC listening there, and also know an MC weakness to exploit, which is why I have my MC server listening on a different port... My mantra in these areas has always been "change the default for anything that allows you to".

Looking forward to reading the answers to this one.

-marko

JimH

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Re: Is port forwarding secure?
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2022, 02:01:10 pm »

That's the question, thank you again from me for asking.

... I always believed that Johnny Hacker would need to know it was MC listening there, and also know an MC weakness to exploit, which is why I have my MC server listening on a different port...
I think that you're right, marko.  And that there would have to be an MC weakness in the first place.
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DJLegba

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Re: Is port forwarding secure?
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2022, 02:32:01 pm »

Use telnet to connect via whatever port you've set up and you can see the response. Here's what I get after connecting and typing hello:



 HTTP/1.1 501 Server Error
Server: Windows, UPnP/1.0 DLNADOC/1.50, JRiver/28, JRiver_Internet_Reader/2.0 (compatible; Windows-Media-Player/10)
Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2022 20:28:41 GMT

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