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// DevOps, cloud & containers

Port 5164: Virtual Protocol Adapter

Port 5164 is assigned by IANA to vpa (Virtual Protocol Adapter), vpa-disc (Virtual Protocol Adapter Discovery).

5164

How vpa works

DevOps, cloud & containers
adminhostvpa adminhostvpa

Commands sent to port 5164 create and control containers or cluster resources on the host.

Transport
TCP · UDP
Exposure risk
not rated depends on the program listening
Encryption
Unknownnot stated by the registry
IANA status
Assigned2 registered services
Range
Registered (1024-49151)
Category
DevOps, cloud & containers
01 Security

Is port 5164 dangerous?

We have no specific security note for port 5164. Its risk depends on the program actually listening on it. General advice for devops, cloud & containers services:

  • Container and orchestration APIs give full control of hosts: require mutual TLS and RBAC.
  • Never expose them to the Internet.
  • Rotate tokens and certificates and audit who has access.
02 Registry

IANA registry entries for port 5164

ServicePortTransportDescriptionReferenceUpdated
vpa 5164 TCP Virtual Protocol Adapter - 2009-08-05
vpa-disc 5164 UDP Virtual Protocol Adapter Discovery - 2009-08-05

// source: IANA service name and port number registry

03 Check it

Which program uses port 5164, and is it reachable?

Linux

sudo ss -ltnup 'sport = :5164'      # process listening on 5164
sudo lsof -nP -i :5164

macOS

sudo lsof -nP -i :5164

Windows (PowerShell)

Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 5164 -State Listen | Select LocalAddress, OwningProcess
Get-NetUDPEndpoint -LocalPort 5164
netstat -ano | findstr :5164

From another machine

nmap -p 5164 -sV <host>
sudo nmap -sU -p 5164 <host>
nc -zv <host> 5164

Block it in the firewall

sudo ufw deny 5164/tcp                                         # Linux (ufw)
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Block 5164" -Direction Inbound -LocalPort 5164 -Protocol TCP -Action Block  # Windows
04 FAQ
What is port 5164 used for?

Port 5164 is assigned by IANA to vpa (Virtual Protocol Adapter), vpa-disc (Virtual Protocol Adapter Discovery).

Is port 5164 TCP or UDP?

Port 5164 is registered for TCP and UDP.

Is it safe to open port 5164?

It depends on the program that listens on it. Open it only for a service you know and only to the networks that need it. Container and orchestration APIs give full control of hosts: require mutual TLS and RBAC.

How do I check if port 5164 is open?

On Linux run "ss -ltnup 'sport = :5164'", on macOS "lsof -nP -i :5164", and on Windows "netstat -ano | findstr :5164" to see the local process. From another machine, "nmap -p 5164 <host>" shows whether it is reachable.

05 Related
:2375 Docker API (HTTP) tcp · critical risk :2376 Docker API (TLS) tcp · high risk :6443 Kubernetes API tcp · udp · high risk :10250 Kubelet API tcp · critical risk :2379 etcd tcp · critical risk :8500 Consul tcp · udp · high risk :4505 SaltStack tcp · critical risk :9000 PHP-FPM / SonarQube / Portainer tcp · udp · high risk

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