Common attacks and weaknesses
- Default cassandra/cassandra superuser.
Port 9042: Cassandra
Apache Cassandra native protocol.
9042
How Cassandra works
Databases & cachesThe application sends a SQL query to the Cassandra server on port 9042, which returns rows from its tables. Encryption is optional: traffic is only protected if TLS is enabled on the server and the client.
- Transport
- TCP
- Exposure risk
- 7/10 high if reachable from the Internet
- Encryption
- Optional TLSTLS only if negotiated
- IANA status
- Unassignedcommon use differs from the registry
- Range
- Registered (1024-49151)
- Category
- Databases & caches
Is port 9042 dangerous?
How to secure it
- Enable authentication, change the default superuser, use client TLS.
Unofficial use. The IANA assignment below differs from what is usually found on this port in practice.
IANA registry entries for port 9042
No entry. The port is free for any application, so check what uses it on your hosts.
// source: IANA service name and port number registry
Which program uses port 9042, and is it reachable?
Linux
sudo ss -ltnup 'sport = :9042' # process listening on 9042
sudo lsof -nP -i :9042macOS
sudo lsof -nP -i :9042
Windows (PowerShell)
Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 9042 -State Listen | Select LocalAddress, OwningProcess Get-NetUDPEndpoint -LocalPort 9042 netstat -ano | findstr :9042
From another machine
nmap -p 9042 -sV <host> nc -zv <host> 9042
Block it in the firewall
sudo ufw deny 9042/tcp # Linux (ufw) New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Block 9042" -Direction Inbound -LocalPort 9042 -Protocol TCP -Action Block # Windows
What is port 9042 used for?
Apache Cassandra native protocol.
Is port 9042 TCP or UDP?
Port 9042 is registered for TCP.
Is it safe to open port 9042?
It is rated 7/10 (high) when exposed to the Internet. Default cassandra/cassandra superuser. Enable authentication, change the default superuser, use client TLS.
How do I check if port 9042 is open?
On Linux run "ss -ltnup 'sport = :9042'", on macOS "lsof -nP -i :9042", and on Windows "netstat -ano | findstr :9042" to see the local process. From another machine, "nmap -p 9042 <host>" shows whether it is reachable.
Other databases & caches ports
:3306 MySQL / MariaDB tcp · udp · high risk :1433 Microsoft SQL Server tcp · udp · high risk :5432 PostgreSQL tcp · udp · high risk :6379 Redis tcp · critical risk :27017 MongoDB tcp · critical risk :9200 Elasticsearch tcp · udp · critical risk :1521 Oracle Database tcp · udp · high risk :11211 Memcached tcp · udp · high risk