To prevent hacking, disable Universal Plug and Play now!

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:57 am

I've been railing against uPnP for years. I always disable it on my client's routers.

What it does is allow apps running on your computer to configure port forwarding on your router. Why is that bad? The app could just as easily be a virus. uPnP in no way indicates what ports have been openned - it's completely invisible and doesn't show up in the port forwarding control panel.

It's convenient, but it's a bad idea. Better for you to do your own port forwarding:

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/01 ... -play-now/

ZYFER · Post by **ZYFER** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 3:26 am

It was a good idea at first, but its failure to implement proper security procedures is the issue. Now if they could redesign it, say have an app on your PC that requires approval, much like Firewall programs do, then it would be an asset for convenience.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:25 pm

And to be clear, because I didn't explain in the original post, while UPnP is ba enough in it's normal operational mode, the big hoopla right now is that someone discovered that something like 3 - 4% of the routers in use right now (via port testing) have a flaw which ma

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:30 pm

And just to be clear, because I didn't explain it in the original post:

UPnP is badly flawed when implemented PROPERLY. What this researcher discovered is that many home routers allow UPnP to be accessible from the WAN side (the Internet side) of the router, which is a disaster.

GRC.COM's Shield's Up test now has a UPnP exploit detection feature. Go to the Services menu, select Shields Up, then click Proceed, and then click on the UPnP exposure test button.

darcy · Post by **darcy** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 3:52 pm

FlyingPenguin wrote:And just to be clear, because I didn't explain it in the original post:

UPnP is badly flawed when implemented PROPERLY. What this researcher discovered is that many home routers allow UPnP to be accessible from the WAN side (the Internet side) of the router, which is a disaster.

GRC.COM's Shield's Up test now has a UPnP exploit detection feature. Go to the Services menu, select Shields Up, then click Proceed, and then click on the UPnP exposure test button.

i got:

"THE EQUIPMENT AT THE TARGET IP ADDRESS
DID NOT RESPOND TO OUR UPnP PROBES!

(That's good news!)"