Port 3956GigE Vision Control Protocol

GigE Vision cameras use port 3956 for discovery, control commands, configuration, and acquisition management.

transport: tcp · udp
in transit: cleartext
assignment: official
risk: 7/10
lookups: 0

also known as gvcp

Technical Details

what runs on :3956

GVCP is the control-plane protocol for GigE Vision devices. IANA registers port 3956 for both TCP and UDP, although normal GigE Vision deployments primarily use UDP, with request/acknowledgment messages, command identifiers, discovery broadcasts, register access, configuration, and heartbeat or control-channel management. Camera image data is normally carried separately by GVSP, commonly associated with UDP port 3957.

Security Information

exposure of :3956

risk score

7/ 10risk

treat as sensitive. widely scanned and regularly exploited when reachable — restrict it to known sources.

network services averages 2.8 across 1,135 ports — this one sits 4.2 above.

in transit

cleartext

credentials and payloads are readable by anyone on path

assignment

official

registered with iana for this service — scanners fingerprint it by number

reachable over

tcp · udp

udp is connectionless — source addresses are trivially spoofed and it is a reflection favourite

security overview

Classic GigE Vision control traffic is not encrypted or strongly authenticated by default. An attacker with network access may discover cameras, read or alter configuration, trigger acquisition, interrupt control ownership, or otherwise affect machine-vision operations; the port should normally be restricted to the camera VLAN or trusted control hosts rather than exposed to the internet.

Record

iana registry entry

port: :3956
service: GigE Vision Control Protocol
transport: TCPUDP
encryption: cleartext
assignment: iana registered
risk: 7/10risk
category: Network Services IoT
usage: GigE Vision industrial cameras and their host software use this port for camera discovery, configuration, triggering, and control. Engineers typically encounter it on machine-vision networks alongside GigE Vision streaming traffic.
lookups: 0rank 994
added: 2026-09-13
updated: 2026-09-13
references: IANA service name registry — port 3956

Something wrong?

This record is maintained by the engineers who use port 3956. Every field on it is editable — change what's wrong, say how you know, and a reviewer publishes it, usually within a minute. Last touched 2026-09-13.

01edit any field on a page of its own
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edit this record →back to the registry

Related Ports

all 1,135 in network services →

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:3128	Tatsoft Default HTTP Proxy	TCP	Web Services	caution	46.8k

risk mix of the 8 listed

caution100%

0 of 8 encrypted

Port :3956GigE Vision Control Protocol

Technical Details

Security Information

Related Ports

Port 3956GigE Vision Control Protocol