Port 438dsfgw

DSFGW service traffic uses TCP or UDP port 438.

Technical Details

what runs on :438

dsfgw is registered on port :438 over tcp and udp to Andy McKeen. We don't have a technical write-up for it beyond the IANA registry entry.

In nmap's internet-wide scan data this port is found open rarely. What's listening is often not the registered service, so check before you assume.

find what's listening on :438

this machine

# linux
sudo ss -tulpn 'sport = :438'

# macos / bsd
sudo lsof -nP -i :438

# windows (then: tasklist /FI "PID eq <pid>")
netstat -ano | findstr :438

another host

nmap -sV -p T:438 <host>
sudo nmap -sU -sV -p U:438 <host>

run it? the handshake, the implementations you meet in the wild and the flags that matter come from the engineers who do.

exposure of :438

risk score

1/ 10safe

routine exposure. this port is rarely the way in on its own — keep it patched and logged and move on.

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

no security notes recorded for :438 yet

known exploits, hardening advice, what a compromise looks like — suggest an edit if you know its exposure.

ports registered around :438, by lookups.

port	service	proto	category	risk	views
:443	HTTPS	TCPtls	Web Services	caution	65.9k
:445	Microsoft-DS / SMB	TCP	File Transfer	caution	22.3k
:475	tcpnethaspsrv	TCP	Security	caution	20.7k
:502	Modbus Protocol	TCPUDP	Network Services	caution	19.2k
:427	Service Location Protocol	TCPUDP	Network Services	caution	14.6k
:502	Modbus	TCPUDP	Network Services	caution	13.7k
:384	Remote Server System	TCPUDP	Remote Access	caution	11.5k
:383	HP Data Alarm Manager	TCPUDP	Network Services	caution	11.1k

risk mix of the 8 listed

1 of 8 encrypted