Port 5985WS-Management (WinRM HTTP)

WS-Management remote administration over HTTP, commonly provided by Microsoft WinRM on Windows systems.

transport: tcp · udp
in transit: cleartext
assignment: official
risk: 8/10
lookups: 0

also known as Windows Remote Management

Technical Details

what runs on :5985

WS-Management uses SOAP/XML messages transported over HTTP, with HTTP request/response framing and WS-* management operations. Port 5985 is the conventional HTTP endpoint; the encrypted HTTPS endpoint is normally 5986. IANA lists both TCP and UDP for this assignment, but deployed WS-Management implementations use TCP for HTTP and do not normally provide a UDP service.

Security Information

exposure of :5985

risk score

8/ 10risk

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

remote access averages 3.7 across 138 ports — this one sits 4.3 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

This is a remote-administration interface and should not normally be exposed directly to the public internet. HTTP transport is not encrypted by default, although authentication can use mechanisms such as Kerberos, NTLM, or certificate-based methods; attackers can probe the endpoint, attempt credential attacks, and exploit weaknesses in the underlying Windows management stack. Restrict access with firewalls or VPNs, enforce strong authentication, and prefer HTTPS on 5986 where appropriate.

Record

iana registry entry

port: :5985
service: WS-Management (WinRM HTTP)
transport: TCPUDP
encryption: cleartext
assignment: iana registered
risk: 8/10risk
category: Remote Access System
usage: This port commonly carries Microsoft Windows Remote Management (WinRM), implementing WS-Management for remote administration, WMI, PowerShell remoting, and related management tools. Engineers typically encounter it on Windows servers and domain-managed systems; internet-wide exposure is uncommon.
lookups: 0rank 994
added: 2026-08-30
updated: 2026-08-30
references: IANA service name registry — port 5985

Something wrong?

This record is maintained by the engineers who use port 5985. 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 2026-08-30.

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edit this record →back to the registry

Related Ports

all 138 in remote access →

the 8 most looked-up other ports in remote access — 138 ports carry that label.

port	service	proto	category	risk	views
:8000	Intel Remote Desktop / Alternate HTTP Port	TCP	Web Services	safe	84.3k
:8888	D2GS Admin Console	TCP	Remote Access	caution	83.7k
:8881	Atlasz Secure Server	TCP	Web Services	caution	67.6k
:5938	TeamViewer	TCPUDP	Remote Access	caution	65.0k
:8291	Winbox MikroTik Admin	TCP	Security	caution	62.9k
:8008	IBM HTTP Server Admin	TCP	Web Services	caution	58.3k
:135	Microsoft EPMAP	TCPUDP	Security	caution	51.9k
:23	Telnet	TCP	Remote Access	caution	34.8k

risk mix of the 8 listed

safe13%
caution88%

0 of 8 encrypted

Port :5985WS-Management (WinRM HTTP)

Technical Details

Security Information

Related Ports

Port 5985WS-Management (WinRM HTTP)