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McAfee Agent Discovery
*McAfee Network Agent uses UDP port 6646 primarily for local network device discovery. This facilitates the detection of other endpoints running McAfee software, potentially to optimize internal communication such as update distribution or peer management.*.
The McAfee Network Agent operating on UDP port 6646 is part of the broader McAfee security ecosystem commonly installed on Windows-based endpoints. This service periodically broadcasts network packets to detect other McAfee-enabled devices within the local area network (LAN). The agent is designed to build a network-aware map that aids in efficient software update delivery and centralized policy management.
Specific network activity typically manifests as multicast or broadcast UDP packets sent at regular intervals. The precise protocol details remain largely proprietary and under-documented, but it appears to enable the discovery of peer endpoints or relay information to local management consoles. This can reduce the need for individual internet-based updates for each device, thereby minimizing bandwidth consumption across the external internet connection.
Implementation generally requires the Network Agent service running persistently in the background on Windows machines. Disabling the associated Windows service halts communications on this port. The setup is unofficially standardized, meaning it's an internal convention rather than being governed by a formal IANA assignment.