this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2023
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What are the actual security implications of port forwarding? (alien.top)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Like, I hear all the time that you shouldn't open any ports on your networks fire wall for security reasons this and security reasons that. But what are the actual security implications/risks of forwarding a port for something like Jellyfin or a Minecraft server or something like that? Explain like im 16 (or something)

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I'll repeat a reply I made as a top-level comment, as I think it's a useful analogy:

Opening a port is like installing a door in what was a brick wall in a back alley, then leaving it unattended while people might try to pick the lock. Unfortunately, the internet is a crime-ridden neighborhood, and that lock will be tested, likely within minutes.

The "door" in this analogy is a port forward on your router, and the "lock" is whatever security is provided by the service you expose on that port. Some services are battle-tested and more trustworthy than others, but nearly everything has a bug in it somewhere.

I no longer leave any ports open, other than just one for Wireguard. Wireguard in general won't reply to unauthenticated packets at all, so it's essentially an invisible door. I can't speak to OpenVPN, it may or may not behave similarly. Leaving an SSH server visible is an invitation for automated password-guessing.