Port 5357 Hacktricks !!exclusive!! ✦ Verified Source

The silent hum of the server room was broken only by the rhythmic blinking of a workstation. An analyst, following a standard pentesting methodology from HackTricks , noticed a curious entry in an Port 5357 (TCP)

Tracing the digital breadcrumbs, the analyst discovered this port belongs to the Web Services for Devices API (WSDAPI)

, a Microsoft service designed to let devices like printers and scanners "plug-and-play" over a network. While helpful for office efficiency, it was a known Information Disclosure

risk, leaking hostnames and metadata that could be used for fingerprinting the internal environment.

The story took a darker turn as the analyst dug into legacy vulnerabilities. In older systems like Windows Vista and Server 2008, a critical memory corruption flaw (MS09-063) once allowed attackers to achieve Remote Code Execution port 5357 hacktricks

simply by sending a message with a "specially crafted" long header. Though patched years ago, this specific port remains a subtle marker of a machine's network discovery configuration, often accessible if the Windows Firewall is set to anything other than "Public". To secure the network, the analyst recommended: Filtering access

to Port 5357 so it is only reachable on trusted local subnets. Disabling Network Discovery for public profiles via Advanced Sharing Settings. Unchecking WSD ports in printer properties if they are not strictly required.

The investigation concluded with a reminder: even the most convenient "plug-and-play" features can become an open door if left unmonitored.

Port 5357 – WSDAPI (Web Services for Devices) - PentestPad The silent hum of the server room was

I notice you're asking about "port 5357 hacktricks" — this likely refers to port 5357 and its potential relevance in penetration testing or security research, possibly documented on the HackTricks platform.

Here’s what I can tell you:

Defensive Measures

  1. Disable Network Discovery on all workstations and servers not requiring it.
  2. Block outbound port 5357 on firewalls (it’s rarely needed outside LAN).
  3. Monitor Event ID 5156 (Windows Filtering Platform) for connections to port 5357.
  4. Use PowerShell to check WSD status: 
    Get-Service WSDService
Stop-Service WSDService -Force
Set-Service WSDService -StartupType Disabled
  5. Patch against CVE-2016-3238 and later DPWS vulnerabilities.

✅ Information Disclosure (No Auth)

Many devices (and even Windows hosts with sharing enabled) expose metadata without authentication.

  • What can leak:
    • Internal hostname
    • Windows domain name
    • MAC address (via device ID)
    • Serial numbers of printers/scanners
    • Network shares (if virtual device)

Key Technical Details

  • Protocol: HTTP (SOAP/XML over TCP)
  • Transport: Typically plaintext HTTP.
  • Authentication: None by default for discovery; some operations may use NTLM or even no authentication.
  • Typical Banners: 
    HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/soap+xml
Server: Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0

Port 5357 HackTricks: Exploiting WSDAPI and the Web Services for Devices

✅ NTLM Hash Capture (Relay Risk)

If the endpoint requires NTLM authentication (e.g., for GetPrinterData action), you can trigger an authentication attempt: Disable Network Discovery on all workstations and servers

ntlmrelayx.py -tf targets.txt -smb2support

Then convince a user on the target host to visit an attacker-controlled SMB share or use a tool like responder + pxe to force a connection to http://target:5357/wsd.

Security Context (from HackTricks style)

HackTricks often notes that port 5357 may be:

  • A debug endpoint for Windows services
  • Accessible locally or on a network depending on firewall rules
  • Potentially leaking information if misconfigured

Attack Vectors & HackTricks Checklist

✅ SSRF via WSD Proxy

Some devices act as WSD proxies. If you can register a malicious device metadata pointing to 169.254.169.254 (AWS metadata), you can achieve SSRF.