Well-known · Cross-platform

19 CHARGEN

TCP Yes
UDP Yes
SCTP
DCCP

What it is

Character Generator returns a stream of characters.

When / why

Almost always disabled — a classic DDoS amplification vector.

Protocol status detail

TransportStatusMeaning
TCP Yes Assigned by IANA and standardized, specified, or widely used on this port.
UDP Yes Assigned by IANA and standardized, specified, or widely used on this port.
SCTP Not applicable for this transport.
DCCP Not applicable for this transport.

Port range

Well-known (0–1023). System port for a core service. On Unix-like systems, binding it requires superuser privileges.

Browse all ports →

Firewall rules for port 19

Copy-ready inbound rules for the active transports. Replace every <source> placeholder with the specific host, subnet, or CIDR that should reach this port.

⚠ UDP amplification risk — restrict or disable on internet-facing interfaces.

ufw

sudo ufw allow proto tcp from <source> to any port 19

Allow TCP 19 (CHARGEN). Replace <source> with the network/host that should reach it.

sudo ufw allow proto udp from <source> to any port 19

Allow UDP 19 (CHARGEN). Replace <source> with the network/host that should reach it.

firewalld

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" source address="<source>" port port="19" protocol="tcp" accept'

Allow TCP 19 (CHARGEN) from <source>. Run 'firewall-cmd --reload' afterwards.

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" source address="<source>" port port="19" protocol="udp" accept'

Allow UDP 19 (CHARGEN) from <source>. Run 'firewall-cmd --reload' afterwards.

nftables

nft add rule inet filter input ip saddr <source> tcp dport 19 accept

Allow TCP 19 (CHARGEN). Assumes table 'inet filter' with an 'input' chain.

nft add rule inet filter input ip saddr <source> udp dport 19 accept

Allow UDP 19 (CHARGEN). Assumes table 'inet filter' with an 'input' chain.

iptables

sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s <source> --dport 19 -j ACCEPT

Allow TCP 19 (CHARGEN). Persist with iptables-save/netfilter-persistent.

sudo iptables -A INPUT -p udp -s <source> --dport 19 -j ACCEPT

Allow UDP 19 (CHARGEN). Persist with iptables-save/netfilter-persistent.

Azure NSG

az network nsg rule create -g <resource-group> --nsg-name <nsg> -n Allow-chargen-19 --priority 1000 --access Allow --direction Inbound --protocol "*" --source-address-prefixes <source> --destination-port-ranges 19

Inbound rule for 19 (CHARGEN). Set <source> to a CIDR; lower priority number = higher precedence.

AWS Security Group

aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress --group-id <sg-id> --ip-permissions IpProtocol=tcp,FromPort=19,ToPort=19,IpRanges="[{CidrIp=<source-cidr>}]"

Inbound TCP 19 (CHARGEN). Replace <source-cidr> (e.g. 10.0.0.0/16).

aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress --group-id <sg-id> --ip-permissions IpProtocol=udp,FromPort=19,ToPort=19,IpRanges="[{CidrIp=<source-cidr>}]"

Inbound UDP 19 (CHARGEN). Replace <source-cidr> (e.g. 10.0.0.0/16).

GCP firewall

gcloud compute firewall-rules create allow-chargen-19 --direction=INGRESS --action=ALLOW --rules=tcp:19,udp:19 --source-ranges=<source-cidr> --network=<network>

Ingress rule for 19 (CHARGEN). Scope with --source-ranges and optionally --target-tags.

Windows netsh

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Allow CHARGEN 19/TCP" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=19 remoteip=<source>

Inbound TCP 19 (CHARGEN). Set remoteip to a host/subnet; 'any' is discouraged.

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Allow CHARGEN 19/UDP" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=19 remoteip=<source>

Inbound UDP 19 (CHARGEN). Set remoteip to a host/subnet; 'any' is discouraged.

Windows PowerShell

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Allow CHARGEN 19/TCP" -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 19 -RemoteAddress <source>

Inbound TCP 19 (CHARGEN). Replace <source> with a host or subnet.

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Allow CHARGEN 19/UDP" -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 19 -RemoteAddress <source>

Inbound UDP 19 (CHARGEN). Replace <source> with a host or subnet.

Rules are generated only for transports marked active for this port. They default to an inbound allow with an explicit source placeholder — never any. Review direction, scope, and rule precedence before applying in production.