Well-known · Windows

445 SMB / Microsoft-DS

TCP Yes
UDP —
SCTP —
DCCP —

What it is

Direct-hosted SMB for Windows file sharing and Active Directory.

When / why

File shares, SYSVOL, group policy. NEVER expose to the internet (WannaCry/EternalBlue vector).

Protocol status detail

TransportStatusMeaning
TCP Yes Assigned by IANA and standardized, specified, or widely used on this port.
UDP — Not applicable for this transport.
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 445

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

⚠ High exposure risk — this service should never be reachable from untrusted networks. Scope the rule to a management subnet or VPN.

ufw

sudo ufw allow proto tcp from <source> to any port 445

Allow TCP 445 (SMB / Microsoft-DS). 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="445" protocol="tcp" accept'

Allow TCP 445 (SMB / Microsoft-DS) from <source>. Run 'firewall-cmd --reload' afterwards.

nftables

nft add rule inet filter input ip saddr <source> tcp dport 445 accept

Allow TCP 445 (SMB / Microsoft-DS). Assumes table 'inet filter' with an 'input' chain.

iptables

sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s <source> --dport 445 -j ACCEPT

Allow TCP 445 (SMB / Microsoft-DS). Persist with iptables-save/netfilter-persistent.

Azure NSG

az network nsg rule create -g <resource-group> --nsg-name <nsg> -n Allow-smbmicrosoftds-445 --priority 1000 --access Allow --direction Inbound --protocol TCP --source-address-prefixes <source> --destination-port-ranges 445

Inbound rule for 445 (SMB / Microsoft-DS). 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=445,ToPort=445,IpRanges="[{CidrIp=<source-cidr>}]"

Inbound TCP 445 (SMB / Microsoft-DS). Replace <source-cidr> (e.g. 10.0.0.0/16).

GCP firewall

gcloud compute firewall-rules create allow-smbmicrosoftds-445 --direction=INGRESS --action=ALLOW --rules=tcp:445 --source-ranges=<source-cidr> --network=<network>

Ingress rule for 445 (SMB / Microsoft-DS). Scope with --source-ranges and optionally --target-tags.

Windows netsh

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Allow SMB / Microsoft-DS 445/TCP" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=445 remoteip=<source>

Inbound TCP 445 (SMB / Microsoft-DS). Set remoteip to a host/subnet; 'any' is discouraged.

Windows PowerShell

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Allow SMB / Microsoft-DS 445/TCP" -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 445 -RemoteAddress <source>

Inbound TCP 445 (SMB / Microsoft-DS). 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.