Recommended Posts

As of recently it has been discovered that most routers expose UPnP to the outside world, which is not good at all. This allows attackers "from the internet" to open ports in your routers.

It is recommended you DISABLE UPnP in your router. Below is a test to see if your router is vulnerable. Steve Gibson, the creator of the very popular "Shields-up" which scans your IP for open ports in your router has recently added a test for the upnp vulnerability. Simply click the link then click the "proceed" button. You will then see a button for the UPnP test. Good luck!

The Test

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

It is recommended you DISABLE UPnP in your router.

No; It is recommened that you get a good router. I have UPnP on my router enabled and

THE EQUIPMENT AT THE TARGET IP ADDRESS

DID NOT RESPOND TO OUR UPnP PROBES!

So either I have a good router or the test sucks.

It's only recommended to disable UPnP on your routers if they don't pass that test, which means they are exposing you to the outer world.

Just passed the test on three touters with UPnP enabled. Two of them are running DD-WRT.

post-203976-0-34939600-1359915937.png

THE EQUIPMENT AT THE TARGET IP ADDRESS

DID NOT RESPOND TO OUR UPnP PROBES!

Why would you disable uPnP anyways? It allows internal hosts to dynamically open ports like XBL or PSN for gaming and voice. Without it you'd have to manually open every single port those services and similar ones use. Just keep your internal hosts clean.

THE EQUIPMENT AT THE TARGET IP ADDRESS

DID NOT RESPOND TO OUR UPnP PROBES!

Why would you disable uPnP anyways? It allows internal hosts to dynamically open ports like XBL or PSN for gaming and voice. Without it you'd have to manually open every single port those services and similar ones use. Just keep your internal hosts clean.

Yeah I agree with keeping uPnP enabled also.

I ran many different servers over the years, long time ago now, so I had many ports opened for access, and that site's port tests always showed me as being safe and secure.

All depends on what type of security you're running on your computers.

There should be no issue with running UPnP/NAT-PMP on your router if it's properly configured, I knew mine would pass this test from the start since it exposes it's configuration in a good manner (It only allows hosts on the 192.168/16 subnet to create a forwarding rule, and said rule has to point at the host that requested it, otherwise it's rejected), and shows what ports are forwarded on what protocol.

Never mind the fact that the firewall should reject outside communication before it even gets to the UPnP/NAT-PMP daemon anyway, if it isn't being blocked you have bigger issues.

"Without it you'd have to manually open every single port those services and similar ones use."

So -- your talking a handful of ports at most.. UPnP is to allow unsolicted inbound traffic to get through your nat router. Traffic initiated by you, or in answer to your traffic is allowed.

Most people have no use of UPnP, it has been a nightmare since it was created -- who in their right mind thought, hey lets allow ports to be opened on your gateway/firewall without any sort of auth at all!!

And no UPnP should not be reachable via your public IP that is for damn sure.

I disable it anyway. The fact that UPnP, by design, lets any application communicate with the router and open ports should make any security conscious user uneasy.

If you trust what's in your network and have the routers firewall up I don't see how it could.

^ the point is UPnP can remove your firewall settings. Without even a nod to you that its doing so, nor any sort of auth method to allow it.

There really needs to be some form of notification and auth to the mechanism - and then sure it would be a valid tool in opening firewall ports for the masses.

THE EQUIPMENT AT THE TARGET IP ADDRESS

DID NOT RESPOND TO OUR UPnP PROBES!

Why would you disable uPnP anyways? It allows internal hosts to dynamically open ports like XBL or PSN for gaming and voice. Without it you'd have to manually open every single port those services and similar ones use. Just keep your internal hosts clean.

It would allow any malicious program to actively contact your router, open whatever ports it wants, and then transmit data through those ports all without your knowledge.... pretty big security hole if you ask me.

Steve Gibson, the person who creates the most FUD on the internet with his crazy rants and observations!!!

I'm not going to argue that the fact that he is crazy, which he probably is, but he is also very smart. And Facts do not = FUD.

Are you up to date on this UPnP issue? The typical way UPnP works is, an active program on one of the systems on your network will contact the router and open ports for whatever program/service to pass data through. Sounds ok right, well there is an exploit on a TON of routers that allows that request to be made from the OUTSIDE over the WAN, so if you have one of these affected routers, anyone outside your network, can open up ports into your network using a little bit of packet "magic". It's a pretty big deal.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Can you give an example of when you would want to use Rufus over the other or vice versa? Just wondering which is the "best".
    • Oh no...the wallet is already screaming. So many games and so little time. Being old and responsible is awful!
    • LibreWolf 152.0.2-1 by Razvan Serea LibreWolf is an independent “fork” of Firefox, with the primary goals of privacy security and user freedom. It is the community run successor to LibreFox. LibreWolf is designed to increase protection against tracking and fingerprinting techniques, while also including a few security improvements. This is achieved through our privacy and security oriented settings and patches. LibreWolf also aims to remove all the telemetry, data collection and annoyances, as well as disabling anti-freedom features like DRM. LibreWolf features: Latest Firefox — LibreWolf is compiled directly from the latest build of Firefox Stable. You will have the the latest features, and security updates. Independent Build — LibreWolf uses a build independent of Firefox and has its own settings, profile folder and installation path. As a result, it can be installed alongside Firefox or any other browser. No phoning home — Embedded server links and other calling home functions are removed. In other words, minimal background connections by default. User settings updates Extensions firewall: limit internet access for extensions. Multi-platform (Windows/Linux/Mac/and soon Android) Community-Driven Dark theme (classic and advanced) LibreWolf privacy features: Delete cookies and website data on close. Include only privacy respecting search engines like DuckDuckGo and Searx. Include uBlockOrigin with custom default filter lists, and Tracking Protection in strict mode, to block trackers and ads. Strip tracking elements from URLs, both natively and through uBO. Enable dFPI, also known as Total Cookie Protection. Enable RFP which is part of the Tor Uplift project. RFP is considered the best in class anti-fingerprinting solution, and its goal is to make users look the same and cover as many metrics as possible, in an effort to block fingerprinting techniques. Always display user language as en-US to websites, in order to protect the language used in the browser and in the OS. Disable WebGL, as it is a strong fingerprinting vector. Prevent access to the location services of the OS, and use Mozilla's location API instead of Google's API. Limit ICE candidates generation to a single interface when sharing video or audio during a videoconference. Force DNS and WebRTC inside the proxy, when one is being used. Trim cross-origin referrers, so that they don't include the full URI. Disable link prefetching and speculative connections. Disable disk cache and clear temporary files on close. Disable form autofill. Disable search and form history...and more. Download: LibreWolf 64-bit | Portable 64-bit | ~100.0 MB (Open Source) Download: ARM64 | Portable ARM64 Links: LibreWolf Home Page | Addons | Screenshot | Reddit Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Hands on with iFlyTek AINote 2 E-Ink tablet: insanely thin and smart by Taras Buria During Amazon Prime Day 2026, iFlyTek is offering its E-Ink tablets with big discounts. The AINOTE 2 is now available at 20% off, allowing you to save quite a lot on one of the thinnest E-Ink tablets out there. I was offered a chance to look at the device, so here are my impressions. The AINOTE 2 is a large 10.65-inch E-Ink tablet that strikes you the moment you take it out of the box. It is extremely thin. At just 4.2 mm, this tablet is at the edge of what is possible for a device with a USB Type-C port. It is also very light, which makes it comfortable and enjoyable during long reading sessions. The tablet has a gold metal chassis with the front and back made of plastic. The back also features four rubber feet that prevent it from sliding around your desk when writing. Besides a USB Type-C port and an LED indicator, there are two buttons mounted on the top edge: a power button with a built-in fingerprint scanner and a dedicated AI button. I would say the fingerprint scanner is quite mid. Given that iFlyTek positions the device as a digital notebook, it makes sense to have a biometric scanner to protect sensitive information. However, it is not the fastest fingerprint reader, and sometimes it fails to recognize my finger. I assume that is due to the tablet's insane thinness. A dedicated AI button is an interesting choice, especially in the middle of the top edge. I can see this button being useful for those who heavily rely on AI and use it frequently, but I cannot help but think its placement is impractical. Having it on one of the longer sides would make so much more sense. The AINOTE 2 is a very pretty device. Gold finish with thin chassis and nearly symmetrical front bezels create a fantastic combination, and iFlyTek cleverly hides the front chin with a section that looks like an extension of the screen, housing two touch-capacitive buttons: one for AI and one for quick notes. This section can also scroll pages when you swipe from the middle to the left or right. It is a cool idea, and very handy when you need to scroll tens of pages at once. AINOTE 2's elegant look extends from its exterior to its software. The user interface is very clean and not cluttered with an abundance of buttons. The tablet prioritizes the note-taking experience, and when you unlock it, it defaults to the list of all notes and folders. Additionally, there is a separate "Schedule" section with your calendar, tasks, memos, and other productivity features. You can connect your Outlook or Google account or use a local calendar. The tablet has quite a lot of AI features powered by OpenAI's GPT-5 and Google's Gemini 3. Besides a standard app with all your chats, you can invoke AI by pressing its dedicated button and dictating your request. It is not limited to just chats. It works with the built-in calendar, and you can tell it to create events, tasks, notes, and more. Additionally, AI features are integrated into the built-in notepad, allowing you to summarize notes, ask questions about your notes, and more. The tablet can OCR handwritten text in different languages (about 120 languages, which is very impressive), and it surprised me with very good accuracy. Voice note transcription is also available, including a "multiplayer" mode where the tablet detects each speaker. Unfortunately, the AINOTE 2 has no built-in speakers (even though it somehow makes a tapping noise when you flip pages using the Quick Bar), so the only way to listen to something is to connect a Bluetooth speaker or headphones. However, there are four front-facing mics for dictation, voice notes, AI chats, and more. Unfortunately, certain features require a Pro subscription that costs $5.99/mo or $59.99/year. Those include offline voice transcription, access to better AI models, the ability to edit notes on a PC or mobile app, and extended service coverage similar to Apple Care. It is a bummer to see yet another app, especially in a device that costs $649, but at least they give a free 90-day trial so that you can see if the benefits justify the price. As for the reader, it supports PDF, EPUB, TXT, MOBI, AZW3, DOC(X), XLS(X), PPT(X), JPEG, JPG, and PNG. The app is quite customizable, with features like text contrast/boldness/size adjustments, margins and spacing customization, and the ability to load custom fonts. Plus, you can annotate books with the stylus, add text notes, and use AI to work with them. Just keep in mind that most AI features require an active internet connection. Like with other E-Ink tablets with Android inside, you can load any other reader you want from the Google Play Store or a third-party source. Despite its hefty price tag of $629 or $519 by the time of publishing this article during Prime Day 2026, the AINOTE 2 has quite modest hardware inside. There is only 4 GB of RAM and about 42GB of storage. It is powered by the RockChip RK3576 processor with 8 cores at 2.2 GHz. Given that the tablet runs Android 14 and has Google Play, you can install Android apps, but do not expect much from this thing performance-wise. As for the battery, there is a 4,000 Li-Ion battery, which, on full charge, lasted me for about one week of active daily use of reading and note-taking. The screen has a resolution of 1920x2560 pixels, which equals 300 PPI, a perfect spot for a sharp, nice-to-read display. It supports EMR styluses that do not require charging, and I have to say that the note-taking experience on this tablet is fantastic. Stylus lag is nearly imperceivable, creating a very natural, paper-like feel. The stylus comes in the box (including two extra nibs), and it features an extra button for various actions and an eraser on top. It magnetically attaches to the tablet and stays safely secured. The stylus has a very nice coarse texture, and thanks to using Wacom tech, you can swap it for any other EMR pen if you wish. The AINOTE 2 has no front light, and because of that, the display sits very close to the screen surface, reducing the distance between the stylus tip/your finger and the display to a minimum. No front light is certainly an inconvenience in certain scenarios, but the screen makes up for that with a seriously impressive paper-like feel and writing experience. In dark conditions, you will have to find a lamp, but the good thing is that the screen has a solid anti-glare surface that diffuses light. The display has two modes: Crisp and Fast. Crisp ensures the image stays, well, crisp and sharp, while Fast speeds up refresh rate and response by toning down display resolution and making everything a bit more jagged. In my testing, I only used Fast mode when browsing the web for a much faster render time. The iFlyTek AINOTE is an impressive device, but it's not flawless. A few things disappointed me during a week of using it. Software localization has a bunch of not necessarily broken, but certainly awkward, machine-translated English. System navigation is not good, as there is no universal "Home" gesture. To go to the main page, you have to swipe up and then press the Home button from the multi-tasking window. There are many gestures for various actions, such as display cleanup, screenshot, undo/redo, but no back/forward or Home gestures. I really hate that the tablet won't let me update its software without creating an iFlyTek account first. Finally, privacy could be a concern for some, as most tablets' features require an active internet connection, an iFlyTek account, and sharing data when using AI. If you can overlook its quirks, some of which could be addressed with software updates (I received two with massive changelogs over a single week), and accept a $519 price tag (with a discount), you will be happy with the AINOTE 2. However, if you do not need that many AI features in an E-Ink reader or you want something a bit more affordable, you'd better look at cheaper competitors from BOOX or Amazon, such as the BOOX Go 10.3 Gen 2 or the Kindle Scribe, which is currently 24% off during Prime Day sales. Buy iFlyTek AINOTE 2 on Amazon - $519 | 20% off with Prime What I liked What I disliked Very impressive hardware Beautiful design Fantastic display with an EMR stylus Supports offline voice transcription Easy-to-use software Clever, useful, and well-made AI features A fingerprint scanner Very expensive Some features require a subscription Poor system navigation Mandates a user account No speakers Privacy could be a concern Note: iFlyTek provided the review unit without any editorial input or review guidance. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • Look up "greed". If you are willing to buy that it's only inflation, I've got a bridge to sell you.
  • Recent Achievements

    • First Post
      kinowa earned a badge
      First Post
    • Rookie
      krychek57 went up a rank
      Rookie
    • Grand Master
      Jaybonaut went up a rank
      Grand Master
    • One Year In
      Philsl earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Dedicated
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Dedicated
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      416
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      168
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      132
    4. 4
      Xenon
      73
    5. 5
      Michael Scrip
      73
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!