# WHATPORT(17)

## NAME

port 17 — QOTD (Quote of the Day) — QOTD — connect and get a short quotation, then the connection closes.

Protocol: TCP/UDP  
IANA registry

## DESCRIPTION

RFC 865 defines QOTD as a service that returns a short ASCII quote, capped at 512 characters, with no request syntax. It shipped as an inetd built-in and as a Windows 'Simple TCP/IP Services' component, usually sourced from a local fortune file. It has no operational use and is disabled by default everywhere. Its UDP form is one of the reflection vectors named in CISA's amplification alert, since a small spoofed datagram triggers a larger reply to the victim.

## EXPOSURE

**Do not expose.** Named as a UDP amplification vector by CISA, and there is no use case that justifies leaving it reachable.

## CHECK

```sh
nc -v TARGET 17
```

## SEE ALSO

- spec — [RFC 865 — Quote of the Day Protocol](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc865.html) (rfc-editor.org)
- docs — [CISA Alert — UDP-Based Amplification Attacks](https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2014/01/17/udp-based-amplification-attacks) (cisa.gov)
- iana — [IANA Service Name and Transport Protocol Port Number Registry](https://www.iana.org/assignments/service-names-port-numbers/service-names-port-numbers.xhtml) (iana.org)

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HTML: <https://whatport.net/17/> · JSON: <https://whatport.net/17.json> · full dataset: <https://whatport.net/ports.json>