WHATPORT(24) whatport.net WHATPORT(24)
24

Any private mail system

Registered to IANA as "any private mail system" — a deliberately open-ended slot, not a specific protocol.

TCP IANA registry

Description

IANA's entry for port 24 is literally 'any private mail system', assigned to Rick Adams, meaning the number was set aside for private mail transports rather than any one named protocol. There is no RFC and no reference implementation. In practice almost nothing binds it, and when it appears on a scan it is usually a bespoke or legacy mail relay rather than a standard MTA. Standard mail lives on 25, 465, 587 and 993 instead.

Exposed to the internet?

Expose with care

No defined protocol means no defined security properties; if a private mail transport is really listening here, assume cleartext until proven otherwise.

Check it yourself

$ nc -vz TARGET 24

See also

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