# WHATPORT(4224)

## NAME

port 4224 — xtell — xtelld, a tiny Unix daemon that pops one-line messages onto other users' terminals.

Protocol: TCP  
IANA registry

## DESCRIPTION

xtell is a small message-sending tool in the spirit of write and talk: the xtell client sends a line to xtelld on another host, which displays it to the named user's terminal. The daemon defaults to TCP 4224 and is typically run from inetd; it still ships as a Debian and Ubuntu package. IANA's range assignment for 4200–4299 is unrelated, so 4224 is squatting by convention, not registration.

## EXPOSURE

**Do not expose.** Its purpose is writing text to logged-in users' terminals from the network, with no meaningful authentication — a spam and social-engineering channel if it is reachable publicly.

## CHECK

```sh
nc -vz -w 3 TARGET 4224
```

## SEE ALSO

- docs — [Debian manpage — xtelld(8), default port 4224](https://manpages.debian.org/testing/xtell/xtelld.8.en.html) (manpages.debian.org)
- 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/4224/> · JSON: <https://whatport.net/4224.json> · full dataset: <https://whatport.net/ports.json>