# WHATPORT(5988)

## NAME

port 5988 — WBEM CIM-XML over HTTP — A CIM object manager's cleartext port — hardware and system management over CIM-XML.

Protocol: TCP  
IANA registry

## DESCRIPTION

IANA registers 5988 as `wbem-http`, the default port for CIM Operations over HTTP (DMTF DSP0200), where XML-encoded CIM method calls are POSTed to a CIM object manager. Real listeners are SFCB, OpenPegasus, and the CIM providers embedded in server hardware and hypervisors — this is how vendor tools read fan speeds, PSU state, and RAID health. On SUSE's SFCB the HTTP port is disabled by default (`enableHttp` is false) and documented as a debugging aid only, which tells you how the maintainers view it.

## EXPOSURE

**Do not expose.** CIM-XML over plain HTTP authenticates with HTTP Basic, so credentials for a hardware management interface cross the wire in cleartext. Use 5989 instead, and keep both on a management network.

## CHECK

```sh
curl -si -m 5 http://TARGET:5988/cimom | head -1
```

## SEE ALSO

- spec — [DMTF DSP0200 — CIM Operations over HTTP](https://www.dmtf.org/sites/default/files/standards/documents/DSP0200_1.4.0.pdf) (dmtf.org)
- docs — [SUSE Linux Enterprise Server — Web-Based Enterprise Management using SFCB](https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP6/html/SLES-all/cha-wbem.html) (documentation.suse.com)
- iana — [IANA port registry — 5988 (wbem-http)](https://www.iana.org/assignments/service-names-port-numbers/service-names-port-numbers.xhtml?search=5988) (iana.org)

---

HTML: <https://whatport.net/5988/> · JSON: <https://whatport.net/5988.json> · full dataset: <https://whatport.net/ports.json>
