The default port for kubectl proxy, and the next HTTP port people grab after 8000.
IANA registers 8001 as vcom-tunnel, which you will essentially never meet. What you do meet is kubectl proxy, whose --port flag defaults to 8001 — it opens an authenticated channel to the Kubernetes API server and serves it locally. The rest of the time 8001 is simply the second HTTP port on a box that already used 8000, common in Docker Compose files and multi-service dev setups.
Do not expose
kubectl proxy authenticates to the cluster on your behalf and applies no authentication of its own, so anyone who reaches it inherits your cluster credentials. It binds 127.0.0.1 by default — leave it there.
$ curl -sI http://127.0.0.1:8001/api/Seen this on your network? Beige Box scans your Wi-Fi and shows every open port on every device — and its Ports tool links straight back here.
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Corrections or a missing port? Reply @rimrocksystems.