{
  "port": 8996,
  "protocol": "tcp",
  "service": "Unassigned",
  "oneLiner": "The top of IANA's unassigned 8992–8996 block; no standard service lives here.",
  "whatItIs": "IANA lists 8992–8996 as Unassigned, so 8996 has no registration. No widely deployed product defaults to it, so an open 8996 is a locally chosen port for an application, a test listener, or a tunnel endpoint. Identify it by process rather than guessing from the neighbourhood.",
  "exposure": {
    "verdict": "careful",
    "note": "Unassigned ports get used for ad-hoc tunnels and debug listeners, which are exactly the things you do not want reachable."
  },
  "checkCommand": "sudo lsof -nP -iTCP:8996 -sTCP:LISTEN",
  "links": [
    {
      "title": "IANA Service Name and Transport Protocol Port Number Registry — 8996",
      "url": "https://www.iana.org/assignments/service-names-port-numbers/service-names-port-numbers.xhtml?search=8996",
      "kind": "iana"
    }
  ]
}