← Back to All Scanners
Network & ProtocolInfo Severity

UDP Port Scanning Scanner

UDP port scanning for common services and backdoors.

What is UDP Port Scanning?

UDP Port Scanning identifies services running on UDP (connectionless protocol). Since UDP doesn't use handshakes, scanning relies on sending protocol-specific payloads and waiting for responses or ICMP port unreachable messages. UDP scanning is slower and less reliable than TCP but reveals important services like DNS, SNMP, and VPNs.

Why is This Important?

Many critical services use UDP: DNS (53), DHCP (67/68), SNMP (161/162), NTP (123), VPN (500/4500). These are often overlooked in security assessments. UDP services may have severe vulnerabilities (SNMP default communities, DNS amplification, NTP monlist) that go unpatched because they're 'invisible' to TCP scans.

How It Works

1. Network Discovery

Scans and fingerprints network services, identifying open ports, protocols, and service versions.

2. Protocol Analysis

Tests protocol implementations for misconfigurations, weak encryption, and known vulnerabilities.

3. Infrastructure Assessment

Provides comprehensive network security posture with prioritized remediation recommendations.

Key Capabilities

Enterprise network security assessment covering infrastructure, protocols, and service configurations.

  • Comprehensive port and service discovery
  • Protocol-specific vulnerability checks
  • TLS/SSL configuration analysis
  • Legacy protocol detection and assessment
  • Network segmentation validation

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is UDP scanning slower than TCP?

UDP has no handshake—you send a packet and wait. If nothing comes back, the port might be open (service silently received it), filtered (firewall dropped it), or the packet was lost. To distinguish, you must wait for ICMP unreachable or retry multiple times.

What makes UDP scanning unreliable?

ICMP rate limiting means only a few 'port unreachable' messages per second. Firewalls may block ICMP entirely. Stateless protocols don't respond to random data. Network congestion causes packet loss. Solutions: use service-specific payloads and retry dropped packets.

Which UDP services are most important to find?

Priority targets: SNMP (161—often has default 'public' community), DNS (53—zone transfer, amplification), NTP (123—monlist amplification), TFTP (69—unauthenticated file access), and IPsec/VPN (500, 4500—IKE vulnerabilities).

How can I improve UDP scan accuracy?

Use service-specific probes (nmap -sU -sV), increase retries for important ports, scan common UDP ports specifically rather than full range, adjust timing based on network conditions, and verify open ports with manual testing.

Related Scanners

Ready to secure your application?

Start testing for udp port scanning vulnerabilities today.

Get Started Free