Universal Plug-and-Play (UPnP)

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Universal Plug-and-Play (UPnP) is a protocol framework allowing network devices to autoconfigure services, such as allowing a games console to request appropriate settings from a firewall.

• On the firewall, check the box to enable UPnP
• A client UPnP device will be able to configure the firewall automatically to open the IP addresses and ports necessary to play an online game or place and receive VoIP calls
• associated with many security vulnerabilities
  • best disabled if not required
• ensure that the router does not accept UPnP configuration requests from the external (Internet) interface
• keep up to date with any security advisories or firmware updates from the router manufacturer

Background

• Port forwarding/port triggering is challenging for end users to configure correctly
• Port forwarding/port triggering is challenging for end users to configure correctly
• As a means of mitigating this attitude,
  • services that require complex firewall configuration can use the Universal Plug-and-Play (UPnP) framework
  • to send instructions to the firewall with the correct configuration parameters