{
  "id": 18311795,
  "title": "I thought my router's firewall blocked everything inbound, but UPnP had opened ports I never asked for",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/i-thought-my-routers-firewall-blocked-everything-inbound-but-upnp-had",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-05T13:00:22.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "XDA Developers",
    "slug": "xda-developers",
    "url": "https://www.xda-developers.com/i-thought-my-routers-firewall-blocked-everything-inbound-but-upnp-had-opened-ports-i-never-asked-for/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Most people don't give much thought to their router's firewall or UPnP, which is a built-in feature in many consumer routers that allows devices on the network to create a direct connection to the internet without any manual intervention. However, UPnP can inadvertently open ports that weren't intended, leaving your network vulnerable. In the case of the author, disabling UPnP instead of the firewall proved effective in enhancing security. UPnP works by allowing apps or devices to request the router to forward an external port to it, but it lacks any security measures like passwords or prompts, making it susceptible to exploitation. This can lead to attackers gaining unauthorized access to your network and devices, as demonstrated by a 2018 campaign where UPnP flaws were used to compromise 65,000 home routers. While turning off UPnP can resolve the issue, it may also impact certain features like P2P networking and voice chat. The author suggests disabling IPv6 at the router level as an alternative to completely disabling UPnP, which can help protect IPv6 devices on the network.",
  "summary": "Your firewall is only as strong as UPnP lets it be, and mine had holes I never approved of",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}