Hack #26. List Running Services and Open Ports

Check for remotely accessible services the Windows way.

Unix makes it quick and easy to see which ports on a system are open, but how can you do that on Windows? Well, with FPort from Foundstone (http://www.foundstone.com/resources/proddesc/fport.htm), it’s as quick and easy as running good old netstat.

FPort has a few command-line options, which deal mostly with specifying how you’d like the output sorted. For instance, if you want the output sorted by application name, you can use /a; if you want it sorted by process ID, you can use /i. While it might not be as full of features as the Unix version of netstat [Hack #8], FPort definitely gets the job done.

To get a listing of all ports that are open on your system, simply type fport. If you want the list to be sorted by port number, use the /p switch:

C:> fport /p
FPort v2.0 - TCP/IP Process to Port Mapper
Copyright 2000 by Foundstone, Inc.
http://www.foundstone.com

Pid   Process            Port  Proto Path
432   svchost        ->  135   TCP   C:\WINNT\system32\svchost.exe
8     System         ->  139   TCP
8     System         ->  445   TCP
672   MSTask         ->  1025  TCP   C:\WINNT\system32\MSTask.exe
8     System         ->  1028  TCP
8     System         ->  1031  TCP
1116  navapw32       ->  1035  TCP   C:\PROGRA~1\NORTON~1\navapw32.exe
788   svchost        ->  1551  TCP   C:\WINNT\system32\svchost.exe
788   svchost        ->  1553  TCP   C:\WINNT\system32\svchost.exe
788   svchost        ->  1558  TCP   C:\WINNT\system32\svchost.exe
1328  svchost        ->  1565  TCP   C:\WINNT\System32\svchost.exe
8     System         ->  1860  TCP
1580  putty          ->  3134  TCP   C:\WINNT\putty.exe
772   WinVNC         ->  5800  TCP   C:\Program Files\TightVNC\WinVNC.exe
772   WinVNC         ->  5900  TCP   C:\Program Files\TightVNC\WinVNC.exe

432   svchost        ->  135   UDP   C:\WINNT\system32\svchost.exe
8     System         ->  137   UDP
8     System         ->  138   UDP
8     System         ->  445   UDP
256   lsass          ->  500   UDP   C:\WINNT\system32\lsass.exe
244   services       ->  1027  UDP   C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe
688   IEXPLORE       ->  2204  UDP   C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE
1396  IEXPLORE       ->  3104  UDP   C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE
256   lsass          ->  4500  UDP   C:\WINNT\system32\lsass.exe

Notice that some of the processes listed—such as navapw32, putty, and IEXPLORE—don’t appear to be services. These show up in the output because FPort lists all open ports, not just opened ports that are listening.

Though fport is not as powerful as some of the commands available under other operating systems, it is still a valuable, quick, and easy-to-use tool, and a great addition to Windows.