Port 161 — SNMP
UDP well-known
What runs on port 161
Network device monitoring and management.
Security considerations
SNMP v1 and v2c authenticate with a community string sent in clear text, and "public" is still a common default. Use v3, or firewall it to the monitoring host.
Checking whether something is listening
# Linux / macOS — what is bound to the port
sudo lsof -i :161
sudo ss -lntp | grep :161
# Windows
netstat -ano | findstr :161
Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 161
# is it reachable from outside?
nc -zv example.com 161
curl -v telnet://example.com:161
Freeing the port
# find the process, then stop it
sudo lsof -ti :161 | xargs kill # Linux / macOS
netstat -ano | findstr :161 # note the PID, then:
taskkill /PID <pid> /F # Windows