What is UPnP? How to Disable UPnP on Router

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What is UPnP

UPnP (stands for Universal Plug and Play) is a set of network protocols. It is designed to automatically configure network devices. Simply put UPnP automatically forwards a port if the connection was initiated from the local network. It trusts the LAN outgoing requests by default. Here is why you should disable this feature on your wireless router to stay safe.

Vulnerability in Implementation

Some models of routers have bad implementation of UPnP. This makes your router vulnerable. Such vulnerability can help hackers change DNS setting on router. After that all devices on a LAN can be routed to a phishing site, a ransom demanding page or even encrypt your files.

The malware located on any device on the LAN can initiate as many outgoing connections to its server as it wants. If the router has UPnP enabled it means that it would trust any outgoing connections and allow to forward a port. Thus the malware would be able to bypass the router, establish a connection with malicious server and as a result provide a permanent access to your computer.

That is why we strongly recommend that you disable Universal Plug and Play in the settings of your Wi-Fi router (as well as WPS/QSS ).

How to Disable UPnP on Router

First of all you will need to log into your router settings. Here we explained how to do it from your PC, iPhone and Android.

Linksys

Go to the Connectivity page.
Select the Administration tab.
Untick the correspondent checkbox.
Click OK to save settings:

ASUS

Open the WAN page. The Internet Connection tab should show up.
Switch Enable UPnP toggle to No.
Click Apply at the bottom of the page:

TP-Link

Go to Forwarding > UPnP and press Disable.
(If Universal Plug and Play is already OFF the button would be named “Enabled” and you would see notification “Current status: Disabled”)

D-Link

Go to Advanced > Advanced Network.
Unset the checkbox Enable UPnP.
Press Save Settings:

Don’t worry, your Skype will work well with this feature disabled. Tell us in the comments if you keep it Enabled or disabled and have you faced the malware attacks.

Adam Swift

Adam is a real tech maniac. He likes to spend time testing phones, tablets, laptops, as well as any other technical devices, and write practical manuals on their functions. He often sleeps all day, but always works at night. Adam bought his first computer in 1999, being an absolute beginner who never held a computer mouse in his hands. He began to study Windows, constantly experimented and often crashed the operating system. But six months later, he was able to reinstall Windows 98 from a scratch on his own, fix almost any software problem on a PC, he also did hardware upgrades and realized that computers, operating systems and programs are now his biggest passion. In addition, Adam has always been a big lover of phones. With the advent of smartphones with Android OS, he began to pick at them much more than in computers. Now Adam loves to study privacy issues in instant messengers, blocking unwanted calls and other nuances related to privacy and security on the network. You can follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tunecomp

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View Comments

Rizan Aqshol Himam says:

2019-03-07 at 01:14

What are the benefits of UPNP on the D-Link Router? can this feature monitor what people are doing? In the Current UPnP Table, inside is the Internal Port and External Port, and there is a number 50760 in the Internal Port and 47589 at the External Port, what does that mean?