Port 792: Unassigned — An empty address in the well-known range

Port 792 has no official service assigned to it. It sits empty in the well-known port range—a reserved address that has never been claimed.

What Range This Port Belongs To

Port 792 falls within the well-known ports range (0-1023). These are the Internet's foundational addresses, managed directly by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Well-known ports are supposed to host essential Internet services—the protocols that make networks work.

But not all of them do. Port 792 is one of the empty ones.

What "Unassigned" Means

When IANA marks a port as unassigned, it means:

• No official protocol or service has claimed this port number
• The port is reserved for future use but currently unclaimed
• Any traffic on this port is either unofficial, experimental, or accidental
• Organizations can apply to IANA to have services assigned to unassigned ports¹

Port 792 has been unassigned for decades. Whatever protocol might have been planned for this address never materialized.

Why This Matters

The presence of unassigned ports in the well-known range reveals something about how the Internet evolved. In the early days, port numbers were allocated conservatively. Ranges were reserved. Space was held for protocols that might be needed someday.

Port 792 is that someday that never came.

Most well-known ports were assigned in the 1970s and 1980s when the core Internet protocols were being developed. The gaps—the unassigned ports like 792—represent either protocols that were planned but never built, or simply conservative allocation leaving room for future growth.

No Unofficial Uses Found

Unlike some unassigned ports that get adopted by applications for unofficial purposes, port 792 appears to have no commonly observed unofficial use. It's genuinely empty.

How to Check What's Listening on Port 792

If you want to see if anything is using port 792 on your system:

On Linux/macOS:

sudo lsof -i :792
sudo netstat -tulpn | grep :792

On Windows:

netstat -ano | findstr :792

If nothing returns, nothing is listening. That's the expected result.

The Purpose of Empty Ports

Empty ports aren't a problem—they're a feature. The well-known range has 1,024 possible addresses. Not all of them need to be used. The gaps provide:

• Room for future protocols — New services can claim unassigned ports when needed
• Clean boundaries — Services can be grouped with gaps between them
• Flexibility — The Internet can evolve without running out of foundational addresses

Port 792 is available. If you're designing a new protocol and need a well-known port, you can apply to IANA.² The application process is formal, but it's how ports get assigned.

Related Ports

The ports near 792 tell a similar story:

• Port 791 — Unassigned (the empty room next door)
• Port 793 — Unassigned (another gap)
• Ports 800-801 — Unassigned (a larger empty range)

This entire section of the well-known port range is mostly unclaimed.