Port 3046: di-ase — The Registered Port Nobody Remembers

What Port 3046 Is

Port 3046 sits in the registered port range (1024-49151). This is the middle tier of the port numbering system. Unlike well-known ports (0-1023), which are reserved for foundational Internet protocols like HTTP, DNS, and SSH, registered ports are available for any application developer or company to claim through IANA for their specific service.

The registry lists port 3046 as assigned to a service named di-ase, registered by Carlos Hung at digisle.net.¹ The IANA description for the service is simply "di-ase" — circular, unhelpful, and the full extent of what's documented. No RFC. No technical specification. No public record of what digisle.net built or what problem di-ase was meant to solve.

What That Means

The registered port range works on an honor system. IANA records the claim, but it doesn't verify that the service exists, works, or is still maintained. Hundreds of ports in this range are in the same condition as 3046: technically assigned, practically undocumented, their original context long gone.

If you find port 3046 open on a machine you're responsible for, the registration offers no help. Something put it there — but it isn't di-ase.

What Might Actually Be There

Because 3046 carries no recognized software, any process listening on it is either:

• Proprietary software that chose this port arbitrarily
• Development or testing services running locally
• Malware or unwanted software — auditmypc.com notes the port has historically been associated with malicious activity²

The port's obscurity makes it occasionally attractive to software that wants to avoid detection, since nothing legitimate is expected there.

How to Check What's Listening

On any Unix-like system (macOS, Linux):

sudo lsof -i :3046

Or with ss on Linux:

sudo ss -tlnp sport = :3046

On Windows:

netstat -ano | findstr :3046

This shows the process ID and name of whatever is using the port. If something unexpected appears, cross-reference the process name against running applications. An unknown process on an unassigned port is worth investigating.

Why Unassigned Ports Matter

The registered port range has 48,128 slots. A meaningful fraction of them are ghost registrations like this one — claimed once, documented nowhere, their original purpose unknown even to the people who registered them.

This matters because ports are how your operating system and security tools interpret intent. A packet arriving on port 443 is probably HTTPS. A packet arriving on port 3046 gives you nothing. The name on the IANA registry ("di-ase") doesn't help you understand traffic, write firewall rules, or assess risk.

The port numbering system depends on documentation and active use, not just registration. Port 3046 is a small illustration of what happens when the registry outlives the people who wrote the entries.