Port 849 sits in the well-known ports range (0-1023), the space reserved for system services and protocols assigned by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). But unlike its neighbors—ports with clear purposes and official assignments—port 849 appears to have no current official service assigned to it.1
What the Well-Known Range Means
Ports 0-1023 are called well-known ports because they're reserved for system-level services. On Unix-like systems, only processes running with root privileges can bind to these ports. This restriction exists because these ports historically carried critical services—email, web traffic, DNS, file transfers.
IANA manages this range carefully. Every official assignment requires documentation, typically an RFC that describes the protocol in detail. Port 849 either never received such an assignment, or any previous assignment was withdrawn and the port returned to the unassigned pool.
Historical Usage: NetInfo
Some third-party port databases reference port 849 as being used by Mac OS X RPC-based services, specifically NetInfo.2 NetInfo was Apple's legacy directory service—a database where early Mac OS X systems stored local user accounts and system configuration.
But NetInfo has been dead since 2007. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard replaced it with Open Directory, a standards-based alternative. Any documentation referencing port 849 and NetInfo is describing a system that no longer exists in modern macOS.
The port remains, but the service it may have served is gone.
Why Unassigned Ports Matter
The existence of unassigned ports in the well-known range is actually important. It means IANA isn't just handing out port numbers to anyone who asks. The well-known range is finite—only 1,024 ports—and once assigned, they're difficult to reclaim even when the service becomes obsolete.
Unassigned ports represent future possibility. A new protocol might need a well-known port. Better to have empty space than to crowd the range with deprecated services.
What Might Be Listening
Even though port 849 has no official assignment, something could still be listening on it on your system. Application developers can bind to any port (with appropriate permissions). Custom software, legacy applications, or even malware might use port 849.
To check what's listening on port 849 on your system:
On Linux or macOS:
On Windows:
If something is listening, these commands will show you what process owns it.
The Larger Port System
Port 849 is one piece of a three-part system:
- Well-known ports (0-1023): System services, IANA-assigned, require root to bind
- Registered ports (1024-49151): Application-level services, IANA-registered but not as restricted
- Dynamic/ephemeral ports (49152-65535): Temporary ports for client connections
The boundaries matter. A port's range tells you something about its intended purpose and who can use it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Port 849
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