Do you need to have a firewall on a linux desktop?
Do you need to have a firewall on a linux desktop?
Hi. I wanted to know if it's needed to install a firewall on a linux desktop/laptop. Why yes or why no?
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Yes, because you can forget what services are running and maybe they can be explited.
An example can be Syncthing which setting are done via web browser at port 8384. If you do not have a firewall, everyone on the same network would be able to change Syncthing settings and then sync your directories to their devices.
Is syncthing listening on all addresses, or only loopback? A firewall would block it, sure, but that would also be bad design.
Syncthing only listens on loopback by default unless you modify the config.
Good point, but syncthing only listens on localhost as others have said too.
However it still is a network service that can have vulnerabilities, besides many others like KDE Connect (which may be a target as one of its purposes is remote control and monitoring) or a bittorrent client