What Ports does Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Use?

Products

• Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange

Issue/Introduction

You want to know which ports are used by the Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange (SMSMSE) product.

Resolution

Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange (SMSMSE) scans SMTP mail traffic that passes through Exchange servers on port 25.  SMSMSE does not interact with MAPI or with other mail protocols like POP3 on port 110 or IMAP on port 143.

Some of SMSMSE's components require certain ports for communications.  By default, SMSMSE uses:

Component	Port	Process	Purpose
Rapid Release Definitions	21	ftp.exe	Frequent AV updates
Conduit	443	Conduit.exe	Continuous Premium AntiSpam updates
DEXL Service	8081	Process ID: 0 or 4 (System)	Console Communications
CmafReportSrv	58081	CmafReportSrv.exe	Reporting Database

• If the optional Rapid Release feature is not used, SMSMSE will not initiate activity on port 21.
• If Symantec Premium AntiSpam is not licensed and enabled, SMSMSE will not initiate activity on port 443.
• If Symantec Premium AntiSpam is enabled, be sure to open port 443 on the firewall for bi-directional traffic to aztec.brightmail.com
• The port used for communications with SMSMSE's Console can be configured during installation or at any time after.  Please note that activity will only be seen on these ports when using the console to administer a remote server.

Note:

Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange also has the ability to leverage Symantec LiveUpdate to retrieve virus definitions.  Please see the following KB article to determine the list of ports utilized by Symantec LiveUpdate.

https://support.symantec.com/en_US/article.TECH139451.html

 

Additional Info:

There are no port conflicts or incompatibility between SMSMSE and Symantec Endpoint Protection or the Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager.  These products have been engineered to work together on the same server with little customization from the administrator.  See the "About using Mail Security with other antivirus products" section of the Symantec™ Mail Security for Microsoft® Exchange Implementation Guide for important information about the use of LiveUpdate and the setting of exclusions.

The implementation guides are available from this Web site:
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/documentation.jsp?language=english&view=manuals&pid=51980

Be sure to review the implementation guide for the version of SMSMSE that you are using.