Why is file sharing over internet still working, despite all firewall exceptions for filesharing being disabled?
- by Triynko
Every exception in my windows server firewall that starts with "File and Printer Sharing" is disabled (ordered by name, so that includes domain, public (active), and private profiles).
The Network and Sharing Center's options for everything except password protected sharing are off.
Why would I still be able to access a network share on that server via an address like "\\my.server.com\" over the internet?
The firewall is on for all profiles and blocking incoming connections by default. A "netstat -an" command on the server reveals the share connection is occurring over port 445 (SMB). I restarted the client to ensure it was actually re-establishing a new connection successfully.
Is the "Password protected sharing: On" option in Network and Sharing Center bypassing the firewall restrictions, or adding some other exception somewhere that I'm missing?
EDIT: "Custom" rules are not the problem. It's the "built-in" rules for Terminal Services that was the problem. Can you believe port 445 (File Sharing Port) has to be wide open to the internet to use Terminal Services Licensing?)
