#UNIVERSAL MEDIA SERVER VS PLEX PRO#

'PMSSDP has been weaponized and added to the arsenals of so-called ‘booter/stresser’ DDoS-for-hire services, placing it within the reach of the general attacker population,' writes Netscout. With a multi-factor attack, traffic could elevate to 218 Gbps.

Plex Media Servers are used to amplify PMSSDP packets by a factor of roughly 4.68, with single-vector PMSSDP DDoS attacks delivering between 2 Gbps to 3 Gbps of traffic.

However, Plex's UPnP service gives direct access to the internet, which makes it a prime victim for a reflection/amplification DDoS attack vector using UDP port 32414.

#UNIVERSAL MEDIA SERVER VS PLEX PRO#

This allows the Plex Media SSDDP service access to the internet so, for example, you could use your iPad Pro with cellular connectivity to access your home Plex Media Server to play your old Friends reruns while on the other side of the United States. If your router is Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) enabled, Plex Media Server will attempt to use Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) to enable dynamic NAT forwarding. Plex Media Server uses the G’Day Mate (GDM) network/service discovery protocol to initially find other compatible media/streaming devices on your local network.

However, the company's central user-facing Plex Media Server, which is accessed via a web interface on multiple platforms (including Windows and macOS), is reportedly being used to aid in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks according to a security bulletin from Netscout. Over the years, Plex has grown to include features like Live TV, podcasts, and even retro gaming to broaden its appeal to everyday users. Plex is a widely popular platform that allows you to curate all your media on a home server and stream it either within your home or over the internet to other PCs, Macs, smartphones, or tablets.

Universal media server vs plex