FTP Cleartext Communication

Detects use of FTP protocol which transmits credentials and data in cleartext.

zakirkun Updated

File contents

FTP Cleartext Communication

Overview

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) transmits all data including credentials in plaintext. Network monitoring captures:

  • Login credentials (USER/PASS commands)
  • All file transfers
  • Directory listings

FTP is deprecated and should be replaced with SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) or FTPS (FTP over TLS).

Remediation

  • Use SFTP instead of FTP
  • If FTP must be used, require explicit TLS (AUTH TLS) — FTPS
  • Use Paramiko (Python), ssh2 (Node.js), or native SSH libraries

zakirkun/ice-tea/tree/main/skills/network/ftp-cleartext commit 7e12c0407a

Frequently asked questions

npx skillmds@latest add zakirkun/ftp-cleartext-communication