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The two figures answer different questions. The 917,169 count reflects a search for responses on port 623, the UDP port Intel assigns to IPMI’s primary RMCP traffic. The 109,327 count reflects a search for services that a fingerprinting engine labels as IPMI. Neither number is a tally of confirmed baseboard management controllers (BMCs), and neither shows how many of them accept unauthenticated access. The gap between them is a difference in what each search is allowed to claim, not a dispute over one population.

What the two numbers measure

The figures come from a DEV Community article by StarkMan, published September 29, 2026, which reports ZoomEye search results. According to that article, both searches were run on September 25, 2026, with sub_type=all and pagesize 1. The table below separates what each query checks.

Item Port query: port="623" Application query: app="IPMI"
Reported count 917,169 109,327
What the engine matches A service responding on port 623 A service the engine’s fingerprint identifies as IPMI
Identity claim Weak: the port is associated with IPMI, but other services can use it Stronger: the engine asserts the protocol identity, though the article gives no accuracy rate
Date and settings reported September 25, 2026; sub_type=all, pagesize 1 Same date and settings
Validation reported None in the article None in the article

The article does not explain how pagesize 1 interacts with the total the engine returns, and it does not publish the raw export. The totals should therefore be read as what the search engine reported on that date, under those settings, and nothing more.

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Why a port 623 match is only a clue

Intel’s IPMI v2.0 specification (Rev. 1.1, Errata 6) identifies UDP port 623 as the primary RMCP port. The specification also states that the required discovery messages on that port are sent in the clear. That makes port 623 a useful signal for a scanner: a host that answers there is probably running something that speaks an RMCP-family protocol.

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A port hit still leaves several questions open:

  • It does not confirm that the responder is a BMC rather than another service on the same port.
  • It does not confirm that the responder implements IPMI correctly.
  • It does not show whether the responder requires authentication before it performs any action.

Any count built on port responses should be treated as an upper-bound lead, not an inventory of management controllers.

Why the fingerprint count is smaller

The article attributes the gap between the two figures to differences in how each query identifies a device. It suggests two possibilities, and both are plausible, but neither is tested in the article:

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  • The port count may include unrelated or virtual responders. Anything answering on UDP 623 is counted, including services that are not IPMI at all.
  • The fingerprint count may miss real IPMI implementations. A device that does not present a recognisable banner or signature would not be labelled app="IPMI", even if it runs the protocol.

Both explanations can be true at once, and the article does not report false-positive or false-negative rates for either query. Without those figures, the difference between 917,169 and 109,327 cannot be converted into a precision or recall estimate, and it should not be read as evidence that either count is accurate.

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How to quote these figures

If you cite the numbers, keep the attribution and context attached:

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  • “StarkMan reported 917,169 ZoomEye matches for port="623" on September 25, 2026.”
  • “The same article reported 109,327 ZoomEye matches for app="IPMI" on the same date and settings.”

Avoid phrasing that presents either figure as a current global total, a count of vulnerable systems, or a count of open unauthenticated consoles. The search index changes over time, and the article supplies no export that a reader could rerun to confirm the results.

What the counts cannot tell an operator

A public-facing management interface matters because a BMC gives its owner a path to server hardware that operates separately from the operating system. That is the reason to look at these services. It is not the same as saying that any listed host is exposed or exploitable. The exposure of a specific system depends on its network position, its firmware, and whether it requires credentials, none of which a search index can report.

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What to do with your own hardware

If you run servers with IPMI-capable BMCs, use your own records rather than a public count:

Free tools Windows power users keep installed

One-click scans. No signup required.

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  1. Build an inventory of BMCs. List every management interface, its IP address, its firmware version, and the network it sits on. Compare the list with what a scan returns for your address space.
  2. Confirm the identity of each responder. For any host that answers on UDP 623 or matches an IPMI fingerprint, check it against your inventory. Anything unexplained needs investigation before it is treated as a BMC.
  3. Restrict the network path. US-CERT alert TA13-207A (July 2013) recommends limiting IPMI traffic, usually UDP 623, to a trusted internal management VLAN. Block it at the boundary so it is not reachable from general user or internet networks.
  4. Scan from outside trusted networks. The same alert recommends scanning for IPMI from outside trusted networks, so you can see what an outside observer sees.
  5. Use strong, unique BMC passwords. Progress Software’s BMC best-practices guidance recommends setting a unique password on each controller rather than reusing a default or shared credential.
  6. Monitor the management network. The US-CERT alert also recommends watching the trusted management network for abnormal activity.

Exact configuration steps differ by vendor and model. Check the current documentation for your hardware, because the US-CERT alert dates from 2013 and vendor firmware has changed since then.

Sources

  • StarkMan, DEV Community, September 29, 2026: the ZoomEye counts, query settings, and the article’s interpretation.
  • Intel, IPMI v2.0 Specification, Rev. 1.1, Errata 6: UDP 623 as the primary RMCP port and the clear-text discovery behaviour.
  • US-CERT alert TA13-207A, July 2013, as reproduced on the University of Campinas Security-L mailing list: restricting IPMI to trusted management networks.
  • Progress Software, BMC best practices (hardware): trusted internal networks and strong, unique BMC passwords.

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