SOCKS5 Proxy

A SOCKS5 proxy relays network connections between a client and destination without depending on one application protocol. It operates as a session-layer proxy for TCP connections and can carry traffic such as HTTP, HTTPS, email, or other TCP-based protocols.

The client first negotiates with the SOCKS5 server, optionally authenticates, and asks it to connect to a destination host and port. After the server accepts, it passes bytes in both directions without parsing them as HTTP messages. SOCKS5 also defines a UDP relay mode, although client and proxy support for that mode varies. Authentication methods are negotiated as part of the protocol rather than sent as HTTP proxy headers.

An HTTP proxy understands HTTP request methods and headers. For encrypted HTTPS destinations, an HTTP proxy commonly handles a CONNECT request and then relays the encrypted tunnel. SOCKS5 is more protocol-agnostic, but an application must explicitly support SOCKS or use a compatible network adapter.

PacketStream provides SOCKS5 access at proxy.packetstream.io:31113 with username and auth-key authentication. See HTTPS versus SOCKS5 proxies for a protocol comparison.

Related terms: HTTP proxy and proxy server.