Why does dotnet.exe attempt to access the internet when I launch UE 5.4.2?

[AJ_Graphix (Adam Janz)]

I have my firewall set to notify me when apps try to access the internet. Apparently, dotnet.exe attempts to access the internet when I launch UE 5.4.2, and I’m wondering who it’s calling home to, and does it really need to be given internet access for the Editor to function correctly? (Blocking it seemed to have no ill effects).

Thanks so much for any insights on this.

Full path to the dotnet.exe file:

C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.4\Engine\Binaries\ThirdParty\DotNet\6.0.302\windows

[FrostyJas]

Greetings @AJ_Graphix

This may seem out of the outfield. But, I wonder if it could be checking updates to Framework. That’d be the first thing I’d look at if it were trying to access the internet on launch.

[AJ_Graphix (Adam Janz)]

@FrostyJas Thanks! I just checked today, and it made 247 connection attempts within a 4 minute time period, but stopped after that. I’m guessing it’s probably some kind of useless auto-updater for the .NET framework.

I’m leaving it blocked for now, because despite Windows 10 updates being permanently (and successfully) blocked on my PC, after I installed UE 5.4, I noticed Windows somehow was able to sneak an update in (KB5033052). I’m hoping it was just a prerequisite for this version of Unreal. But any time third party software tries calling home, there better be a good reason… and Microsoft has very few of those.

[FrostyJas]

Indeed! I’m glad we found the culprit! Have a great week!