Node.js: Error: listen EACCES: permission denied (port 80)

Error: listen EACCES: permission denied 0.0.0.0:80 at Server.setupListenHandle [as _listen2] (node:net:1284:21) at Server.listen (node:net:1333:10)

Immediate Remediation

bash

Run with sudo: `sudo node server.js` or change to a port above 1024: `PORT=8080 node server.js`

Root Cause Analysis

The process tried to bind to a privileged port (<1024) without the necessary OS permissions, which are typically restricted to root on Linux/macOS.

Verification & Guardrails

Using sudo is not recommended for production; use a reverse proxy like nginx to forward from port 80 to a higher port.
On Windows, ports below 1024 are not restricted, so this error is less common.
Check if another process is already using the port (EADDRINUSE) - this error is specifically about permissions.

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