DNS
DNS Breakdown
There are several types of DNS servers that are used worldwide:
DNS root server
Authoritative name server
Non-authoritative name server
Caching server
Forwarding server
Resolver
Server Type
Description
DNS Root Server
The root servers of the DNS are responsible for the top-level domains (TLD). As the last instance, they are only requested if the name server does not respond. Thus, a root server is a central interface between users and content on the Internet, as it links domain and IP address. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) coordinates the work of the root name servers. There are 13 such root servers around the globe.
Authoritative Nameserver
Authoritative name servers hold authority for a particular zone. They only answer queries from their area of responsibility, and their information is binding. If an authoritative name server cannot answer a client's query, the root name server takes over at that point.
Non-authoritative Nameserver
Non-authoritative name servers are not responsible for a particular DNS zone. Instead, they collect information on specific DNS zones themselves, which is done using recursive or iterative DNS querying.
Caching DNS Server
Caching DNS servers cache information from other name servers for a specified period. The authoritative name server determines the duration of this storage.
Forwarding Server
Forwarding servers perform only one function: they forward DNS queries to another DNS server.
Resolver
Resolvers are not authoritative DNS servers but perform name resolution locally in the computer or router.
DNS is mainly unencrypted. Devices on the local WLAN and Internet providers can therefore hack in and spy on DNS queries. Since this poses a privacy risk, there are now some solutions for DNS encryption. By default, IT security professionals apply DNS over TLS (DoT) or DNS over HTTPS (DoH) here. In addition, the network protocol DNSCrypt also encrypts the traffic between the computer and the name server.
However, the DNS does not only link computer names and IP addresses. It also stores and outputs additional information about the services associated with a domain. A DNS query can therefore also be used, for example, to determine which computer serves as the e-mail server for the domain in question or what the domain's name servers are called.
Different DNS records are used for the DNS queries, which all have various tasks. Moreover, separate entries exist for different functions since we can set up mail servers and other servers for a domain.
Record Types
DNS Record
Description
A
Returns an IPv4 address of the requested domain as a result.
AAAA
Returns an IPv6 address of the requested domain.
MX
Returns the responsible mail servers as a result.
NS
Returns the DNS servers (nameservers) of the domain.
TXT
This record can contain various information. The all-rounder can be used, e.g., to validate the Google Search Console or validate SSL certificates. In addition, SPF and DMARC entries are set to validate mail traffic and protect it from spam.
CNAME
This record serves as an alias. If the domain www.hackthebox.eu should point to the same IP, and we create an A record for one and a CNAME record for the other.
PTR
The PTR record works the other way around (reverse lookup). It converts IP addresses into valid domain names.
SOA
Provides information about the corresponding DNS zone and email address of the administrative contact.
The SOA record is located in a domain's zone file and specifies who is responsible for the operation of the domain and how DNS information for the domain is managed.
Christopher Scogin-1@htb[/htb]$ dig soa www.inlanefreight.com
; <<>> DiG 9.16.27-Debian <<>> soa www.inlanefreight.com
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 15876
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 512
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;www.inlanefreight.com. IN SOA
;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
inlanefreight.com. 900 IN SOA ns-161.awsdns-20.com. awsdns-hostmaster.amazon.com. 1 7200 900 1209600 86400
;; Query time: 16 msec
;; SERVER: 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8)
;; WHEN: Thu Jan 05 12:56:10 GMT 2023
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 128The dot (.) is replaced by an at sign (@) in the email address. In this example, the email address of the administrator is awsdns-hostmaster@amazon.com.
Local DNS Configuration
root@bind9:~# cat /etc/bind/named.conf.local
//
// Do any local configuration here
//
// Consider adding the 1918 zones here, if they are not used in your
// organization
//include "/etc/bind/zones.rfc1918";
zone "domain.com" {
type master;
file "/etc/bind/db.domain.com";
allow-update { key rndc-key; };
};A zone file is a text file that describes a DNS zone with the BIND file format. In other words it is a point of delegation in the DNS tree. The BIND file format is the industry-preferred zone file format and is now well established in DNS server software. A zone file describes a zone completely. There must be precisely one SOA record and at least one NS record. The SOA resource record is usually located at the beginning of a zone file. The main goal of these global rules is to improve the readability of zone files. A syntax error usually results in the entire zone file being considered unusable. The name server behaves similarly as if this zone did not exist. It responds to DNS queries with a SERVFAIL error message.
In short, here, all forward records are entered according to the BIND format. This allows the DNS server to identify which domain, hostname, and role the IP addresses belong to. In simple terms, this is the phone book where the DNS server looks up the addresses for the domains it is searching for.
Zone Files
root@bind9:~# cat /etc/bind/db.domain.com
;
; BIND reverse data file for local loopback interface
;
$ORIGIN domain.com
$TTL 86400
@ IN SOA dns1.domain.com. hostmaster.domain.com. (
2001062501 ; serial
21600 ; refresh after 6 hours
3600 ; retry after 1 hour
604800 ; expire after 1 week
86400 ) ; minimum TTL of 1 day
IN NS ns1.domain.com.
IN NS ns2.domain.com.
IN MX 10 mx.domain.com.
IN MX 20 mx2.domain.com.
IN A 10.129.14.5
server1 IN A 10.129.14.5
server2 IN A 10.129.14.7
ns1 IN A 10.129.14.2
ns2 IN A 10.129.14.3
ftp IN CNAME server1
mx IN CNAME server1
mx2 IN CNAME server2
www IN CNAME server2For the IP address to be resolved from the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), the DNS server must have a reverse lookup file. In this file, the computer name (FQDN) is assigned to the last octet of an IP address, which corresponds to the respective host, using a PTR record. The PTR records are responsible for the reverse translation of IP addresses into names, as we have already seen in the above table.
Reverse Name Resolution Zone Files
root@bind9:~# cat /etc/bind/db.10.129.14
;
; BIND reverse data file for local loopback interface
;
$ORIGIN 14.129.10.in-addr.arpa
$TTL 86400
@ IN SOA dns1.domain.com. hostmaster.domain.com. (
2001062501 ; serial
21600 ; refresh after 6 hours
3600 ; retry after 1 hour
604800 ; expire after 1 week
86400 ) ; minimum TTL of 1 day
IN NS ns1.domain.com.
IN NS ns2.domain.com.
5 IN PTR server1.domain.com.
7 IN MX mx.domain.com.
...SNIP...Footprinting the Service
The footprinting at DNS servers is done as a result of the requests we send. So, first of all, the DNS server can be queried as to which other name servers are known. We do this using the NS record and the specification of the DNS server we want to query using the @ character. This is because if there are other DNS servers, we can also use them and query the records. However, other DNS servers may be configured differently and, in addition, may be permanent for other zones.
DIG - NS Query
Christopher Scogin-1@htb[/htb]$ dig ns inlanefreight.htb @10.129.14.128
; <<>> DiG 9.16.1-Ubuntu <<>> ns inlanefreight.htb @10.129.14.128
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 45010
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 2
;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 4096
; COOKIE: ce4d8681b32abaea0100000061475f73842c401c391690c7 (good)
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;inlanefreight.htb. IN NS
;; ANSWER SECTION:
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN NS ns.inlanefreight.htb.
;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
ns.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.34.136
;; Query time: 0 msec
;; SERVER: 10.129.14.128#53(10.129.14.128)
;; WHEN: So Sep 19 18:04:03 CEST 2021
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 107Sometimes it is also possible to query a DNS server's version using a class CHAOS query and type TXT. However, this entry must exist on the DNS server. For this, we could use the following command:
DIG - Version Query
Christopher Scogin-1@htb[/htb]$ dig CH TXT version.bind 10.129.120.85
; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> CH TXT version.bind
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 47786
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; ANSWER SECTION:
version.bind. 0 CH TXT "9.10.6-P1"
;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
version.bind. 0 CH TXT "9.10.6-P1-Debian"
;; Query time: 2 msec
;; SERVER: 10.129.120.85#53(10.129.120.85)
;; WHEN: Wed Jan 05 20:23:14 UTC 2023
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 101We can use the option ANY to view all available records. This will cause the server to show us all available entries that it is willing to disclose. It is important to note that not all entries from the zones will be shown.
DIG - ANY Query
Christopher Scogin-1@htb[/htb]$ dig any inlanefreight.htb @10.129.14.128
; <<>> DiG 9.16.1-Ubuntu <<>> any inlanefreight.htb @10.129.14.128
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 7649
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 5, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 2
;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 4096
; COOKIE: 064b7e1f091b95120100000061476865a6026d01f87d10ca (good)
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;inlanefreight.htb. IN ANY
;; ANSWER SECTION:
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN TXT "v=spf1 include:mailgun.org include:_spf.google.com include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:_spf.atlassian.net ip4:10.129.124.8 ip4:10.129.127.2 ip4:10.129.42.106 ~all"
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN TXT "atlassian-domain-verification=t1rKCy68JFszSdCKVpw64A1QksWdXuYFUeSXKU"
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN TXT "MS=ms97310371"
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN SOA inlanefreight.htb. root.inlanefreight.htb. 2 604800 86400 2419200 604800
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN NS ns.inlanefreight.htb.
;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
ns.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.34.136
;; Query time: 0 msec
;; SERVER: 10.129.14.128#53(10.129.14.128)
;; WHEN: So Sep 19 18:42:13 CEST 2021
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 437Zone transfer refers to the transfer of zones to another server in DNS, which generally happens over TCP port 53. This procedure is abbreviated Asynchronous Full Transfer Zone (AXFR). Since a DNS failure usually has severe consequences for a company, the zone file is almost invariably kept identical on several name servers. When changes are made, it must be ensured that all servers have the same data. Synchronization between the servers involved is realized by zone transfer. Using a secret key rndc-key, which we have seen initially in the default configuration, the servers make sure that they communicate with their own master or slave. Zone transfer involves the mere transfer of files or records and the detection of discrepancies in the data sets of the servers involved.
The original data of a zone is located on a DNS server, which is called the primary name server for this zone. However, to increase the reliability, realize a simple load distribution, or protect the primary from attacks, one or more additional servers are installed in practice in almost all cases, which are called secondary name servers for this zone. For some Top-Level Domains (TLDs), making zone files for the Second Level Domains accessible on at least two servers is mandatory.
DIG - AXFR Zone Transfer
Christopher Scogin-1@htb[/htb]$ dig axfr inlanefreight.htb @10.129.14.128
; <<>> DiG 9.16.1-Ubuntu <<>> axfr inlanefreight.htb @10.129.14.128
;; global options: +cmd
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN SOA inlanefreight.htb. root.inlanefreight.htb. 2 604800 86400 2419200 604800
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN TXT "MS=ms97310371"
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN TXT "atlassian-domain-verification=t1rKCy68JFszSdCKVpw64A1QksWdXuYFUeSXKU"
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN TXT "v=spf1 include:mailgun.org include:_spf.google.com include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:_spf.atlassian.net ip4:10.129.124.8 ip4:10.129.127.2 ip4:10.129.42.106 ~all"
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN NS ns.inlanefreight.htb.
app.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.18.15
internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.1.6
mail1.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.18.201
ns.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.34.136
inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN SOA inlanefreight.htb. root.inlanefreight.htb. 2 604800 86400 2419200 604800
;; Query time: 4 msec
;; SERVER: 10.129.14.128#53(10.129.14.128)
;; WHEN: So Sep 19 18:51:19 CEST 2021
;; XFR size: 9 records (messages 1, bytes 520)If the administrator used a subnet for the allow-transfer option for testing purposes or as a workaround solution or set it to any, everyone would query the entire zone file at the DNS server. In addition, other zones can be queried, which may even show internal IP addresses and hostnames.
DIG - AXFR Zone Transfer - Internal
Christopher Scogin-1@htb[/htb]$ dig axfr internal.inlanefreight.htb @10.129.14.128
; <<>> DiG 9.16.1-Ubuntu <<>> axfr internal.inlanefreight.htb @10.129.14.128
;; global options: +cmd
internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN SOA inlanefreight.htb. root.inlanefreight.htb. 2 604800 86400 2419200 604800
internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN TXT "MS=ms97310371"
internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN TXT "atlassian-domain-verification=t1rKCy68JFszSdCKVpw64A1QksWdXuYFUeSXKU"
internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN TXT "v=spf1 include:mailgun.org include:_spf.google.com include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:_spf.atlassian.net ip4:10.129.124.8 ip4:10.129.127.2 ip4:10.129.42.106 ~all"
internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN NS ns.inlanefreight.htb.
dc1.internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.34.16
dc2.internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.34.11
mail1.internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.18.200
ns.internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.34.136
vpn.internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.1.6
ws1.internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.1.34
ws2.internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.1.35
wsus.internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.18.2
internal.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN SOA inlanefreight.htb. root.inlanefreight.htb. 2 604800 86400 2419200 604800
;; Query time: 0 msec
;; SERVER: 10.129.14.128#53(10.129.14.128)
;; WHEN: So Sep 19 18:53:11 CEST 2021
;; XFR size: 15 records (messages 1, bytes 664)The individual A records with the hostnames can also be found out with the help of a brute-force attack. To do this, we need a list of possible hostnames, which we use to send the requests in order. Such lists are provided, for example, by SecLists.
An option would be to execute a for-loop in Bash that lists these entries and sends the corresponding query to the desired DNS server.
Subdomain Brute Forcing
Subdomain Brute Forcing
Christopher Scogin-1@htb[/htb]$ for sub in $(cat /opt/useful/SecLists/Discovery/DNS/subdomains-top1million-110000.txt);do dig $sub.inlanefreight.htb @10.129.14.128 | grep -v ';\|SOA' | sed -r '/^\s*$/d' | grep $sub | tee -a subdomains.txt;done
ns.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.34.136
mail1.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.18.201
app.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.18.15Many different tools can be used for this, and most of them work in the same way. One of these tools is, for example DNSenum.
Subdomain Brute Forcing
Christopher Scogin-1@htb[/htb]$ dnsenum --dnsserver 10.129.14.128 --enum -p 0 -s 0 -o subdomains.txt -f /opt/useful/SecLists/Discovery/DNS/subdomains-top1million-110000.txt inlanefreight.htb
dnsenum VERSION:1.2.6
----- inlanefreight.htb -----
Host's addresses:
__________________
Name Servers:
______________
ns.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.34.136
Mail (MX) Servers:
___________________
Trying Zone Transfers and getting Bind Versions:
_________________________________________________
unresolvable name: ns.inlanefreight.htb at /usr/bin/dnsenum line 900 thread 1.
Trying Zone Transfer for inlanefreight.htb on ns.inlanefreight.htb ...
AXFR record query failed: no nameservers
Brute forcing with /home/cry0l1t3/Pentesting/SecLists/Discovery/DNS/subdomains-top1million-110000.txt:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
ns.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.34.136
mail1.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.18.201
app.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.18.15
ns.inlanefreight.htb. 604800 IN A 10.129.34.136
...SNIP...
done.Last updated