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Hunt for DNS-based persistence mechanisms including DNS hijacking, dangling CNAME records, wildcard DNS abuse, and unauthorized zone modifications using passive DNS databases, SecurityTrails API, and DNS audit log analysis.
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| name | hunting-for-dns-based-persistence |
| description | Hunt for DNS-based persistence mechanisms including DNS hijacking, dangling CNAME records, wildcard DNS abuse, and unauthorized zone modifications using passive DNS databases, SecurityTrails API, and DNS audit log analysis. |
| domain | cybersecurity |
| subdomain | threat-hunting |
| tags | ["dns","persistence","threat-hunting","passive-dns","dns-hijacking","subdomain-takeover","securitytrails"] |
| version | 1.0 |
| author | mahipal |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| nist_csf | ["DE.CM-01","DE.AE-02","DE.AE-07","ID.RA-05"] |
| mitre_attack | ["T1046","T1057","T1082","T1083","T1547"] |
Attackers establish DNS-based persistence by hijacking DNS records, creating unauthorized subdomains, abusing wildcard DNS entries, or modifying NS delegations to redirect traffic through attacker-controlled infrastructure. These techniques survive credential rotations, endpoint reimaging, and traditional remediation because DNS changes persist independently of compromised hosts. Detection requires passive DNS historical analysis, zone file auditing, and monitoring for unauthorized record modifications. This skill covers hunting methodologies using SecurityTrails passive DNS API, DNS audit logs from Route53/Azure DNS/Cloudflare, and zone transfer analysis.
Export current DNS zone records and establish baseline for all authorized A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, and TXT records.
Use SecurityTrails API to retrieve historical DNS records and identify unauthorized changes, new subdomains, and CNAME records pointing to decommissioned services (dangling CNAMEs).
Compare current records against baseline to identify unauthorized modifications, wildcard records that resolve all subdomains, NS delegation changes, and MX record hijacking.
Correlate DNS anomalies with threat intelligence feeds, check resolution targets against known malicious infrastructure, and validate record ownership.
JSON report listing DNS anomalies with record type, historical changes, risk severity, and remediation recommendations for each finding.
