312-50V11 · Question #180
Look at the following output. What did the hacker accomplish?
The correct answer is D. The hacker successfully transferred the zone and enumerated the hosts. A DNS zone transfer (AXFR) allows an attacker to retrieve all DNS records from a misconfigured name server, fully enumerating the target domain's hosts.
Question
Look at the following output. What did the hacker accomplish?
Exhibit
Options
- AThe hacker used who is to gather publicly available records for the domain.
- BThe hacker used the "fierce" tool to brute force the list of available domains.
- CThe hacker listed DNS records on his own domain.
- DThe hacker successfully transferred the zone and enumerated the hosts.
How the community answered
(26 responses)- A4% (1)
- B12% (3)
- C4% (1)
- D81% (21)
Why each option
A DNS zone transfer (AXFR) allows an attacker to retrieve all DNS records from a misconfigured name server, fully enumerating the target domain's hosts.
WHOIS returns registrar and contact information for a domain, not a structured list of internal DNS host records.
The fierce tool performs DNS brute-forcing by guessing hostnames, not by performing an authorized or unauthorized zone transfer.
Listing records on one's own domain would have no reconnaissance value and would not represent a security finding against an external target.
A successful DNS zone transfer exploits a misconfigured authoritative name server that responds to AXFR queries from unauthorized clients. The resulting output lists all DNS resource records - including A, MX, CNAME, and NS records - effectively mapping the entire domain infrastructure. This technique is a classic reconnaissance method when zone transfer restrictions are not enforced.
Concept tested: DNS zone transfer (AXFR) enumeration vulnerability
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/networking/dns-zone-transfer
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