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D O C U M E N T A T I O N
DNSChef is a highly configurable DNS proxy for Penetration Testers and Malware Analysts. A DNS proxy (aka "Fake DNS") is a tool used for application network traffic analysis among other uses. For example, a DNS proxy can be used to fake requests for "badguy.com" to point to a local machine for termination or interception instead of a real host somewhere on the Internet.
There are several DNS Proxies out there. Most will simply point all DNS queries a single IP address or implement only rudimentary filtering. DNSChef was developed as part of a penetration test where there was a need for a more configurable system. As a result, DNSChef is cross-platform application capable of forging responses based on inclusive and exclusive domain lists, supporting multiple DNS record types, matching domains with wildcards, proxying true responses for nonmatching domains, defining external configuration files, IPv6 and many other features. You can find detailed explanation of each of the features and suggested uses below.
The use of DNS Proxy is recommended in situations where it is not possible to force an application to use some other proxy server directly. For example, some mobile applications completely ignore OS HTTP Proxy settings. In these cases, the use of a DNS proxy server such as DNSChef will allow you to trick that application into forwarding connections to the desired destination.
- Requires Python 3.11+
- Supports staging files over DNS (only over
A,AAAA,TXTfor now...) - Config file is now TOML
- Optional HTTP API (allows you to query logs and update config remotely)
- Fully async for increased performance (uses AsyncIO)
- Structured logging and a number of QOL improvements
- Is now a Python package
- Dockerized
- Includes a number of the PRs and fixes from the original repo
To install the latest release you should use pipx (unless you're a piece of shit who enjoys sloppy stakes):
pipx install dnschef-ng
If you want the HTTP API (requires some extra dependencies):
pipx install dnschef-ng[api]
Install latest version from Git using pipx:
pipx install git+https://github.com/byt3bl33d3r/dnschef-ng.git
Install latest version from Git using pipx with the deps for the HTTP API:
pipx install "git+https://github.com/byt3bl33d3r/dnschef-ng.git#egg=dnschef-ng[api]"
Before you can start using DNSChef, you must configure your machine to use a DNS nameserver with the tool running on it. You have several options based on the operating system you are going to use:
-
Linux - Edit /etc/resolv.conf to include a line on the very top with your traffic analysis host (e.g add "nameserver 127.0.0.1" if you are running locally). Alternatively, you can add a DNS server address using tools such as Network Manager. Inside the Network Manager open IPv4 Settings, select Automatic (DHCP) addresses only or Manual from the Method drop down box and edit DNS Servers text box to include an IP address with DNSChef running.
-
Windows - Select Network Connections from the Control Panel. Next select one of the connections (e.g. "Local Area Connection"), right-click on it and select properties. From within a newly appearing dialog box, select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click on properties. At last select Use the following DNS server addresses radio button and enter the IP address with DNSChef running. For example, if running locally enter 127.0.0.1.
-
OS X - Open System Preferences and click on the Network icon. Select the active interface and fill in the DNS Server field. If you are using Airport then you will have to click on Advanced... button and edit DNS servers from there. Alternatively, you can edit /etc/resolv.conf and add a fake nameserver to the very top there (e.g "nameserver 127.0.0.1").
-
iOS - Open Settings and select General. Next select on Wi-Fi and click on a blue arrow to the right of an active Access Point from the list. Edit DNS entry to point to the host with DNSChef running. Make sure you have disabled Cellular interface (if available).
-
Android - Open Settings and select Wireless and network. Click on Wi-Fi settings and select Advanced after pressing the Options button on the phone. Enable Use static IP checkbox and configure a custom DNS server.
If you do not have the ability to modify device's DNS settings manually, then you still have several options involving techniques such as ARP Spoofing, Rogue DHCP and other creative methods.
At last you need to configure a fake service where DNSChef will point all of the requests. For example, if you are trying to intercept web traffic, you must bring up either a separate web server running on port 80 or set up a web proxy (e.g. Burp) to intercept traffic. DNSChef will point queries to your proxy/server host with properly configured services.
DNSChef is a cross-platform application developed in Python which should run on most platforms which have a Python interpreter. This guide will concentrate on Unix environments; however, all of the examples below were tested to work on Windows as well.
Let's get a taste of DNSChef with its most basic monitoring functionality. Execute the following command as root (required to start a server on port 53):
# ./dnschef.py
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iphelix@thesprawl.org
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 8.8.8.8
[*] No parameters were specified. Running in full proxy mode
Without any parameters, DNSChef will run in full proxy mode. This means that all requests will simply be forwarded to an upstream DNS server (8.8.8.8 by default) and returned back to the quering host. For example, let's query an "A" record for a domain and observe results:
$ host -t A thesprawl.org
thesprawl.org has address 108.59.3.64
DNSChef will print the following log line showing time, source IP address, type of record requested and most importantly which name was queried:
[23:54:03] 127.0.0.1: proxying the response of type 'A' for thesprawl.org
This mode is useful for simple application monitoring where you need to figure out which domains it uses for its communications.
DNSChef has full support for IPv6 which can be activated using -6 or --ipv6* flags. It works exactly as IPv4 mode with the exception that default listening interface is switched to ::1 and default DNS server is switched to 2001:4860:4860::8888. Here is a sample output:
# ./dnschef.py -6
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iphelix@thesprawl.org
[*] Using IPv6 mode.
[*] DNSChef started on interface: ::1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 2001:4860:4860::8888
[*] No parameters were specified. Running in full proxy mode
[00:35:44] ::1: proxying the response of type 'A' for thesprawl.org
[00:35:44] ::1: proxying the response of type 'AAAA' for thesprawl.org
[00:35:44] ::1: proxying the response of type 'MX' for thesprawl.org
NOTE: By default, DNSChef creates a UDP listener. You can use TCP instead with the --tcp argument discussed later.
Warning
The API has no authentication. Allow/deny access at the network level through security groups, iptables, firewall etc..
uvicorn dnschef.api:app
You can then view the OpenAPI documentation at http://127.0.0.1:8000/docs
$ uvicorn dnschef.api:app
INFO: Started server process [28327]
INFO: Waiting for application startup.
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@iphelix // @byt3bl33d3r
2023-09-28 11:24:59 cooking replies domain=*.thesprawl.org record=192.0.2.1 section=A
2023-09-28 11:24:59 cooking replies domain=*.thesprawl.org record=2001:db8::1 section=AAAA
-- SNIP --
2023-09-28 11:24:59 cooking replies domain=*.thesprawl.org record=1 . alpn=h2 ipv4hint=127.0.0.1 ipv6hint=::1 section=HTTPS
INFO: Application startup complete.
2023-09-28 11:24:59 DNSChef is active interface=127.0.0.1 ipv6=False nameservers=['8.8.8.8'] port=53 tcp=False
INFO: Uvicorn running on http://127.0.0.1:8000 (Press CTRL+C to quit)
Now, that you know how to start DNSChef let's configure it to fake all replies to point to 127.0.0.1 using the --fakeip parameter:
# ./dnschef.py --fakeip 127.0.0.1 -q
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 8.8.8.8
[*] Cooking all A replies to point to 127.0.0.1
[23:55:57] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for google.com to 127.0.0.1
[23:55:57] 127.0.0.1: proxying the response of type 'AAAA' for google.com
[23:55:57] 127.0.0.1: proxying the response of type 'MX' for google.com
In the above output you an see that DNSChef was configured to proxy all requests to 127.0.0.1. The first line of log at 08:11:23 shows that we have "cooked" the "A" record response to point to 127.0.0.1. However, further requests for 'AAAA' and 'MX' records are simply proxied from a real DNS server. Let's see the output from requesting program:
$ host google.com localhost
google.com has address 127.0.0.1
google.com has IPv6 address 2001:4860:4001:803::1001
google.com mail is handled by 10 aspmx.l.google.com.
google.com mail is handled by 40 alt3.aspmx.l.google.com.
google.com mail is handled by 30 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com.
google.com mail is handled by 20 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com.
google.com mail is handled by 50 alt4.aspmx.l.google.com.
As you can see the program was tricked to use 127.0.0.1 for the IPv4 address. However, the information obtained from IPv6 (AAAA) and mail (MX) records appears completely legitimate. The goal of DNSChef is to have the least impact on the correct operation of the program, so if an application relies on a specific mailserver it will correctly obtain one through this proxied request.
Let's fake one more request to illustrate how to target multiple records at the same time:
# ./dnschef.py --fakeip 127.0.0.1 --fakeipv6 ::1 -q
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 8.8.8.8
[*] Cooking all A replies to point to 127.0.0.1
[*] Cooking all AAAA replies to point to ::1
[00:02:14] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for google.com to 127.0.0.1
[00:02:14] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'AAAA' for google.com to ::1
[00:02:14] 127.0.0.1: proxying the response of type 'MX' for google.com
In addition to the --fakeip flag, I have now specified --fakeipv6 designed to fake 'AAAA' record queries. Here is an updated program output:
$ host google.com localhost
google.com has address 127.0.0.1
google.com has IPv6 address ::1
google.com mail is handled by 10 aspmx.l.google.com.
google.com mail is handled by 40 alt3.aspmx.l.google.com.
google.com mail is handled by 30 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com.
google.com mail is handled by 20 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com.
google.com mail is handled by 50 alt4.aspmx.l.google.com.
Once more all of the records not explicitly overriden by the application were proxied and returned from the real DNS server. However, IPv4 (A) and IPv6 (AAAA) were both faked to point to a local machine.
DNSChef supports multiple record types:
| Record | Description | Argument | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | IPv4 address | --fakeip | --fakeip 192.0.2.1 |
| AAAA | IPv6 address | --fakeipv6 | --fakeipv6 2001:db8::1 |
| MX | Mail server | --fakemail | --fakemail mail.fake.com |
| CNAME | CNAME record | --fakealias | --fakealias www.fake.com |
| NS | Name server | --fakens | --fakens ns.fake.com |
NOTE: For usability not all DNS record types are exposed on the command line. Additional records such as PTR, TXT, SOA, etc. can be specified using the --file flag and an appropriate record header. See the external definitions file section below for details.
At last let's observe how the application handles queries of type ANY:
# ./dnschef.py --fakeip 127.0.0.1 --fakeipv6 ::1 --fakemail mail.fake.com --fakealias www.fake.com --fakens ns.fake.com -q
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 8.8.8.8
[*] Cooking all A replies to point to 127.0.0.1
[*] Cooking all AAAA replies to point to ::1
[*] Cooking all MX replies to point to mail.fake.com
[*] Cooking all CNAME replies to point to www.fake.com
[*] Cooking all NS replies to point to ns.fake.com
[00:17:29] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'ANY' for google.com with all known fake records.
DNS ANY record queries results in DNSChef returning every faked record that it knows about for an applicable domain. Here is the output that the program will see:
# host -t ANY google.com localhost
google.com has address 127.0.0.1
google.com has IPv6 address ::1
google.com mail is handled by 10 mail.fake.com.
google.com is an alias for www.fake.com.
google.com name server ns.fake.com.
Using the above example, consider you only want to intercept requests for thesprawl.org and leave queries to all other domains such as webfaction.com without modification. You can use the --fakedomains parameter as illustrated below:
# ./dnschef.py --fakeip 127.0.0.1 --fakedomains thesprawl.org -q
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 8.8.8.8
[*] Cooking replies to point to 127.0.0.1 matching: thesprawl.org
[00:23:37] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for thesprawl.org to 127.0.0.1
[00:23:52] 127.0.0.1: proxying the response of type 'A' for mx9.webfaction.com
From the above example the request for thesprawl.org was faked; however, the request for mx9.webfaction.com was left alone. Filtering domains is very useful when you attempt to isolate a single application without breaking the rest.
NOTE: DNSChef will not verify whether the domain exists or not before faking the response. If you have specified a domain it will always resolve to a fake value whether it really exists or not.
In another situation you may need to fake responses for all requests except a defined list of domains. You can accomplish this task using the --truedomains parameter as follows:
# ./dnschef.py --fakeip 127.0.0.1 --truedomains thesprawl.org,*.webfaction.com -q
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 8.8.8.8
[*] Cooking replies to point to 127.0.0.1 not matching: *.webfaction.com, thesprawl.org
[00:27:57] 127.0.0.1: proxying the response of type 'A' for mx9.webfaction.com
[00:28:05] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for google.com to 127.0.0.1
There are several things going on in the above example. First notice the use of a wildcard (*). All domains matching *.webfaction.com will be reverse matched and resolved to their true values. The request for 'google.com' returned 127.0.0.1 because it was not on the list of excluded domains.
NOTE: Wildcards are position specific. A mask of type *.thesprawl.org will match www.thesprawl.org but not www.test.thesprawl.org. However, a mask of type ..thesprawl.org will match thesprawl.org, www.thesprawl.org and www.test.thesprawl.org.
There may be situations where defining a single fake DNS record for all matching domains may not be sufficient. You can use an external file with a collection of DOMAIN=RECORD pairs defining exactly where you want the request to go.
For example, let create the following definitions file and call it dnschef.toml:
[A]
"*.google.com"="192.0.2.1"
"thesprawl.org"="192.0.2.2"
"*.wordpress.*"="192.0.2.3"Notice the section header [A], it defines the record type to DNSChef. Now let's carefully observe the output of multiple queries:
# ./dnschef.py --file dnschef.toml -q
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 8.8.8.8
[+] Cooking A replies for domain *.google.com with '192.0.2.1'
[+] Cooking A replies for domain thesprawl.org with '192.0.2.2'
[+] Cooking A replies for domain *.wordpress.* with '192.0.2.3'
[00:43:54] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for google.com to 192.0.2.1
[00:44:05] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for www.google.com to 192.0.2.1
[00:44:19] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for thesprawl.org to 192.0.2.2
[00:44:29] 127.0.0.1: proxying the response of type 'A' for www.thesprawl.org
[00:44:40] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for www.wordpress.org to 192.0.2.3
[00:44:51] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for wordpress.com to 192.0.2.3
[00:45:02] 127.0.0.1: proxying the response of type 'A' for slashdot.org
Both google.com and www.google.com matched the *.google.com entry and correctly resolved to 192.0.2.1. On the other hand www.thesprawl.org request was simply proxied instead of being modified. At last all variations of wordpress.com, www.wordpress.org, etc. matched the *.wordpress.* mask and correctly resolved to 192.0.2.3. At last an undefined slashdot.org query was simply proxied with a real response.
You can specify section headers for all other supported DNS record types including the ones not explicitly exposed on the command line: [A], [AAAA], [MX], [NS], [CNAME], [PTR], [NAPTR] and [SOA]. For example, let's define a new [PTR] section in the dnschef.toml file:
[PTR]
"*.2.0.192.in-addr.arpa"="fake.com"Let's observe DNSChef's behavior with this new record type:
./dnschef.py --file dnschef.toml -q
[sudo] password for iphelix:
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 8.8.8.8
[+] Cooking PTR replies for domain *.2.0.192.in-addr.arpa with 'fake.com'
[00:11:34] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'PTR' for 1.2.0.192.in-addr.arpa to fake.com
And here is what a client might see when performing reverse DNS queries:
$ host 192.0.2.1 localhost
1.2.0.192.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer fake.com.
Some records require exact formatting. Good examples are SOA and NAPTR
[SOA]
"*.thesprawl.org" = "ns.fake.com. hostmaster.fake.com. 1 10800 3600 604800 3600"
[NAPTR]
"*.thesprawl.org" = "100 10 U E2U+sip !^.*$!sip:customer-service@fake.com! ."See sample dnschef.toml file for additional examples.
DNSChef can "stage" any file through DNS. Currently file staging is only supported with A, AAAA and TXT records (will be adding more). To instruct DNSChef to stage a file, add the following section to your dnschef.toml:
[A]
"*.wat.org" = { file = "/home/payload.exe", chunk_size = 4 }
[AAAA]
"*.gorgetowngeronimos.org" = { file = "/home/payload.exe", chunk_size = 16 }Note
The chunk_size setting is optional and it's behavior is highly dependent on the query type. Example: As A queries return an IPv4 address, the maximum allowed chunk_size is 4 bytes. Setting the chunk_size to anything above 4 will be ignored.
An A query to *.wat.org containing a number in the DNS name will now return the corresponding chunk of the file. E.g the query ns0.wat.org will return an IPv4 address containing the first chunk of the file (4 bytes). A query for test1.wat.org will return the second chunk of the file etc...
When using wildcard domains like the above examples, the "chunk" numbers can be placed anywhere and don't have to be put together. E.g an A query for 1aliens2.wat.org will return the 12th chunk of the file.
TXT records support additional options for file staging as they allow more flexibility:
[TXT]
"ns*.dungbeetle.org" = { file = "~/payload.exe", chunk_size = 189, response_format = "{prefix}test-{chunk}", response_prefix_pool = ["atlassian-domain-verification=", "onetrust-domain-verification=", "docusign=" ] }With this configuration, any TXT query to ns*.dungbeetle.org will return a chunk of our file located locally on the filesystem at ~/payload.exe.
The response_format and response_prefix_pool settings are optional but allow you to further customize the DNS TXT response.
The response_format setting defines the format of the TXT response:
-
The
{prefix}variable will be randomly substituted with one of the values defined in theresponse_prefix_poolarray. -
The
{chunk}variable will be replaced with the file chunk.
With the above configuration, a TXT query to ns1.dungbeetle.org will return the following response:
docusign=test-<BASE64_ENCODED_FILE_CHUNK_N1>
If you perform another TXT query (e.g. ns10.dungbeetle.org), you'll see that the prefix will change:
atlassian-domain-verification=test-<BASE64_ENCODED_FILE_CHUNK_N10>
You can mix and match input from a file and command line. For example the following command uses both --file and --fakedomains parameters:
# ./dnschef.py --file dnschef.toml --fakeip 6.6.6.6 --fakedomains=thesprawl.org,slashdot.org -q
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 8.8.8.8
[+] Cooking A replies for domain *.google.com with '192.0.2.1'
[+] Cooking A replies for domain thesprawl.org with '192.0.2.2'
[+] Cooking A replies for domain *.wordpress.* with '192.0.2.3'
[*] Cooking A replies to point to 6.6.6.6 matching: *.wordpress.*, *.google.com, thesprawl.org
[*] Cooking A replies to point to 6.6.6.6 matching: slashdot.org, *.wordpress.*, *.google.com, thesprawl.org
[00:49:05] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for google.com to 192.0.2.1
[00:49:15] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for slashdot.org to 6.6.6.6
[00:49:31] 127.0.0.1: cooking the response of type 'A' for thesprawl.org to 6.6.6.6
[00:50:08] 127.0.0.1: proxying the response of type 'A' for tor.com
Notice the definition for thesprawl.org in the command line parameter took precedence over dnschef.toml. This could be useful if you want to override values in the configuration file. slashdot.org still resolves to the fake IP address because it was specified in the --fakedomains parameter. tor.com request is simply proxied since it was not specified in either command line or the configuration file.
For security reasons, DNSChef listens on a local 127.0.0.1 (or ::1 for IPv6) interface by default. You can make DNSChef listen on another interface using the --interface parameter:
# ./dnschef.py --interface 0.0.0.0 -q
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 0.0.0.0
[*] Using the following nameservers: 8.8.8.8
[*] No parameters were specified. Running in full proxy mode
[00:50:53] 192.0.2.105: proxying the response of type 'A' for thesprawl.org
or for IPv6:
# ./dnschef.py -6 --interface :: -q
[*] Using IPv6 mode.
[*] DNSChef started on interface: ::
[*] Using the following nameservers: 2001:4860:4860::8888
[*] No parameters were specified. Running in full proxy mode
[00:57:46] 2001:db8::105: proxying the response of type 'A' for thesprawl.org
By default, DNSChef uses Google's public DNS server to make proxy requests. However, you can define a custom list of nameservers using the --nameservers parameter:
# ./dnschef.py --nameservers 4.2.2.1,4.2.2.2 -q
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 4.2.2.1, 4.2.2.2
[*] No parameters were specified. Running in full proxy mode
[00:55:08] 127.0.0.1: proxying the response of type 'A' for thesprawl.org
It is possible to specify non-standard nameserver port using IP#PORT notation:
# ./dnschef.py --nameservers 192.0.2.2#5353 -q
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 192.0.2.2#5353
[*] No parameters were specified. Running in full proxy mode
[02:03:12] 127.0.0.1: proxying the response of type 'A' for thesprawl.org
At the same time it is possible to start DNSChef itself on an alternative port using the -p port# parameter:
# ./dnschef.py -p 5353 -q
[*] Listening on an alternative port 5353
[*] DNSChef started on interface: 127.0.0.1
[*] Using the following nameservers: 8.8.8.8
[*] No parameters were specified. Running in full proxy mode
DNS protocol can be used over UDP (default) or TCP. DNSChef implements a TCP mode which can be activated with the --tcp flag.