dnsx is a fast and multi-purpose DNS toolkit allow to run multiple DNS queries of your choice with a list of user-supplied resolvers.
A fast and multi-purpose DNS toolkit designed for running DNS queries
Features • Installation • Usage • Running dnsx • Wildcard • Notes • Join Discord
dnsx is a fast and multi-purpose DNS toolkit designed for running various probes through the retryabledns library. It supports multiple DNS queries, user supplied resolvers, DNS wildcard filtering like shuffledns etc.
Features
- Simple and Handy utility to query DNS records. - A, AAAA, CNAME, PTR, NS, MX, TXT, SRV, SOA query support - DNS Resolution / Brute-force support - Custom resolver input support - Multiple resolver format (TCP/UDP/DOH/DOT) support - stdin and stdout support - Automatic wildcard handling support
Installation Instructions
dnsx requires go1.21 to install successfully. Run the following command to install the latest version:
go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/dnsx/cmd/dnsx@latestUsage
dnsx -hThis will display help for the tool. Here are all the switches it supports.
INPUT:
-l, -list string list of sub(domains)/hosts to resolve (file or stdin)
-d, -domain string list of domain to bruteforce (file or comma separated or stdin)
-w, -wordlist string list of words to bruteforce (file or comma separated or stdin)
QUERY: -a query A record (default) -aaaa query AAAA record -cname query CNAME record -ns query NS record -txt query TXT record -srv query SRV record -ptr query PTR record -mx query MX record -soa query SOA record -any query ANY record -axfr query AXFR -caa query CAA record -recon query all the dns records (a,aaaa,cname,ns,txt,srv,ptr,mx,soa,axfr,caa) -e, -exclude-type value dns query type to exclude (a,aaaa,cname,ns,txt,srv,ptr,mx,soa,axfr,caa) (default none)
FILTER: -re, -resp display dns response -ro, -resp-only display dns response only -rc, -rcode string filter result by dns status code (eg. -rcode noerror,servfail,refused)
PROBE: -cdn display cdn name -asn display host asn information
RATE-LIMIT: -t, -threads int number of concurrent threads to use (default 100) -rl, -rate-limit int number of dns request/second to make (disabled as default) (default -1)
UPDATE: -up, -update update dnsx to latest version -duc, -disable-update-check disable automatic dnsx update check
OUTPUT: -o, -output string file to write output -j, -json write output in JSONL(ines) format -omit-raw, -or omit raw dns response from jsonl output -ot, -output-template string custom output template (e.g. -ot '{{host}} {{a}}')
DEBUG: -hc, -health-check run diagnostic check up -silent display only results in the output -v, -verbose display verbose output -raw, -debug display raw dns response -stats display stats of the running scan -version display version of dnsx -nc, -no-color disable color in output
OPTIMIZATION: -retry int number of dns attempts to make (must be at least 1) (default 2) -hf, -hostsfile use system host file -trace perform dns tracing -trace-max-recursion int Max recursion for dns trace (default 32767) -resume resume existing scan -stream stream mode (wordlist, wildcard, stats and stop/resume will be disabled) -timeout value maximum time to wait for a DNS query to complete (default 3s)
CONFIGURATIONS: -auth configure projectdiscovery cloud (pdcp) api key (default true) -r, -resolver string list of resolvers to use (file or comma separated) -wt, -wildcard-threshold int wildcard filter threshold (default 5) -auto-wildcard automatically detect wildcard domains for filtering -wd, -wildcard-domain string domain name for manual wildcard filtering (mutually exclusive with -auto-wildcard; other flags will be ignored - json output recommended)
Running dnsx
DNS Resolving
Filter active hostnames from the list of passive subdomains, obtained from various sources:
subfinder -silent -d hackerone.com | dnsx -silent
a.ns.hackerone.com www.hackerone.com api.hackerone.com docs.hackerone.com mta-sts.managed.hackerone.com mta-sts.hackerone.com resources.hackerone.com b.ns.hackerone.com mta-sts.forwarding.hackerone.com events.hackerone.com support.hackerone.com
Print A records for the given list of subdomains:
subfinder -silent -d hackerone.com | dnsx -silent -a -resp
www.hackerone.com [104.16.100.52] www.hackerone.com [104.16.99.52] hackerone.com [104.16.99.52] hackerone.com [104.16.100.52] api.hackerone.com [104.16.99.52] api.hackerone.com [104.16.100.52] mta-sts.forwarding.hackerone.com [185.199.108.153] mta-sts.forwarding.hackerone.com [185.199.109.153] mta-sts.forwarding.hackerone.com [185.199.110.153] mta-sts.forwarding.hackerone.com [185.199.111.153] a.ns.hackerone.com [162.159.0.31] resources.hackerone.com [52.60.160.16] resources.hackerone.com [3.98.63.202] resources.hackerone.com [52.60.165.183] resources.hackerone.com [read.uberflip.com] mta-sts.hackerone.com [185.199.110.153] mta-sts.hackerone.com [185.199.111.153] mta-sts.hackerone.com [185.199.109.153] mta-sts.hackerone.com [185.199.108.153] gslink.hackerone.com [13.35.210.17] gslink.hackerone.com [13.35.210.38] gslink.hackerone.com [13.35.210.83] gslink.hackerone.com [13.35.210.19] b.ns.hackerone.com [162.159.1.31] docs.hackerone.com [185.199.109.153] docs.hackerone.com [185.199.110.153] docs.hackerone.com [185.199.111.153] docs.hackerone.com [185.199.108.153] support.hackerone.com [104.16.51.111] support.hackerone.com [104.16.53.111] mta-sts.managed.hackerone.com [185.199.108.153] mta-sts.managed.hackerone.com [185.199.109.153] mta-sts.managed.hackerone.com [185.199.110.153] mta-sts.managed.hackerone.com [185.199.111.153]
Extract A records for the given list of subdomains:
subfinder -silent -d hackerone.com | dnsx -silent -a -resp-only
104.16.99.52 104.16.100.52 162.159.1.31 104.16.99.52 104.16.100.52 185.199.110.153 185.199.111.153 185.199.108.153 185.199.109.153 104.16.99.52 104.16.100.52 104.16.51.111 104.16.53.111 185.199.108.153 185.199.111.153 185.199.110.153 185.199.111.153
Extract CNAME records for the given list of subdomains:
subfinder -silent -d hackerone.com | dnsx -silent -cname -resp
support.hackerone.com [hackerone.zendesk.com] resources.hackerone.com [read.uberflip.com] mta-sts.hackerone.com [hacker0x01.github.io] mta-sts.forwarding.hackerone.com [hacker0x01.github.io] events.hackerone.com [whitelabel.bigmarker.com]
subfinder -silent -d hackerone.com | dnsx -silent -asn
b.ns.hackerone.com [AS13335, CLOUDFLARENET, US] a.ns.hackerone.com [AS13335, CLOUDFLARENET, US] hackerone.com [AS13335, CLOUDFLARENET, US] www.hackerone.com [AS13335, CLOUDFLARENET, US] api.hackerone.com [AS13335, CLOUDFLARENET, US] support.hackerone.com [AS13335, CLOUDFLARENET, US]
Probe using dns status code on given list of (sub)domains:
subfinder -silent -d hackerone.com | dnsx -silent -rcode noerror,servfail,refused
ns.hackerone.com [NOERROR] a.ns.hackerone.com [NOERROR] b.ns.hackerone.com [NOERROR] support.hackerone.com [NOERROR] resources.hackerone.com [NOERROR] mta-sts.hackerone.com [NOERROR] www.hackerone.com [NOERROR] mta-sts.forwarding.hackerone.com [NOERROR] docs.hackerone.com [NOERROR]
Extract subdomains from given network range using PTR query:
echo 173.0.84.0/24 | dnsx -silent -resp-only -ptr
cors.api.paypal.com trinityadminauth.paypal.com cld-edge-origin-api.paypal.com appmanagement.paypal.com svcs.paypal.com trinitypie-serv.paypal.com ppn.paypal.com pointofsale-new.paypal.com pointofsale.paypal.com slc-a-origin-pointofsale.paypal.com fpdbs.paypal.com
Extract subdomains from given ASN using PTR query:
echo AS17012 | dnsx -silent -resp-only -ptr
apiagw-a.paypal.com notify.paypal.com adnormserv-slc-a.paypal.com a.sandbox.paypal.com apps2.paypal-labs.com pilot-payflowpro.paypal.com www.paypallabs.com paypal-portal.com micropayments.paypal-labs.com minicart.paypal-labs.com
Custom Output Format
The -output-template (-ot) flag lets you customize the output format using a template, instead of the default bracketed layout (e.g. example.com [A] [104.20.23.154]). You specify the template directly on the command line to control how the resolved data is presented.
Template variables map to the same field names used in the JSONL output (-json), so any of the following can be referenced as {{field}}:
host, a, aaaa, cname, ns, txt, mx, srv, ptr, soa, caa, ttl, resolver, status_code, cdn-name, cdn-type, asn, query-time. A convenience {{ip}} alias holds the combined A and AAAA records.
Records with multiple values (e.g. several A records) are comma-joined within a single field.
echo example.com | dnsx -silent -a -ot '{{host}} {{a}}'
example.com 104.20.23.154,172.66.147.243
echo example.com | dnsx -silent -a -ot '{{ip}} - {{host}}'
104.20.23.154,172.66.147.243 - example.com
[!NOTE]
If a specified field does not exist or does not contain a value, it is simply omitted from the output.-output-templatecannot be combined with-jsonor-raw.
DNS Bruteforce
Bruteforce subdomains for given domain or list of domains using d and w flag:
dnsx -silent -d facebook.com -w dns_worldlist.txt
blog.facebook.com booking.facebook.com api.facebook.com analytics.facebook.com beta.facebook.com apollo.facebook.com ads.facebook.com box.facebook.com alpha.facebook.com apps.facebook.com connect.facebook.com c.facebook.com careers.facebook.com code.facebook.com
Bruteforce targeted subdomain using single or multiple keyword input, as d or w flag supports file or comma separated keyword inputs:
dnsx -silent -d domains.txt -w jira,grafana,jenkins
grafana.1688.com grafana.8x8.vc grafana.airmap.com grafana.aerius.nl jenkins.1688.com jenkins.airbnb.app jenkins.airmap.com jenkins.ahn.nl jenkins.achmea.nl jira.amocrm.com jira.amexgbt.com jira.amitree.com jira.arrival.com jira.atlassian.net jira.atlassian.com
Values are accepted from stdin for all the input types (-list, -domain, -wordlist). The -list flag defaults to stdin, but the same can be achieved for other input types by adding a - (dash) as parameter:
cat domains.txt | dnsx -silent -w jira,grafana,jenkins -d -
grafana.1688.com grafana.8x8.vc grafana.airmap.com grafana.aerius.nl jenkins.1688.com jenkins.airbnb.app jenkins.airmap.com jenkins.ahn.nl jenkins.achmea.nl jira.amocrm.com jira.amexgbt.com jira.amitree.com jira.arrival.com jira.atlassian.net jira.atlassian.com
DNS Bruteforce with Placeholder based wordlist
$ cat tld.txt
com by de be al bi cg dj bs
dnsx -d google.FUZZ -w tld.txt -resp
_ | | __ \ \/ / / ' || ' \ / __| \ / | (| || | | |\_ \ / \ \,||| |||///\\ v1.1.2
projectdiscovery.io
google.de [142.250.194.99] google.com [142.250.76.206] google.be [172.217.27.163] google.bs [142.251.42.35] google.bi [216.58.196.67] google.al [216.58.196.68] google.by [142.250.195.4] google.cg [142.250.183.131] google.dj [142.250.192.3]
Wildcard filtering
A special feature of dnsx is its ability to handle multi-level DNS based wildcards, and do it so with a very reduced number of DNS requests. Sometimes all the subdomains will resolve, which leads to lots of garbage in the output. The way dnsx handles this is by keeping track of how many subdomains point to an IP and if the count of the subdomains increase beyond a certain threshold, it will check for wildcards on all the levels of the hosts for that IP iteratively.
dnsx -l subdomain_list.txt -wd airbnb.com -o output.txtTo detect and filter wildcard DNS automatically across multiple domains in a single run while preserving the selected output mode:
dnsx -l subdomain_list.txt -auto-wildcard -o output.txt-auto-wildcard and -wd / -wildcard-domain are mutually exclusive. Use -wd when you want the existing manual single-domain wildcard filtering flow; use -auto-wildcard when you want dnsx to detect wildcard roots automatically across mixed-domain input.
Dnsx as a library
It's possible to use the library directly in your golang programs. The following code snippets is an example of use in golang programs. Please refer to here for detailed package configuration and usage.
package main
import ( "fmt"
"github.com/projectdiscovery/dnsx/libs/dnsx" )
func main() { // Create DNS Resolver with default options dnsClient, err := dnsx.New(dnsx.DefaultOptions) if err != nil { fmt.Printf("err: %v\n", err) return }
// DNS A question and returns corresponding IPs result, err := dnsClient.Lookup("hackerone.com") if err != nil { fmt.Printf("err: %v\n", err) return } for idx, msg := range result { fmt.Printf("%d: %s\n", idx+1, msg) }
// Query rawResp, err := dnsClient.QueryOne("hackerone.com") if err != nil { fmt.Printf("err: %v\n", err) return } fmt.Printf("rawResp: %v\n", rawResp)
jsonStr, err := rawResp.JSON() if err != nil { fmt.Printf("err: %v\n", err) return } fmt.Println(jsonStr)
return }
📋 Notes
- As default,
dnsxchecks for A record. - As default
dnsxuses Google, Cloudflare, Quad9 resolver. - Custom resolver list can be loaded using the
rflag. -auto-wildcardautomatically detects wildcard domains across multiple registrable roots in a single run.- Domain name (
-wd) is required only for manual wildcard filtering and can not be used together with-auto-wildcard. - When using manual wildcard filtering with
-wd, other DNS record flags are ignored and JSON output is recommended. - DNS resolution (
l) and DNS brute-forcing (w) can't be used together. - VPN operators tend to filter high DNS/UDP traffic, therefore the tool might experience packets loss (eg. Mullvad VPN). Check this potential solution.
dnsx is made with 🖤 by the projectdiscovery team.
