Detecting DNS Exfiltration With DNS Query Analysis

# Live capture
zeek -i eth0 -C base/protocols/dns

# Offline PCAP analysis
zeek -r traffic.pcap base/protocols/dns

# Output: dns.log with query, qtype, answers, TTL

# Capture all DNS traffic
tcpdump -i eth0 -w dns_capture.pcap port 53

# Capture with size filter (large DNS packets)
tcpdump -i eth0 -w large_dns.pcap 'port 53 and greater 512'

# In suricata.yaml, enable DNS logging
outputs:
  - eve-log:
      types:
        - dns:
            query: yes
            answer: yes
            formats: [detailed]

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""DNS Exfiltration Detector - Analyzes DNS logs for tunneling indicators."""

import json
import math
import re
import sys
from collections import defaultdict
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

import pandas as pd


def calculate_entropy(domain: str) -> float:
    """Calculate Shannon entropy of a string."""
    if not domain:
        return 0.0
    freq = defaultdict(int)
    for char in domain:
        freq[char] += 1
    length = len(domain)
    entropy = -sum(
        (count / length) * math.log2(count / length)
        for count in freq.values()
    )
    return entropy


def extract_subdomain(query: str) -> str:
    """Extract subdomain portion from FQDN."""
    parts = query.rstrip('.').split('.')
    if len(parts) > 2:
        return '.'.join(parts[:-2])
    return ''


def get_base_domain(query: str) -> str:
    """Extract registered domain from FQDN."""
    parts = query.rstrip('.').split('.')
    if len(parts) >= 2:
        return '.'.join(parts[-2:])
    return query


def is_base64_like(s: str) -> bool:
    """Check if string resembles base64 encoding."""
    b64_chars = set('ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=')
    if len(s) < 10:
        return False
    char_ratio = sum(1 for c in s if c in b64_chars) / len(s)
    return char_ratio > 0.9 and calculate_entropy(s) > 4.0


def is_hex_encoded(s: str) -> bool:
    """Check if string appears hex-encoded."""
    hex_chars = set('0123456789abcdefABCDEF')
    if len(s) < 16:
        return False
    clean = s.replace('.', '').replace('-', '')
    return all(c in hex_chars for c in clean) and len(clean) % 2 == 0


class DNSExfiltrationDetector:
    def __init__(self):
        self.domain_stats = defaultdict(lambda: {
            'query_count': 0,
            'unique_subdomains': set(),
            'total_subdomain_length': 0,
            'entropy_sum': 0.0,
            'query_types': defaultdict(int),
            'source_ips': set(),
            'first_seen': None,
            'last_seen': None,
            'txt_response_sizes': [],
        })

        # Detection thresholds
        self.thresholds = {
            'min_query_count': 50,
            'min_unique_subdomains': 30,
            'avg_subdomain_length': 30,
            'avg_entropy': 3.8,
            'unique_ratio': 0.7,
            'txt_query_ratio': 0.3,
            'max_label_length': 63,
            'max_subdomain_labels': 5,
        }

    def process_query(self, timestamp, src_ip, query, qtype, response_size=0):
        """Process a single DNS query and update statistics."""
        base_domain = get_base_domain(query)
        subdomain = extract_subdomain(query)

        stats = self.domain_stats[base_domain]
        stats['query_count'] += 1
        stats['unique_subdomains'].add(subdomain)
        stats['total_subdomain_length'] += len(subdomain)
        stats['entropy_sum'] += calculate_entropy(subdomain)
        stats['query_types'][qtype] += 1
        stats['source_ips'].add(src_ip)

        if stats['first_seen'] is None:
            stats['first_seen'] = timestamp
        stats['last_seen'] = timestamp

        if qtype in ('TXT', 'NULL') and response_size > 0:
            stats['txt_response_sizes'].append(response_size)

    def analyze(self):
        """Analyze accumulated statistics and return suspicious domains."""
        alerts = []

        for domain, stats in self.domain_stats.items():
            if stats['query_count'] < self.thresholds['min_query_count']:
                continue

            unique_count = len(stats['unique_subdomains'])
            avg_length = stats['total_subdomain_length'] / stats['query_count']
            avg_entropy = stats['entropy_sum'] / stats['query_count']
            unique_ratio = unique_count / stats['query_count']

            txt_queries = stats['query_types'].get('TXT', 0) + stats['query_types'].get('NULL', 0)
            txt_ratio = txt_queries / stats['query_count']

            score = 0
            indicators = []

            if avg_length > self.thresholds['avg_subdomain_length']:
                score += 25
                indicators.append(f"high_avg_subdomain_length={avg_length:.1f}")

            if avg_entropy > self.thresholds['avg_entropy']:
                score += 25
                indicators.append(f"high_entropy={avg_entropy:.2f}")

            if unique_ratio > self.thresholds['unique_ratio']:
                score += 20
                indicators.append(f"high_unique_ratio={unique_ratio:.2f}")

            if txt_ratio > self.thresholds['txt_query_ratio']:
                score += 15
                indicators.append(f"high_txt_ratio={txt_ratio:.2f}")

            if unique_count > self.thresholds['min_unique_subdomains']:
                score += 15
                indicators.append(f"unique_subdomains={unique_count}")

            # Check for encoding patterns
            encoded_count = sum(
                1 for sd in list(stats['unique_subdomains'])[:100]
                if is_base64_like(sd) or is_hex_encoded(sd)
            )
            if encoded_count > 20:
                score += 20
                indicators.append(f"encoded_subdomains={encoded_count}")

            if score >= 50:
                duration = (stats['last_seen'] - stats['first_seen']).total_seconds() if stats['first_seen'] and stats['last_seen'] else 0
                alerts.append({
                    'domain': domain,
                    'score': min(score, 100),
                    'query_count': stats['query_count'],
                    'unique_subdomains': unique_count,
                    'avg_subdomain_length': round(avg_length, 1),
                    'avg_entropy': round(avg_entropy, 2),
                    'unique_ratio': round(unique_ratio, 2),
                    'txt_ratio': round(txt_ratio, 2),
                    'source_ips': list(stats['source_ips']),
                    'duration_seconds': duration,
                    'indicators': indicators,
                })

        return sorted(alerts, key=lambda x: x['score'], reverse=True)

    def process_zeek_dns_log(self, log_path):
        """Process Zeek dns.log file."""
        with open(log_path, 'r') as f:
            for line in f:
                if line.startswith('#'):
                    continue
                fields = line.strip().split('\t')
                if len(fields) < 22:
                    continue
                try:
                    ts = datetime.fromtimestamp(float(fields[0]))
                    src_ip = fields[2]
                    query = fields[9]
                    qtype = fields[11]
                    self.process_query(ts, src_ip, query, qtype)
                except (ValueError, IndexError):
                    continue

    def process_eve_json(self, log_path):
        """Process Suricata EVE JSON DNS log."""
        with open(log_path, 'r') as f:
            for line in f:
                try:
                    event = json.loads(line)
                    if event.get('event_type') != 'dns':
                        continue
                    dns = event.get('dns', {})
                    ts = datetime.fromisoformat(event['timestamp'].replace('Z', '+00:00'))
                    src_ip = event.get('src_ip', '')
                    query = dns.get('rrname', '')
                    qtype = dns.get('rrtype', '')
                    self.process_query(ts, src_ip, query, qtype)
                except (json.JSONDecodeError, KeyError, ValueError):
                    continue


def main():
    detector = DNSExfiltrationDetector()

    log_file = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else '/opt/zeek/logs/current/dns.log'

    if log_file.endswith('.json'):
        detector.process_eve_json(log_file)
    else:
        detector.process_zeek_dns_log(log_file)

    alerts = detector.analyze()

    if alerts:
        print(f"\n{'='*80}")
        print(f"DNS EXFILTRATION DETECTION RESULTS - {len(alerts)} suspicious domains found")
        print(f"{'='*80}\n")

        for alert in alerts:
            severity = "CRITICAL" if alert['score'] >= 80 else "HIGH" if alert['score'] >= 60 else "MEDIUM"
            print(f"[{severity}] Domain: {alert['domain']}")
            print(f"  Score: {alert['score']}/100")
            print(f"  Queries: {alert['query_count']}, Unique Subdomains: {alert['unique_subdomains']}")
            print(f"  Avg Subdomain Length: {alert['avg_subdomain_length']}, Avg Entropy: {alert['avg_entropy']}")
            print(f"  Source IPs: {', '.join(alert['source_ips'][:5])}")
            print(f"  Indicators: {', '.join(alert['indicators'])}")
            print()
    else:
        print("No DNS exfiltration indicators detected.")


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

# Detect long DNS queries (potential tunneling)
alert dns $HOME_NET any -> any 53 (msg:"DNS Exfiltration - Excessive query length"; dns.query; content:"."; pcre:"/^.{60,}/"; threshold:type both,track by_src,count 20,seconds 60; classtype:bad-unknown; sid:3000001; rev:1;)

# Detect high-entropy DNS subdomain
alert dns $HOME_NET any -> any 53 (msg:"DNS Exfiltration - High entropy subdomain"; dns.query; pcre:"/^[a-zA-Z0-9+\/=]{30,}\./"; threshold:type both,track by_src,count 10,seconds 60; classtype:bad-unknown; sid:3000002; rev:1;)

# Detect large TXT record responses
alert dns any 53 -> $HOME_NET any (msg:"DNS Exfiltration - Large TXT response"; content:"|00 10|"; byte_test:2,>,400,0,relative; classtype:bad-unknown; sid:3000003; rev:1;)

# Detect NULL record queries (used by iodine)
alert dns $HOME_NET any -> any 53 (msg:"DNS Exfiltration - NULL record query (iodine indicator)"; content:"|00 0a|"; classtype:bad-unknown; sid:3000004; rev:1;)

# Detect dnscat2 traffic pattern
alert dns $HOME_NET any -> any 53 (msg:"DNS Exfiltration - dnscat2 indicator"; dns.query; content:"dnscat"; nocase; classtype:trojan-activity; sid:3000005; rev:1;)

index=dns sourcetype=zeek:dns
| eval subdomain=mvindex(split(query,"."),0)
| eval subdomain_len=len(subdomain)
| eval label_count=mvcount(split(query,"."))
| stats count as query_count,
        dc(subdomain) as unique_subdomains,
        avg(subdomain_len) as avg_sub_len,
        values(src_ip) as source_ips
        by query_domain
| where query_count > 100 AND avg_sub_len > 30 AND unique_subdomains > 50
| eval risk_score = case(
    avg_sub_len > 50 AND unique_subdomains > 200, "Critical",
    avg_sub_len > 40 AND unique_subdomains > 100, "High",
    avg_sub_len > 30 AND unique_subdomains > 50, "Medium",
    true(), "Low")
| sort -query_count
| table query_domain risk_score query_count unique_subdomains avg_sub_len source_ips