ToolDescription
massdnsA high-performance DNS stub resolver for bulk lookups and reconnaissance
gobusterDirectory/File, DNS and VHost busting tool written in Go

DNS Records

Common

TypeDescription
AThe record that holds the IP address of a domain.
AAAAThe record that contains the IPv6 address for a domain (as opposed to A records, which list the IPv4 address).
CNAMEForwards one domain or subdomain to another domain, does NOT provide an IP address.
MXDirects mail to an email server.
TXTLets an admin store text notes in the record. These records are often used for email security.
NSStores the name server for a DNS entry.
SOAStores admin information about a domain.
SRVSpecifies a port for specific services.
PTRProvides a domain name in reverse-lookups.

Less common used DNS Records

TypeDescription
APLThe address prefix list is an experiment record that specifies lists of address ranges.
AFSDBThis record is used for clients of the Andrew File System (AFS) developed by Carnegie Melon. The AFSDB record functions to find other AFS cells.
CAAThis is the ‘certification authority authorization’ record, it allows domain owners state which certificate authorities can issue certificates for that domain. If no CAA record exists, then anyone can issue a certificate for the domain. These records are also inherited by subdomains.
DNSKEYThe DNS Key Record contains a public key used to verify Domain Name System Security Extension (DNSSEC) signatures
CDNSKEYThis is a child copy of the DNSKEY record, meant to be transferred to a parent.
CERTThe ‘certificate record’ stores public key certificates.
DCHIDThe ‘DHCP Identifier’ stores info for the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), a standardized network protocol used on IP networks.
DNAMEThe ‘delegation name’ record creates a domain alias, just like CNAME, but this alias will redirect all subdomains as well. For instance if the owner of ‘example.com’ bought the domain ‘website.net’ and gave it a DNAME record that points to ‘example.com’, then that pointer would also extend to ‘blog.website.net’ and any other subdomains.
HIPThis record uses ‘Host identity protocol’, a way to separate the roles of an IP address; this record is used most often in mobile computing.
IPSECKEYThe IPSEC key record works with the Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC), an end-to-end security protocol framework and part of the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP).
LOCThe location record contains geographical information for a domain in the form of longitude and latitude coordinates.
NAPTRThe name authority pointer record can be combined with an SRV record to dynamically create URI’s to point to based on a regular expression.
NSECThe next secure record is part of DNSSEC, and it’s used to prove that a requested DNS resource record does not exist.
RRSIGThe resource record signature is a record to store digital signatures used to authenticate records in accordance with DNSSEC.
RPThis is the ‘responsible person’ record and it stores the email address of the person responsible for the domain.
SSHFPThis record stores the SSH public key fingerprints; SSH stands for Secure Shell and it’s a cryptographic networking protocol for secure communication over an unsecure network.