Possible Enumeration Behavior Through Dnscmd.EXE (via process_creation)

title: Possible Enumeration Behavior Through Dnscmd.EXE (via process_creation)
id: a4a4dc97-4f4f-5c8c-a00e-8b838cbaec9a
status: stable
description: This rule detects an attempt to abuse dnscmd.exe to enumerate the DNS zones of a domain. DNS zones used to host the DNS records for a particular domain.
references:
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/dnscmd
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/dns/dns-zones-records
    - https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/Binaries/Dnscmd/
author: 'Huntrule Team'
date: 2026-04-09
tags:
    - attack.discovery
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1016
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        Image|endswith: '\dnscmd.exe'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '/enumrecords'
            - '/enumzones'
            - '/ZonePrint'
            - '/info'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium