subzuf is a subdomain brute-force fuzzer coupled with an immensly simple but effective Smart DNS reponse-guided algorithm.
It utilizes a provided set of input data, like a tailored wordlist or historical DNS/TLS records, to accurately synthesize more corresponding domain names and expand them even further in a loop based on information gathered during DNS scan.
This somewhat different approach to subdomain enumeration in most cases allows to discover more subdomains with significantly reduced time and resources.
In short, subzuf can be summarized by the following:
- Generates carefully selected candidates and uncover completely new subdomains during smart DNS enumeration scans
- Efficient multi-threaded DNS client capable of resolving thousands of domains per second
- Wildcard detection in two modes: filter (default, slightly slower but accurate) and reject (resource-saving)
- Accepts wordlist or domain names or a mix of both as input
- Requires essentially no configuration or fine-tuning
- Works right of out the box – no external dependencies or bizzare requirements
- Easily chainable with other tools
Installation
$ git clone https://github.com/elceef/subzuf.git $ cd subzuf $ pip install . $ subzuf --help
subzuf itself is just a single file which has no external dependencies – you can move it anywhere you need.
Quick examples
Using the attached scripts, collect publicly available data related to the target domain and provide it as input:
$ ./scripts/_subfind.sh example.com | subzuf example.com
Provide a text file as input, save JSON output to a file, and display results in CSV format:
$ cat wordlist.txt | subzuf example.com | tee out.zuf | ./scripts/json2csv.sh
Usage tips
- The most efficient enumeration happens not with enormous or random input but with a mix of targeted test cases generated from OSINT and tailored wordlist.
- Input data is validated and everything that can’t be quickly “fixed” on the fly will be silently skipped.
- By default the number of threads is auto-selected based on available CPU cores, which is a safe and in many cases sufficient value. Although it often pays off to increase this number, keep in mind that at some point speed does not increase linearly with the number of threads.
- Keep an eye at the error ratio in the status line. It should be reasonably low, say less than 1%. The most common errors are socket timeouts due to: congested and poor quality network links, slow DNS resolvers, rate-limiting, overloaded authoritative nameservers.
- Cloudflare, Google and OpenDNS public DNS resolvers are used by default and considered reliable. Feel free to supply your own list of DNS resolvers. Although resolvers undergo basic validation test, please ensure that they can handle higher loads. Poor quality DNS resolvers will cause excessive timeout errors or refused/servfail status responses.
- Colourful CLI output is auto-selected when an interactive terminal is detected. Otherwise JSON is used by default. Output format can be always enforced with the optional command line argument.
Known limitations and common-sense risks
- Active DNS enumeration involves many thousands of queries in a relatively short period of time. Keep in mind that such a volume of DNS messages might not go unnoticed at the target.
- Virtual machines with NAT network adapters are generally not suitable for handling hundreds of DNS packets per second and will likely cause timeout errors.
- Built-in DNS client has a bare-minimum implementation required for the task and does not support DoH – use a proxy solution if really necessary.
Also See – What is DNS Rebinding Attack?
