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dns-zone-transfer

DNS Zone Transfer Test

Test authoritative nameservers for open AXFR zone transfer and review a public DNS zone preview.

DNS Zone Transfer Test checks whether a domain’s authoritative nameservers allow AXFR zone transfer. Public AXFR is usually a DNS security misconfiguration because it can expose the full zone contents to anyone.

The tool also builds a zone-file style preview from public DNS records so administrators can review common SOA, NS, A, AAAA, MX, TXT, and CAA data without relying on AXFR.

DNS Zone Transfer Test

Enter a domain to test authoritative nameservers for AXFR exposure and optionally build a public DNS zone preview.

Check whether authoritative nameservers allow DNS AXFR zone transfer, then summarize public DNS records in a readable zone-file style report.
AXFR should normally be restricted to authorized secondary DNS servers. This check is bounded and asks only the domain's published authoritative nameservers.

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What Is DNS Zone Transfer?

DNS zone transfer is the process of copying DNS zone data from one authoritative DNS server to another. Full zone transfer uses the AXFR query type. It is a normal administrative feature when used between authorized primary and secondary nameservers.

Why Public AXFR Is Risky

If AXFR is open to the public, an attacker or unauthorized visitor may be able to download the full DNS zone. That can reveal hostnames, subdomains, mail routing, TXT records, service names, and infrastructure naming conventions that were not intended to be enumerated in bulk.

How This Tool Works

The test discovers the domain’s public NS records and sends a bounded AXFR request to each selected authoritative nameserver. It classifies each response as allowed, refused, timed out, or inconclusive. It also provides a public DNS zone preview built from ordinary DNS lookups, which is different from a true AXFR response.

How to Fix Open AXFR

Restrict zone transfers to known secondary nameserver IP addresses, use TSIG where supported, and review DNS provider settings for transfer ACLs. After closing public AXFR, retest from an external network and review logs for previous unauthorized transfer attempts.

DNS Zone Transfer Best Practices

Zone transfers should normally be restricted to authorized secondary DNS servers by source IP, TSIG, or DNS provider access controls. If a public nameserver allows AXFR unexpectedly, disable public transfer access, rotate exposed secrets if necessary, and review the zone for internal hostnames or sensitive TXT records.

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