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The Windows DNS Server's zone files must not include CNAME records pointing to a zone with lesser security for more than six months.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-259359WDNS-22-000030SV-259359r1156962_ruleCCI-000366medium
Description
The use of CNAME records for exercises, tests, or zone-spanning (pointing to zones with lesser security) aliases should be temporary (e.g., to facilitate a migration) and not be in place for more than six months. When a host name is an alias for a record in another zone, an adversary has two points of attack: the zone in which the alias is defined and the zone authoritative for the alias's canonical name. This configuration also reduces the speed of client resolution because it requires a second lookup after obtaining the canonical name. In the case of an authoritative name server, this information is promulgated throughout the enterprise to caching servers, which compounds the vulnerability.
STIGDate
Microsoft Windows Server Domain Name System (DNS) Security Technical Implementation Guide2026-02-23

Related Frameworks

1 mapping across 5 frameworks
SCF0 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (8) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

CFG-01Configuration Management Program
1.00
END-01Endpoint Device Management (EDM)
1.00
END-04Malicious Code Protection (Anti-Malware)
1.00
END-06Endpoint File Integrity Monitoring (FIM)
1.00
MON-01Continuous Monitoring
1.00
MON-01.7File Integrity Monitoring (FIM)
1.00
CFG-02Secure Baseline Configurations
0.50
CFG-02.7Approved Configuration Deviations
0.50
NIST 800-530 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 2 hops (100) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

AC-12Session Termination
1.00
AC-16(1)Dynamic Attribute Association
1.00
AC-17(1)Monitoring and Control
1.00
AC-2Account Management
1.00
AC-2(1)Automated System Account Management
1.00
AC-2(11)Usage Conditions
1.00
AC-2(3)Disable Accounts
1.00
AC-2(4)Automated Audit Actions
1.00
AC-24(1)Transmit Access Authorization Information
1.00
AC-25Reference Monitor
1.00

+90 more (top 10 by confidence shown)

NIST 800-1710 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (2) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

3.4.1
1.00
3.4.2
1.00
CCI1 mapping
CCI-000366
1.00
NIST CSF 2.00 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (5) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

DE.CM-09
1.00
PR.PS-01
1.00
PR.DS-10
0.50
PR.PSPlatform Security
0.50
PR.PS-05
0.50

Who does this work

10 NICE work roles and 9 EC-Council certifications.

This is an inference across published mappings, not a single claim by anyone. This check maps to a control, which maps to a Cybersecurity Framework outcome, which NIST assigns to the work roles below. EC-Council separately maps its certifications to those same roles.

A certification prepares someone for a role. It is not evidence that a holder is qualified, and neither NIST nor EC-Council has stated that any certification here addresses this check.

Work-role assignments published by NIST (NICE Framework Components 2.2.0 and the CSF 2.0 OLIR crosswalk). Certification mappings published by EC-Council.

Details

Check Text (C-259359r1156962_chk)

Log on to the DNS server using the Domain Admin or Enterprise Admin account or Local Administrator account. Press the Windows key + R and execute "dnsmgmt.msc". On the opened DNS Manager snap-in from the left pane, expand the server name for the DNS server and then expand "Forward Lookup Zones". From the expanded list, click to select the zone. Review the resource records to confirm there are no CNAME records older than six months. The exceptions are glue records supporting zone delegations, CNAME records supporting a system migration, or CNAME records that point to third-party Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) or cloud computing platforms. In the case of third-party CDNs or cloud offerings, an approved mission need must be demonstrated. (Authorizing Official approval of use of a commercial cloud offering would satisfy this requirement.) Additional exceptions are CNAME records in a multidomain Active Directory environment pointing to hosts in other internal domains in the same multidomain environment. If there are zone-spanning (i.e., zones of lesser security) CNAME records older than six months and the CNAME records resolve to anything other than fully qualified domain names for glue records supporting zone delegations, CNAME records supporting a system migration, or CNAME records that point to third-party CDNs or cloud computing platforms with an AO-approved and documented mission need, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-63006r939781_fix)

Remove any zone-spanning CNAME records that have been active for more than six months, which are not supporting zone delegations, CNAME records supporting a system migration, or CNAME records pointing to third-party CDNs or cloud computing platforms. In the case of third-party CDNs or cloud offerings, an approved mission need must be demonstrated (AO approval of use of a commercial cloud offering would satisfy this requirement).