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AD-DNS-08: Zone delegation count should be retrievable

ID AD-DNS-08
Severity Info
Suite Active Directory (on-premises)
Product Active Directory
Feature DNS
Security area Infrastructure hardening
Resource type DnsZone
Reads from On-premises Active Directory

DNS zone delegations transfer authority for a subdomain to different name servers. Monitoring delegations is important because:

  • Security boundaries: Delegations may cross administrative or security boundaries
  • External dependencies: Delegations may point to external/untrusted servers
  • Configuration complexity: Each delegation adds management overhead
  • Potential hijacking: Unauthorized delegations could redirect traffic

Operational

  • Audit all zone delegations regularly
  • Verify delegated servers are under your organization’s control
  • Document the purpose of each delegation
  • Monitor for unauthorized delegation changes

This test counts NS records that represent delegations (where the record name is not “@”), indicating authority delegation to another server.

  • Test-MtAdDnsZoneDelegationDetails - Provides detailed delegation information

Mito check. Author: soulemike. Open-source licences.

Open-source licences. CIS Benchmark material © Center for Internet Security, Inc.; CISA SCuBA baselines are public domain (CC0).

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