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AD-DNS-14: Empty zone count should be retrievable

ID AD-DNS-14
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

Empty DNS zones (zones with no resource records) may indicate:

  • Incomplete configuration: Zones created but never populated
  • Abandoned infrastructure: Services that were planned but never deployed
  • Configuration errors: Failed zone creation or replication issues
  • Cleanup opportunities: Removing unused zones reduces complexity

Empty zones add administrative overhead without providing value and may confuse administrators.

Detective

  • Audit empty zones regularly
  • Delete zones that are no longer needed
  • Document the purpose of any intentionally empty zones
  • Investigate unexpected empty zones for potential issues

This test identifies DNS zones that contain zero resource records of any type.

  • Test-MtAdDnsZoneCount - Counts zones with records
  • Test-MtAdDnsZonesWithOnlySoaNs - Finds zones with only default records

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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