Potential DGA detected

Status: available
Severity: medium
Time window: 10d
Group by: ClientIP
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

'Identifies clients with a high NXDomain count, which could be indicative of a DGA (cycling through possible C2 domains where most C2s are not live). Alerts are generated when a new IP address is seen (based on not being associated with NXDomain records in the prior 10-day baseline period).'

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Command & Control	`T1008` Fallback Channels, `T1568` Dynamic Resolution

Rule body kusto

id: a0907abe-6925-4d90-af2b-c7e89dc201a6
name: Potential DGA detected
description: |
  'Identifies clients with a high NXDomain count, which could be indicative of a DGA (cycling through possible C2 domains where most C2s are not live).
  Alerts are generated when a new IP address is seen (based on not being associated with NXDomain records in the prior 10-day baseline period).'
severity: Medium
status: Available
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: DNS
    dataTypes:
      - DnsEvents
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 10d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - CommandAndControl
relevantTechniques:
  - T1568
  - T1008
query: |
  let starttime = 10d;
  let endtime = 1d;
  let threshold = 100;
  let nxDomainDnsEvents = DnsEvents
  // ResultCode 3 => 'NXDOMAIN'
  | where ResultCode == 3
  | where QueryType in~ ("A", "AAAA")
  | where ipv4_is_match("127.0.0.1", ClientIP) == False
  | where Name !has "/"
  | where Name has ".";
  nxDomainDnsEvents
  | where TimeGenerated > ago(endtime)
  // sld = Second Level Domain
  | extend sld = tostring(split(Name, ".")[-2])
  | summarize StartTimeUtc = min(TimeGenerated), EndTimeUtc = max(TimeGenerated), dcount(sld), sampleNXDomainList=make_set(Name, 100) by ClientIP
  | where dcount_sld > threshold
  // Filter out previously seen IPs
  // Returns all the records from the left side that don't have matches from the right
  | join kind=leftanti (nxDomainDnsEvents
      | where TimeGenerated between(ago(starttime)..ago(endtime))
      | extend sld = tostring(split(Name, ".")[-2])
      | summarize dcount(sld) by ClientIP, bin(TimeGenerated,1d)
      | where dcount_sld > threshold
      ) on ClientIP
      | order by dcount_sld desc
entityMappings:
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: ClientIP
version: 1.0.3
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let starttime = 10d;
let endtime = 1d;
let threshold = 100;

The stages below define let nxDomainDnsEvents (the rule's main pipeline source).

Stage 1: `source`

DnsEvents

Stage 2: `where`

| where ResultCode == 3

Stage 3: `where`

| where QueryType in~ ("A", "AAAA")

Stage 4: `where`

| where ipv4_is_match("127.0.0.1", ClientIP) == False

Stage 5: `where`

| where Name !has "/"

Stage 6: `where`

| where Name has "."

The stages below run on nxDomainDnsEvents (the outer pipeline).

Stage 7: `where`

nxDomainDnsEvents
| where TimeGenerated > ago(endtime)

Stage 8: `extend`

| extend sld = tostring(split(Name, ".")[-2])

Stage 9: `summarize`

| summarize StartTimeUtc = min(TimeGenerated), EndTimeUtc = max(TimeGenerated), dcount(sld), sampleNXDomainList=make_set(Name, 100) by ClientIP

Stage 10: `where`

| where dcount_sld > threshold

Stage 11: `join` (negated)

| join kind=leftanti (nxDomainDnsEvents
    | where TimeGenerated between(ago(starttime)..ago(endtime))
    | extend sld = tostring(split(Name, ".")[-2])
    | summarize dcount(sld) by ClientIP, bin(TimeGenerated,1d)
    | where dcount_sld > threshold
    ) on ClientIP

Stage 12: `sort`

| order by dcount_sld desc

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`ClientIP`	cidr_match	`127.0.0.1`
`Name`	match	`/`
`Name`	match	`.`
`QueryType`	in	`A`, `AAAA`
`ResultCode`	eq	`3`
`dcount_sld`	gt	`100`

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`ClientIP`	cidr_match	`127.0.0.1`
`Name`	match	`.` transforms: `term` `/` transforms: `term`
`QueryType`	in	`A` `AAAA`
`ResultCode`	eq	`3` transforms: `cased`
`dcount_sld`	gt	`100` transforms: `cased`

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

Field	Source
`ClientIP`	`summarize`
`EndTimeUtc`	`summarize`
`StartTimeUtc`	`summarize`
`sampleNXDomainList`	`summarize`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

Potential DGA detected

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `where`

Stage 7: `where`

Stage 8: `extend`

Stage 9: `summarize`

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `join` (negated)

Stage 12: `sort`

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Potential DGA detected

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: where

Stage 5: where

Stage 6: where

Stage 7: where

Stage 8: extend

Stage 9: summarize

Stage 10: where

Stage 11: join (negated)

Stage 12: sort

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `where`

Stage 7: `where`

Stage 8: `extend`

Stage 9: `summarize`

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `join` (negated)

Stage 12: `sort`