Query Tor Onion Address - DNS Client

Status: test
Severity: high
Log source: product windows, service dns-client
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects DNS resolution of an .onion address related to Tor routing networks

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Command & Control	`T1090.003` Proxy: Multi-hop Proxy

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
DNS-Client	Event ID 3008	DNS query is completed for the name QueryName, type QueryType, query options QueryOptions with status QueryStatus Results QueryResults.

Rule body yaml

title: Query Tor Onion Address - DNS Client
id: 8384bd26-bde6-4da9-8e5d-4174a7a47ca2
related:
    - id: b55ca2a3-7cff-4dda-8bdd-c7bfa63bf544
      type: similar
    - id: a8322756-015c-42e7-afb1-436e85ed3ff5
      type: similar
status: test
description: Detects DNS resolution of an .onion address related to Tor routing networks
references:
    - https://www.logpoint.com/en/blog/detecting-tor-use-with-logpoint/
    - https://github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel/blob/f99542b94afe0ad2f19a82cc08262e7ac8e1428e/Detections/ASimDNS/imDNS_TorProxies.yaml
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-02-20
modified: 2025-09-12
tags:
    - attack.command-and-control
    - attack.t1090.003
logsource:
    product: windows
    service: dns-client
    definition: 'Requirements: Microsoft-Windows-DNS Client Events/Operational Event Log must be enabled/collected in order to receive the events.'
detection:
    selection:
        EventID: 3008
        QueryName|endswith:
            - '.hiddenservice.net'
            - '.onion.ca'
            - '.onion.cab'
            - '.onion.casa'
            - '.onion.city'
            - '.onion.direct'
            - '.onion.dog'
            - '.onion.glass'
            - '.onion.gq'
            - '.onion.guide'
            - '.onion.in.net'
            - '.onion.ink'
            - '.onion.it'
            - '.onion.link'
            - '.onion.lt'
            - '.onion.lu'
            - '.onion.ly'
            - '.onion.mn'
            - '.onion.network'
            - '.onion.nu'
            - '.onion.pet'
            - '.onion.plus'
            - '.onion.pt'
            - '.onion.pw'
            - '.onion.rip'
            - '.onion.sh'
            - '.onion.si'
            - '.onion.to'
            - '.onion.top'
            - '.onion.ws'
            - '.onion'
            - '.s1.tor-gateways.de'
            - '.s2.tor-gateways.de'
            - '.s3.tor-gateways.de'
            - '.s4.tor-gateways.de'
            - '.s5.tor-gateways.de'
            - '.t2w.pw'
            - '.tor2web.ae.org'
            - '.tor2web.blutmagie.de'
            - '.tor2web.com'
            - '.tor2web.fi'
            - '.tor2web.io'
            - '.tor2web.org'
            - '.tor2web.xyz'
            - '.torlink.co'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unlikely
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection

Stage 1: `selection`

selection:
    EventID: 3008
    QueryName|endswith:
        - '.hiddenservice.net'
        - '.onion.ca'
        - '.onion.cab'
        - '.onion.casa'
        - '.onion.city'
        - '.onion.direct'
        - '.onion.dog'
        - '.onion.glass'
        - '.onion.gq'
        - '.onion.guide'
        - '.onion.in.net'
        - '.onion.ink'
        - '.onion.it'
        - '.onion.link'
        - '.onion.lt'
        - '.onion.lu'
        - '.onion.ly'
        - '.onion.mn'
        - '.onion.network'
        - '.onion.nu'
        - '.onion.pet'
        - '.onion.plus'
        - '.onion.pt'
        - '.onion.pw'
        - '.onion.rip'
        - '.onion.sh'
        - '.onion.si'
        - '.onion.to'
        - '.onion.top'
        - '.onion.ws'
        - '.onion'
        - '.s1.tor-gateways.de'
        - '.s2.tor-gateways.de'
        - '.s3.tor-gateways.de'
        - '.s4.tor-gateways.de'
        - '.s5.tor-gateways.de'
        - '.t2w.pw'
        - '.tor2web.ae.org'
        - '.tor2web.blutmagie.de'
        - '.tor2web.com'
        - '.tor2web.fi'
        - '.tor2web.io'
        - '.tor2web.org'
        - '.tor2web.xyz'
        - '.torlink.co'

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
`QueryName`	ends_with	`.hiddenservice.net` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.ca` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.cab` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.casa` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.city` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.direct` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.dog` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.glass` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.gq` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.guide` `.onion.in.net` `.onion.ink` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.it` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.link` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.lt` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.lu` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.ly` `.onion.mn` `.onion.network` `.onion.nu` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.pet` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.plus` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.pt` `.onion.pw` `.onion.rip` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.sh` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.si` `.onion.to` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.top` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.onion.ws` `.s1.tor-gateways.de` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.s2.tor-gateways.de` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.s3.tor-gateways.de` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.s4.tor-gateways.de` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.s5.tor-gateways.de` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.t2w.pw` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.tor2web.ae.org` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.tor2web.blutmagie.de` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.tor2web.com` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.tor2web.fi` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.tor2web.io` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.tor2web.org` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.tor2web.xyz` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.torlink.co` corpus 2 (sigma 2)

`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)

Query Tor Onion Address - DNS Client

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Query Tor Onion Address - DNS Client

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`