iagox86/dnscat2

Health v2 · maintenance only

Adoption not part of the score

3958 stars · 652 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded

dnscat2 is an encrypted DNS tunneling tool designed to create a command-and-control (C&C) channel over the DNS protocol. It consists of a C client for compromised machines and a Ruby server that runs on an authoritative DNS server, supporting file transfers, shells, and TCP tunneling.

Use cases

• establish a C2 channel through restrictive firewalls using DNS
• tunnel encrypted traffic out of networks that only allow DNS
• run a remote shell on a compromised host via DNS
• upload and download files over a DNS tunnel
• pivot into internal networks by tunneling TCP over DNS
• demonstrate DNS exfiltration risks during penetration tests

When to choose

• you need a covert, encrypted C2 channel where only DNS traffic is allowed
• you are performing an authorized penetration test or red team engagement
• you want a tunneling tool with minimal client dependencies that compiles almost anywhere

When to avoid

• you just want general-purpose network tunneling to bypass a hotel or airplane network
• you need a stealthy tool for legitimate production traffic
• you are not authorized to test the target network - unauthorized use is illegal

Facets

cli-tool · maturity maintenance

security networking cryptography penetration-testing security networking windows cross-platform cli dns-tunneling command-and-control penetration-testing red-team c2 linux macos

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markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="iagox86/dnscat2")