# m57/dnsteal

DNS Exfiltration tool for stealthily sending files over DNS requests.

Repository: https://github.com/m57/dnsteal
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/dnsteal
Language: Python
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2022-02-03T11:04:49+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4040, "days_push": 1672, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1730, forks 232 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:28.583476+00:00)

## What it is
dnsteal is a fake DNS server written in Python that enables stealthy exfiltration of files from a victim machine via DNS requests. It supports multiple file transfers, gzip compression, and customizable subdomain encoding parameters.

## Use cases
- exfiltrate files from a compromised machine over DNS
- test data loss prevention (DLP) and egress filtering controls
- demonstrate DNS tunneling in security assessments
- simulate covert channel attacks in red team exercises
- transfer files out of networks that only allow DNS traffic

## When to choose
- you need to demonstrate or test DNS-based data exfiltration during a penetration test
- you want a lightweight, single-file Python tool with no dependencies
- you need to validate whether a network's security controls detect DNS tunneling

## When to avoid
- you need a general-purpose DNS server or DNS tunneling client for legitimate remote access
- you require high-throughput or reliable file transfer over a controlled network
- you need a maintained tool with active development and modern features

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: networking, security, cli
- domain: security, penetration-testing, networking
- platform: python, windows, cross-platform
- tags: dns-exfiltration, data-exfiltration, fake-dns-server, red-team, penetration-testing-tools, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- m57/dnsteal (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:28.583476+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:31:45.402802+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/m57/dnsteal (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:28.583476+00:00, sha fbb41b42dca7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.