Sigma rule: Failed DNS Zone Transfer

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-0c8843ffc9de, updated 2023-05-24T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Failed DNS Zone Transfer
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Zach Mathis
Date
2023-05-24
File
rules/windows/builtin/dns_server/win_dns_server_failed_dns_zone_transfer.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects when a DNS zone transfer failed.

Log source

product
windows
service
dns-server

Detection

selection:
    EventID: 6004 # The DNS server received a zone transfer request from %1 for a non-existent or non-authoritative zone %2.
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unlikely

Tags

  • attack.reconnaissance
  • attack.t1590.002

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

References

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/builtin/dns_server/win_dns_server_failed_dns_zone_transfer.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Failed DNS Zone Transfer" by Zach Mathis (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/builtin/dns_server/win_dns_server_failed_dns_zone_transfer.yml.
    Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License

    Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: Failed DNS Zone Transfer",
entity page, dataset version ref-0c8843ffc9de, updated 2023-05-24T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/6d444368-6da1-43fe-b2fc-44202430480e (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 6d444368-6da1-43fe-b2fc-44202430480e, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.