What is DNSDumpster?
DNSDumpster is a domain research tool from HackerTarget.com. Enter a domain and it returns the subdomains, DNS records (A, MX, NS, TXT and more), IP addresses, network owners and service banners it has found, along with a map of how they connect. It finds hosts using sources such as certificate transparency logs, search engines and Common Crawl data.
It is passive reconnaissance: you are looking at data DNSDumpster has already collected rather than scanning the target yourself. Defenders use it to see their organisation's Internet footprint the way an outsider would, and penetration testers and bug bounty hunters use it during authorised assessments. A banner search can also return service banners across a small IP range.
Main Features
- Subdomain and host discovery for any domain
- DNS records including A, MX, NS and TXT with ASN and network owner
- Visual domain map of related hosts
- Banner search across an IP range in CIDR notation
- API access for free and paid members
- Data usable in commercial reports with attribution
- Backed by HackerTarget.com, scanning the Internet since 2007
How to Get Started with DNSDumpster
- Open dnsdumpster.com and enter a domain you want to research.
- Review the subdomains, DNS records, hosting providers and the domain map.
- Create a free account to get an API key and the daily free query allowance.
- Upgrade to Plus or Max if you need more queries or results per domain.
DNSDumpster Pricing
The free Basic account gives 50 requests a day, up to 50 subdomains per request and 32 results for CIDR search, with API access. Plus is listed at $79 a year (shown on sale for $49 at the time of writing) with 200 requests a day and up to 200 subdomains per request. Max costs $499 a year for 2,500 requests a day and 4,096 CIDR results. Larger datasets are available through HackerTarget.com.
Who Should Use It?
- Security teams auditing their own external footprint
- Penetration testers and bug bounty hunters on authorised engagements
- Network administrators tidying up old DNS records
- Threat analysts mapping infrastructure behind suspicious domains
- Students learning DNS and network reconnaissance
DNSDumpster Alternatives
- Censys: an Internet intelligence platform with certificate, DNS and host data.
- Shodan: a search engine for Internet-connected devices and the services they expose.
- SpiderFoot: an open source OSINT tool that automates subdomain and DNS enumeration among many other lookups.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is DNSDumpster free?
Yes, DNSDumpster has a free account with 50 requests a day and up to 50 results per domain, including API access. Paid Plus and Max memberships raise the limits.
Is it legal to use DNSDumpster?
DNSDumpster shows DNS and host data that it has already collected from public sources, so looking up a domain is passive research. Acting on the results, for example scanning or testing the hosts, should only be done on systems you own or are authorised to assess.
Where does DNSDumpster get its data?
DNSDumpster says it finds subdomains using certificate transparency logs, search engines and large web datasets such as Common Crawl, and correlates them with HackerTarget.com's Internet scanning data.