Odd DNS TXT Record. Anybody Seen This Before?

Published: 2015-10-21
Last Updated: 2015-10-21 13:46:26 UTC
by Johannes Ullrich (Version: 1)
18 comment(s)

A reader sent us an "odd looking" DNS TXT record. The record was recovered from an old, decommissioned, DNS server. Has anybody seen this before? The zone also include the Google Apps authentication records, so it is possible that this is a similar scheme. According to the reader, the change times on the file are from 2010, but it is not certain that these times are correct. The file was maintained manually, so it is unlikely that a bad ip management script corrupted it.

We have seen DNS TXT records used as a covert channel in the past, so it is is possible this attempts to try something like this, or that these records were used for reflective DNS attacks. At this point, I really have no idea and was wondering if someone else has seen this.

 

bradmbig        TXT "@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@" "@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@" "@@@@@@@@@@Cc::.:::cc:C@@@@@@@@" "@@@@@@@Oc::....:...:::co@@@@@@" "@@@@@@c:::........:::::cc@@@@@" "@@@@@o:::::::c::::c:....:@@@@@" "@@@@O::::oooCoOOoCCOCc...O@@@@" "@@@@Oc.:CCCoCCOOOOCCCCC.:@@@@@" "@@@@@c::CCccoooOoooccoo..O@@@@" "@@@O@oCoCCCCCCCCoCCOCCoCoO@@@@" "@@@O@CCoCCOOCCCOCoCOCCoCCO@@@@" "@@@@@OCooCCCCCoooCCCCoooO@@@@@" "@@@OOO@OoooCccoocccCCooO@@@@@@" "@@@@OOOOCcooCCCCCCooco@@@@@@@@" "@@@@OOOOCocccoooCooccO@@@@@@@@" "@@@OOOOOCooocc:c::cooC@@@@@@@@" "@@O@OC..cCCoooCoCooooo.C@@@@@@" "@@O@c..:ooCCCCoocoCooo:.o@O@@@" "c..:....oCCCOCCCOCCoCo...:..cO" ".....:...oCCCCCCOOCOo....:...."
bradbig        TXT "@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@" "@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@" "@@@@@@@@@@Cc::.:::cc:C@@@@@@@@" "@@@@@@@Oc::....:...:::co@@@@@@" "@@@@@@c:::........:::::cc@@@@@" "@@@@@o:::::::c::::c:....:@@@@@" "@@@@O::::oooCoOOoCCOCc...O@@@@" "@@@@Oc.:CCCoCCOOOOCCCCC.:@@@@@" "@@@@@c::CCccoooOoooccoo..O@@@@" "@@@O@oCoCCCCCCCCoCCOCCoCoO@@@@" "@@@O@CCoCCOOCCCOCoCOCCoCCO@@@@" "@@@@@OCooCCCCCoooCCCCoooO@@@@@" "@@@OOO@OoooCccoocccCCooO@@@@@@" "@@@@OOOOCcooCCCCCCooco@@@@@@@@" "@@@@OOOOCocccoooCooccO@@@@@@@@" "@@@OOOOOCooocc:c::cooC@@@@@@@@" "@@O@OC..cCCoooCoCooooo.C@@@@@@" "@@O@c..:ooCCCCoocoCooo:.o@O@@@" "c..:....oCCCOCCCOCCoCo...:..cO" ".....:...oCCCCCCOOCOo....:...."
bradmsmall      TXT "@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@" "@@@@@8c:::cc8@@@@" "@@@O::....:::c@@@" "@@@::c:cc:c:..O@@" "@@8:cCCCOOCCC.8@@" "@@8ooCCCCoCCoo8@@" "@@8CoCCoooCCoo@@@" "@@88CoCoooooo@@@@" "@@88Oocooocc8@@@@" "@88c:CCooooo:O@@@" "Oc..cCCCCCCCc.:O8" ".....cCCCOCc....."
bradm      TXT "@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@" "@@@@@8c:::cc8@@@@" "@@@O::....:::c@@@" "@@@::c:cc:c:..O@@" "@@8:cCCCOOCCC.8@@" "@@8ooCCCCoCCoo8@@" "@@8CoCCoooCCoo@@@" "@@88CoCoooooo@@@@" "@@88Oocooocc8@@@@" "@88c:CCooooo:O@@@" "Oc..cCCCCCCCc.:O8" ".....cCCCOCc....."

 

---
Johannes B. Ullrich, Ph.D.
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18 comment(s)

Comments

Got packets? Kinda looks like EBCDIC, but would need to see the hex to verify.
ASCII art?
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@Cc::.:::cc:C@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@Oc::....:...:::co@@@@@@
@@@@@@c:::........:::::cc@@@@@
@@@@@o:::::::c::::c:....:@@@@@
@@@@O::::oooCoOOoCCOCc...O@@@@
@@@@Oc.:CCCoCCOOOOCCCCC.:@@@@@
@@@@@c::CCccoooOoooccoo..O@@@@
@@@O@oCoCCCCCCCCoCCOCCoCoO@@@@
@@@O@CCoCCOOCCCOCoCOCCoCCO@@@@
@@@@@OCooCCCCCoooCCCCoooO@@@@@
@@@OOO@OoooCccoocccCCooO@@@@@@
@@@@OOOOCcooCCCCCCooco@@@@@@@@
@@@@OOOOCocccoooCooccO@@@@@@@@
@@@OOOOOCooocc:c::cooC@@@@@@@@
@@O@OC..cCCoooCoCooooo.C@@@@@@
@@O@c..:ooCCCCoocoCooo:.o@O@@@
c..:....oCCCOCCCOCCoCo...:..cO
.....:...oCCCCCCOOCOo....:....
If you insert newlines in the right places, it becomes quite obvious - see http://pastebin.com/cxee44Q9
Honestly, looks like ASCII art to me, but I can't make heads or tails of what the oblongs might be...
After I broke the strings out into separate lines, it looks like someone did a conversion on their portrait or something to generate different sizes of ASCII art. Brad in big, medium, small, etc. Not the best likeness, and maybe I'm just making it into something it's not, but that's my $0.02.

A sample:

""@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@"
"@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@"
"@@@@@@@@@@Cc::.:::cc:C@@@@@@@@"
"@@@@@@@Oc::....:...:::co@@@@@@"
"@@@@@@c:::........:::::cc@@@@@"
"@@@@@o:::::::c::::c:....:@@@@@"
"@@@@O::::oooCoOOoCCOCc...O@@@@"
"@@@@Oc.:CCCoCCOOOOCCCCC.:@@@@@"
"@@@@@c::CCccoooOoooccoo..O@@@@"
"@@@O@oCoCCCCCCCCoCCOCCoCoO@@@@"
"@@@O@CCoCCOOCCCOCoCOCCoCCO@@@@"
"@@@@@OCooCCCCCoooCCCCoooO@@@@@"
"@@@OOO@OoooCccoocccCCooO@@@@@@"
"@@@@OOOOCcooCCCCCCooco@@@@@@@@"
"@@@@OOOOCocccoooCooccO@@@@@@@@"
"@@@OOOOOCooocc:c::cooC@@@@@@@@"
"@@O@OC..cCCoooCoCooooo.C@@@@@@"
"@@O@c..:ooCCCCoocoCooo:.o@O@@@"
"c..:....oCCCOCCCOCCoCo...:..cO"
".....:...oCCCCCCOOCOo....:....?\
I think that it may be an X-Face or similar. Wrap it at 30 characters.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@Cc::.:::cc:C@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@Oc::....:...:::co@@@@@@
@@@@@@c:::........:::::cc@@@@@
@@@@@o:::::::c::::c:....:@@@@@
@@@@O::::oooCoOOoCCOCc...O@@@@
@@@@Oc.:CCCoCCOOOOCCCCC.:@@@@@
@@@@@c::CCccoooOoooccoo..O@@@@
@@@O@oCoCCCCCCCCoCCOCCoCoO@@@@
@@@O@CCoCCOOCCCOCoCOCCoCCO@@@@
@@@@@OCooCCCCCoooCCCCoooO@@@@@
@@@OOO@OoooCccoocccCCooO@@@@@@
@@@@OOOOCcooCCCCCCooco@@@@@@@@
@@@@OOOOCocccoooCooccO@@@@@@@@
@@@OOOOOCooocc:c::cooC@@@@@@@@
@@O@OC..cCCoooCoCooooo.C@@@@@@
@@O@c..:ooCCCCoocoCooo:.o@O@@@
c..:....oCCCOCCCOCCoCo...:..cO
.....:...oCCCCCCOOCOo....:....
It looks like ASCII art to me.
Haha, you have clearly been living in a code yellow world (https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/09/living_in_a_cod.html) too long. It's ASCII art! With a few well-placed line feeds and carriage returns, and rendered in a monospace font, it's legible as a silhouette of an avatar.

Clearly at least one other person thought of this, because this pastebin popped up today, also.

http://pastebin.com/cxee44Q9
Looks like ASCII art if you line it all up, perhaps just a place holder record?
Okay, I can't see the other comments (system says 8, but there's only 1 showing up) if this is a duplicate of someone else's comment, feel free to delete it.

This just looks like ASCII art. If you copy all the blocks from one of the nodes (billmsbig) and put line breaks between the pairs of quotes, it just looks like an old Ascii Art piece (someone's silhouette).

Nigel

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