DNS Query To Common Malware Hosting and Shortener Services

Detects DNS queries to domains commonly used by threat actors to host malware payloads or redirect through URL shorteners. These include platforms like Cloudflare Workers, TryCloudflare, InfinityFree, and URL shorteners such as tinyurl and lihi.cc. Such DNS activity can indicate potential delivery or command-and-control communication attempts.

title: DNS Query To Common Malware Hosting and Shortener Services
id: f8c1e80b-c73a-476a-ae24-6c72528b1521
status: experimental
description: |
    Detects DNS queries to domains commonly used by threat actors to host malware payloads or redirect through URL shorteners.
    These include platforms like Cloudflare Workers, TryCloudflare, InfinityFree, and URL shorteners such as tinyurl and lihi.cc.
    Such DNS activity can indicate potential delivery or command-and-control communication attempts.
references:
    - https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/apt41-innovative-tactics
author: Ahmed Nosir (@egycondor)
date: 2025-06-02
tags:
    - attack.command-and-control
    - attack.t1071.004
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: dns_query
detection:
    selection:
        QueryName|contains:
            - 'msapp.workers.dev'
            - 'trycloudflare.com'
            - 'infinityfreeapp.com'
            - 'my5353.com'
            - 'reurl.cc'
            - 'lihi.cc'
            - 'tinyurl.com'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of these services is possible but rare in enterprise environments
level: medium

• T1071.004DNS

• https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/apt41-innovative-tactics↗