DNS Request for IP Lookup Service via Unsigned Binary

Last updated 2 days ago on 2026-02-09

Created 12 days ago on 2026-01-30

About

Detects when a DNS request is made for an IP lookup service to determine the external IP address of the system via an unsigned or untrusted binary. This is commonly used by malware for reconnaissance before establishing C2 connections.

Tags

Domain: EndpointOS: macOSUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: DiscoveryData Source: Elastic DefendLanguage: eql

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

Discovery (TA0007)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ System Network Configuration Discovery (T1016)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

License

Elastic License v2(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type: Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack: Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns: logs-endpoint.events.network-*
Related Integrations: endpoint(external, opens in a new tab or window)
Query

✄𐘗text code block:
✄𐘗dns where host.os.type == "macos" and event.action == "lookup_result" and 
  (process.code_signature.trusted == false or process.code_signature.exists == false) and
  dns.question.name like~ ("*ip-api.com*", "*ipwho.is*", "*checkip.dyndns.org*", "*api.ipify.org*",
                           "*api.npoint.io*", "*whatismyip.akamai.com*", "*bot.whatismyipaddress.com*",
                           "*ifcfg.me*", "*ifconfig.me*", "*ident.me*", "*ipof.in*", "*ip.tyk.nu*",
                           "*ipwhois.app*", "*freeipapi.com*", "*icanhazip.com*", "*curlmyip.com*",
                           "*wgetip.com*", "*eth0.me*", "*ipecho.net*", "*ip.appspot.com*",
                           "*api.myip.com*", "*geoiptool.com*", "*api.2ip.ua*", "*api.ip.sb*",
                           "*ipinfo.io*", "*checkip.amazonaws.com*", "*wtfismyip.com*", "*iplogger.*",
                           "*freegeoip.net*", "*freegeoip.app*", "*myip.ipip.net*", "*geoplugin.net*",
                           "*myip.dnsomatic.com*", "*www.geoplugin.net*", "*api64.ipify.org*",
                           "*ip4.seeip.org*", "*.geojs.io*", "*portmap.io*", "*api.db-ip.com*",
                           "*geolocation-db.com*", "*inet-ip.info*", "*httpbin.org*", "*myip.opendns.com*") and
  not process.executable like "/Users/*/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/*"

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect DNS Request for IP Lookup Service via Unsigned Binary in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(external, opens in a new tab or window).