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DSE visual briefNetworks & infrastructure

Apply the IDNA bidirectional rule before accepting right-to-left labels

An IDNA label passes the Bidi Rule only if all six conditions in the rule are satisfied. The first character determines direction: R or AL makes an RTL label, while L makes an LTR label. An RTL label cannot contain both European-number and Arabic-number Bidi properties.

Published Reviewed 3 min readBy DSE Security Editorial Team
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DSE visual briefNetworks & infrastructure

Assign forward and reverse DNS updates between DHCPv4 client and server

In the DHCPv4 Client FQDN option, S requests server responsibility for the A-record update, N requests no server updates, and O reports that the server overrode the requested S value. A client requesting server-performed forward updates sets S to 1 and sets O and N to 0 in its Client FQDN option.

Published Reviewed 3 min readBy DSE Security Editorial Team
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DSE visual briefNetworks & infrastructure

Audit DNS serials, MX targets, and delegation glue for common errors

A zone’s serial must be changed whenever its data changes; otherwise, secondaries will not transfer the new zone data. Every delegated name server should answer authoritatively for the zone; a delegated server that does not serve the zone creates a lame delegation.

Published Reviewed 3 min readBy DSE Security Editorial Team
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DSE visual briefNetworks & infrastructure

Authorize secure DNS UPDATE operations at the zone boundary

Every secure dynamic update carries TSIG or SIG(0) authentication so the primary server can identify the update principal. A TKEY-derived shared secret established without authentication must not be used to authorize secure dynamic updates.

Published Reviewed 3 min readBy DSE Security Editorial Team
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DSE visual briefNetworks & infrastructure

Bound AXFR to a complete SOA-delimited zone transfer over TCP

An AXFR response that transfers a zone consists of one or more DNS messages carrying the zone’s contents. The AXFR message series begins and ends with the same zone SOA; non-SOA records may otherwise arrive in any order or grouping.

Published Reviewed 3 min readBy DSE Security Editorial Team
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DSE visual briefNetworks & infrastructure

Bound NXDOMAIN and NODATA caching from SOA data

NXDOMAIN means the queried name does not exist, while NODATA is a successful response showing that the existing name lacks the requested record type. An authoritative NXDOMAIN or NODATA response must include the zone’s SOA record in the authority section.

Published Reviewed 3 min readBy DSE Security Editorial Team
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DSE visual briefNetworks & infrastructure

Cap resolver retries that amplify failures into unnecessary query load

An iterative resolver must not ask a parent server for the NS RRset of a zone whose listed servers are all nonresponsive. A resolver that caches lame servers must key each entry by zone name, class, and server IP address and suppress queries for a configurable interval.

Published Reviewed 3 min readBy DSE Security Editorial Team
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DSE visual briefNetworks & infrastructure

Classify Unicode code points before admitting them to an IDNA label

IDNA2008 assigns each Unicode code point one derived property: PVALID, CONTEXTJ, CONTEXTO, DISALLOWED, or UNASSIGNED. The property derivation applies the category rules in order, and the first matching rule determines the code point’s property.

Published Reviewed 3 min readBy DSE Security Editorial Team
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