MaraDNS

MaraDNS
DeveloperSam Trenholme
Stable release
3.5.0039 / September 26, 2026; 34 days ago (2026-09-26)
Operating systemUnix-like, Windows
StandardRFC1034, RFC1035
TypeDNS server
LicenseBSD license
Websitehttps://samboy.github.io/MaraDNS/webpage
Repository

MaraDNS is an open-source (BSD licensed) Domain Name System (DNS) implementation, which acts as either a caching, recursive, or authoritative nameserver.

Features

MaraDNS has a string library, which is buffer overflow resistant and has its own random number generator. While MaraDNS does not directly support BIND zone files, its zone file format is similar and a converter to convert from BIND's zone file format is included. MaraDNS runs as an unprivileged user inside of a chroot environment, while MaraDNS specifies the user and group to run as by user-ID, Simon Burnet has made a patch that makes it possible to supply a username MaraDNS can add both IP records and the corresponding PTR "reverse DNS lookup" record. It can be used as a master DNS server, and, with some caveats, as a slave DNS server. MaraDNS currently does not support DNSSEC because of a lack of money for the developer to implement it using the LibTom library.

Deadwood includes built-in "DNS wall" filtering (to protect against external domains which resolve to local IPs), the ability to read and write the cache to a file, DNS-over-TCP support, the ability to optionally reject MX, IPv6 AAAA, and PTR queries, code that stops AR-spoofing attacks, among other features.

MaraDNS releases are distributed with a BSD-type license.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "MaraDNS changelog". Retrieved 26 September 2026.
  2. ↑ Mens, Jan-Piet (2008). Alternative DNS Servers: Choice and Deployment, and Optional SQL/LDAP Back-Ends (Paperback). UIT Cambridge Ltd. pp. 76–94. ISBN 978-0-9544529-9-5. This book devotes an entire chapter to MaraDNS
  3. ↑ Danchev, Dancho. "How OpenDNS, PowerDNS and MaraDNS remained unaffected by the DNS cache poisoning vulnerability". ZDNet. Archived from the original on July 29, 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  4. ↑ Jian Jiang; Jinjin Liang; Kang Li; Jun Li; Haixin Duan; Jianping Wu (2012), Ghost Domain Names: Revoked Yet Still Resolvable (PDF), p. 10, archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-25
  5. ↑ Schroder, Carla (2007). Linux Networking Cookbook (Paperback). O'Reilly. p. 545. ISBN 978-0-596-10248-7.
  6. ↑ "DNS Server (and Related) Software for Unix (MaraDNS section)". Retrieved 2013-04-05.
  7. ↑ "Open Source Patches". Retrieved 2013-04-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  8. ↑ Mens, Jan-Piet (2008). Alternative DNS Servers: Choice and Deployment, and Optional SQL/LDAP Back-Ends (Paperback). UIT Cambridge Ltd. pp. 66, 81. ISBN 978-0-9544529-9-5.
  9. ↑ Mens, Jan-Piet (2008). Alternative DNS Servers: Choice and Deployment, and Optional SQL/LDAP Back-Ends (Paperback). UIT Cambridge Ltd. pp. 87, 89. ISBN 978-0-9544529-9-5.
  10. ↑ "I would love DNSSEC for MaraDNS". Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  11. ↑ "DNS Server (and Related) Software for Unix (Deadwood section)". Retrieved 2013-04-05.
  12. ↑ Mens, Jan-Piet (2008). Alternative DNS Servers: Choice and Deployment, and Optional SQL/LDAP Back-Ends (Paperback). UIT Cambridge Ltd. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-9544529-9-5. "The program is released under a BSD-type license"