HostTracer: A Powerful Tool for DNS and Hosting Reconnaissance

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In the world of bug bounty hunting and cybersecurity, reconnaissance is the key to identifying vulnerabilities and understanding a target’s infrastructure. One of the most effective ways to gather intel on a target is by analyzing its DNS records and hosting details. That’s where HostTracer comes in — a lightweight yet powerful Python tool that helps you uncover name servers and hosting providers with ease.

HostTracer is a Python-based tool designed to help security researchers, bug bounty hunters, and developers quickly retrieve DNS and hosting provider information for any domain. It simplifies the process of identifying misconfigured DNS records, discovering hidden subdomains, and understanding the hosting environment — essential steps in mapping out an attack surface.

👉 GitHub Repository: HostTracer

In bug bounty hunting, understanding the DNS setup and hosting infrastructure of a target is crucial for:

✅ Expanding the Attack Surface:

Identifying shared hosting environments can reveal additional subdomains or related assets.Misconfigured DNS records might expose hidden endpoints or services.

✅ Bypassing CDN and Firewalls:

Knowing the hosting provider helps identify the real IP address behind a CDN (like Cloudflare).This enables bypassing WAF (Web Application Firewall) protections.

✅ Subdomain Takeover:

Unused or misconfigured DNS records can lead to subdomain takeovers, which are critical vulnerabilities in bug bounty programs.

Getting started with HostTracer is quick and easy:

Open your terminal and run:

git clone https://github.com/NightfallSecDev/HostTracer.git
cd HostTracer

Create a virtual environment to isolate dependencies:

python -m venv venv

Activate the virtual environment:

Linux/macOS:source venv/bin/activateWindows:.\venv\Scripts\activate

Install the required libraries:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Run the tool:python host_tracer.py

2. Enter the target domain when prompted:

Enter domain: example.com

3. Example Output:

🔍 Checking Name Servers...
➡️ a.iana-servers.net.
➡️ b.iana-servers.net.🌐 Finding Hosting Provider...
➡️ IANA

🔎 DNS Resolver:

Uses dns.resolver to fetch name servers from the DNS records.

🌍 WHOIS Lookup:

Uses whois.whois() to retrieve hosting provider information from the WHOIS database.

📡 Fast and Lightweight:

Results are retrieved quickly with minimal network usage.

✅ Subdomain Enumeration:

Misconfigured name servers can expose sensitive data or reveal hidden subdomains.

✅ Detecting Cloud and CDN Providers:

Knowing the actual hosting provider helps in identifying potential CDN bypass strategies.

✅ DNS Hijacking Detection:

Changes in name servers or mismatched WHOIS data can indicate DNS hijacking attempts.

🔹 Bulk domain scanning
🔹 Export results to CSV/JSON
🔹 GUI interface with tkinter or PyQt
🔹 Support for DNSSEC and additional WHOIS fields

HostTracer combines speed, accuracy, and ease of use — making it the perfect tool for both beginner and experienced bug bounty hunters. Its ability to gather critical reconnaissance data in seconds helps you stay ahead of the competition and uncover vulnerabilities faster.

Want to improve HostTracer or add new features? Feel free to fork the repo, create a pull request, or open an issue!

👉 GitHub Repository: HostTracer

HostTracer is released under the MIT License — free to use, modify, and distribute.

➡️ Ready to level up your bug bounty recon game? Download HostTracer today and start uncovering hidden vulnerabilities! 😎

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