[varenc]

Another option is dnscrypt-proxy[0]. It will easily let you load-balance your DNS queries against a large set of resolvers, ensuring that no resolver gets the full picture. And enforces encryption of course.

[0] https://github.com/DNSCrypt/dnscrypt-proxy

[crotchfire]

I love this software.

It keeps Mullvad from intercepting DNS traffic: if you send cleartext DNS requests on UDP/53 through their network, they intercept it. But DNSCrypt packets are encrypted and authenticated, so they can't.

Bonus: DNSCrypt is still packet-based like UDP, so none of the downsides of DoH: no 3-way handshake, no connection pooling, no stream correlation attacks.

> It's worth noting that all our VPN servers hijack calls to our public DNS server and that the DNS requests are processed on a local non-logging DNS server installed on that VPN server.

https://mullvad.net/en/help/all-about-dns-servers-and-privac...

https://old.reddit.com/r/mullvadvpn/comments/invjgp/how_and_...

[1vuio0pswjnm7]

"... ensuring that no resolver gets the full picture."

Unless the resolvers share data with each other.

These public DNSCrypt resolvers will publish claims like "no logging" but how does one verify this is a true statement.

It may be better to use mutiple third party DNS resolvers, whether DoH or DNSCrypt, than to only use one, but the best course of action is not to use third party resolvers at all.

The question I have for DNSCrypt fans is _why_ AFAICT no authoritative DNS servers are using it, e.g., https://github.com/cofyc/dnscrypt-wrapper

Personally, instead of DNSCrypt, I prefer CurveDNS,

https://github.com/curvedns/curvedns

There is at least one DNS forwarding service that offers CurveDNS.

For those who might be confused:

From https://dnscurve.org

"Do you run a DNS server that sends out DNS data? For example, do you run an "authoritative DNS server" such as tinydns or PowerDNS Server or BIND or NSD or MaraDNS or Nominum ANS to publish the IP addresses of your web server and mail server?

This page explains the benefits of adding DNSCurve protection to your outgoing DNS data."

DNSCurve protects outgoing data from authoritative DNS servers.

I use CurveDNS experimentally in homelab in front of tinydns and nsd. It is easy to set up and it works great. Unfortunately not many authoritative DNS servers on the internet are using it even though it is easy to set up and works great (based on own experiments).

As stated above, the best course of action is to avoid using third party DNS resolvers, i.e., public, shared caches. Instead one can run a local cache that sends DNSCurve-encrypted queries to remote authoritative DNS servers. For example,

https://github.com/janmojzis/dq

When using dq or dqcache, packets are _not_ sent "in the clear" for an ISP to sniff.

But, as above, the number of authoritative DNS servers using CurveDNS is unfortunately small.

The problem I see with DNSCrypt is it encourages use of third party DNS resolvers, i.e., shared caches.

I use locally-stored DNS data. When I retrieve DNS data from the interet I retrieve it in bulk using a variety of methods and sources. An unconventional approach perhaps but it works great for me.

Encrypted DNS is arguably pointless if one is using a popular browser that always sends SNI, even when SNI is not required, e.g., websites not using a CDN, or when visiting websites that do not support encrypted SNI, e.g., websites not using a CDN that supports encrypted SNI (ECH). Glad to see that the grandparent comment mentioned SNI.

[1vuio0pswjnm7]

There is no such thing as a "CurveDNS resolver". CurveDNs is a forwarder that encrypts DNS packets.

For me it runs bound to a loopback address, as do the nsd and tinydns servers. None of this traffic uses the network, there are no remote queries. There is nothing for the ISP to sniff.

When placed in front of a remote authoritative DNS server, that server can be queried using DNSCurve, e.g., with dq or dqcache. The packets are encrypted. ISPs cannot read them.

For example,

   dq -s -k dns2sdrnxskf5lqt46v34cdlfqb9q2lvvmpr95g3l1qh0148sf6 ianix.com 104.207.143.9

   1 ianix.com - streamlined DNSCurve:
   229 bytes, 1+2+2+2 records, response, authoritative, noerror
   query: 1 ianix.com
   answer: ianix.com 3600 A 104.248.15.206
   answer: ianix.com 3600 A 104.207.143.9
   authority: ianix.com 259200 NS uz5dns1bx64zu3pgn9nm4zfvmh2vy4hpjy7nkjz6qjcu325bg9hzcx.ianix.com
   authority: ianix.com 259200 NS uz5dns2sdrnxskf5lqt46v34cdlfqb9q2lvvmpr95g3l1qh0148sf6.ianix.com
   additional: uz5dns1bx64zu3pgn9nm4zfvmh2vy4hpjy7nkjz6qjcu325bg9hzcx.ianix.com 259200 A 104.248.15.206
   additional: uz5dns2sdrnxskf5lqt46v34cdlfqb9q2lvvmpr95g3l1qh0148sf6.ianix.com 259200 A 104.207.143.9

The IP address of the ianix.com name servers, 104.207.143.9, and the DNSCurve key, dns2sdrnxskf5lqt46v34cdlfqb9q2lvvmpr95g3l1qh0148sf6, can be obtained from the com.zone file, which is available for free from https://czds.icann.org/home

No recursive resolver is used. No packets are sent "in the clear". There is nothing for the ISP to sniff. Unlike public DoH or DNSCrypt servers, there is no third party DNS provider involved. No middleman.

[1vuio0pswjnm7]

AFAIK, there is no such thing as an "authoritative resolver". Authoritative DNS servers are commonly called "name servers". Recursive resolvers, i.e., caches, are never authoritative. Some might pretend to be, I have found examples of this easily in the past, highlighting the potential for abuse by operators of third party DNS resolvers.

[crotchfire]

> Personally, instead of DNSCrypt, I prefer CurveDNS

Neither is a replacement for the other; they're orthogonal. They solve different problems.

You should use both of them.

From the CurveDNS link you posted:

> CurveDNS supports:

> Forwarding of regular (non-protected) DNS packets

These are being sent in the clear, and your ISP is most certainly logging them. You should tell your CurveDNS resolver to use a (local) dnscrypt-proxy instance for resolving "regular (non-protected)" queries that don't have DNSCurve entries. Then you have the best of both worlds!

> The question I have for DNSCrypt fans is _why_ AFAICT no authoritative DNS servers are using it

Because DNSCrypt is only for querying recursive resolvers!

... and DNSCurve is only for querying authoritative resolvers.

DNSCrypt is link-level encryption between you and your recursive resolver (the thing you put in /etc/resolv.conf).

DNSCurve is link-level encryption between your recursive resolver (or you) and the authoritative resolver (like this one, which is authoritative for cr.yp.to):

    $ dig -t NS yp.to
    yp.to.                  3600    IN      NS      uz5jmyqz3gz2bhnuzg0rr0cml9u8pntyhn2jhtqn04yt3sm5h235c1.yp.to.

It is a shame that the two names (DNSCurve and DNSCrypt) are so similar.