Major DNS Bug 23.01 with Quad9 on SSL

[SteveITS]

@gertjan Note I’m not saying DNSSEC is supposed to work just that it didn’t have failures for me in earlier versions and does now. Netgate says
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/services/dns/resolver-config.html
“DNSSEC works best when using the root servers directly, unless the forwarding servers support DNSSEC. Even if the forwarding DNS servers support DNSSEC, the response cannot be fully validated.

If upstream DNS servers do not support DNSSEC in forwarding mode or with domain overrides, DNS queries are known to be intercepted upstream, or clients have issues with large DNS responses, DNSSEC may need to be disabled.”

Quad9’s setup doc says
https://support.quad9.net/hc/en-us/articles/4433380601229-Setup-pfSense-and-DNS-over-TLS
“DNSSEC is already enforced by Quad9, and enabling DNSSEC at the forwarder level can cause false DNSSEC failures.”

All I’m saying is I’ve suggested to maybe 15-20 (a guess) people here having DNS problems after upgrading to 23.01, to disable DNSSEC. I’d guess 2/3 said it fixed their issue and 1/3 had to disable TLS also. (Note that Quad9 doc is how to set up TLS…)

And yes it seems weird any rate limiting on the remote server end would be related to upgrading pfSense, but it’s unlikely multiple DNS providers set up rate limits all at the same time. So I’m guessing probably some change in unbound is related. Which is of course not very scientific! But the tests above do seem to indicate some sort of issue.

[stephenw10]

@joedan said in Major DNS Bug 23.01 with Quad9 on SSL:

Errors in the syslog are as before when it occurred randomly..
[54217:3] debug: tcp error for address 1.1.1.1 port 853
[54217:0] debug: outnettcp got tcp error -1

What logging level do you have set in Unbound when you see that?

I would expect to be able to see additional logging with those sorts of errors.

[joedan]

@stephenw10

Unbound Logging Level 3 (although I did manage to change it to 4 very briefly but had to stop due to the amount of data). Snippet of Level 3 logging downloaded from graylog below.
Hopefully I am ingesting everything.

[bmeeks]

There is a closed bug report on the unbound Github site with this exact same TCP error here: https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound/issues/535. The unbound developer attributed the TCP error to the other end of the connection (meaning not the unbound side) closing the TCP socket. Maybe this is a clue ???

[SteveITS]

@gertjan said in Major DNS Bug 23.01 with Quad9 on SSL:

what about setting up the DNS (statically) so they all get their DNS from "1.1.1.1" using TLS (port 853)

@joedan Can you run your test against 1.1.1.1 directly, not using pfSense as the DNS server?

Quoting from @bmeeks' referenced link, "This is normal if the other server restarts for example, or maybe because it wants to manage the TCP connections that it has; possibly with timeouts for how long they can be used."

[Gertjan]

I've activated these again :

with :

When the log level was set to 3, I saw some

debug: tcp error for address 2606:4700:4700::1111 port 853
and
debug: tcp error for address 2606:4700:4700::1001 port 853
and
debug: tcp error for address 1.1.1.1 port 853
and
debug: tcp error for address 1.0.0.1 port 853

Also some repeating :
....
outnettcp got tcp error -1
outnettcp got tcp error -1
outnettcp got tcp error -1
outnettcp got tcp error -1
....

Recent reading makes me think these are rather harmless.

I'll leave it for the weekend.

When DNSSEC was activated, I saw a lot of DS and other DNSSEC related records were requested. DNS resolving worked just fine, though.

[stephenw10]

Mmm, it looks like log level 4 might be needed to see any additional logging associated with those errors.

[Gertjan]

@stephenw10 said in Major DNS Bug 23.01 with Quad9 on SSL:

level 4

shows 'nothing' special.
And what you can't see doesn't exist ;)
I'm forwarding right now to 1.1.1.1 etc using 853 - see setup above.
I even have DNSSEC activated + "Harden DNSSEC Data" (on the Resolver Advanced Settings page) .... because, as Clause Kellerman always says : "why not !!".
I'll leave it like this for the weekend. I'll get back on this monday morning.

I'm banking, send some mails, received a ton of mail, all my colleges are also doing their toktok things, and no one came complaining to me (they know who to look) to tell me that I have to stop with "messing with the connection".

[MoonKnight]

@gertjan
Hi, I don't see those errors here. I activated log level 4.
I use Cloudflare DNS servers. 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
But I use another hostname for the TLS verification.

Sorry, I take it back. It was on Log level 3.

[Jimbohello]

As far as i’m concern, quad9, google, whatever you use. 23.01 has a outstanding bug base on DoT using forwarding mode (dnssec uncheck) what ever config you use you will get « FAILED TO RESOLVE HOST » in DoT mode. For all alias that has to resolve to dynamic dns (xxxx.dyndns.org)

[Jimbohello]

here log level 3

from pfsense resolution imself for ALIASES with dynamic dns (xxxx.dyndns.org)
Apr 7 21:33:30 unbound 88702 [88702:0] info: finishing processing for vrac-nicolas.dyndns.org.jimbohello.arpa. AAAA IN
Apr 7 21:33:30 unbound 88702 [88702:0] info: query response was NXDOMAIN ANSWER
Apr 7 21:33:30 unbound 88702 [88702:0] info: reply from <.> 1.1.1.1#853
Apr 7 21:33:30 unbound 88702 [88702:0] info: response for vrac-nicolas.dyndns.org.jimbohello.arpa. AAAA IN
Apr 7 21:33:30 unbound 88702 [88702:0] info: iterator operate: query vrac-nicolas.dyndns.org.jimbohello.arpa. AAAA IN
Apr 7 21:33:30 unbound 88702 [88702:0] debug: iterator[module 0] operate: extstate:module_wait_reply event:module_event_reply

From the client side (lan)

Apr 7 21:38:42 unbound 88702 [88702:0] info: finishing processing for vrac-nicolas.dyndns.org. A IN
Apr 7 21:38:42 unbound 88702 [88702:0] info: query response was ANSWER
Apr 7 21:38:42 unbound 88702 [88702:0] info: reply from <.> 8.8.8.8#853
Apr 7 21:38:42 unbound 88702 [88702:0] info: response for vrac-nicolas.dyndns.org. A IN
Apr 7 21:38:42 unbound 88702 [88702:0] info: iterator operate: query vrac-nicolas.dyndns.org. A IN

JESUS I FOUND THE ISSUE I GUEST :
WHY IS PFSENSE ITSELF TRY TO RESOLVE
vrac-nicolas.dyndns.org.jimbohello.arpa
when it suppose to be vrac-nicolas.dyndns.org

pfsense is adding the domain part of itself ! no wonder why it can't resolve

[Gertjan]

@jimbohello said in Major DNS Bug 23.01 with Quad9 on SSL:

vrac-nicolas.dyndns.org.jimbohello.arpa
when it suppose to be vrac-nicolas.dyndns.org
pfsense is adding the domain part of itself ! no wonder why it can't resolve

Your Windows PC is doing the same thing ...

Have a look what 'nslookup' does :

C:\Users\Gauche>nslookup
Serveur par defaut :   pfSense.mydomain.tld
Address:  2a01:cb19:beef:a6dc::1

> set debug
> google.com
Serveur :   pfSense.mydomain.tld
Address:  2a01:cb19:beef:a6dc::1

------------
Got answer:
    HEADER:
        opcode = QUERY, id = 2, rcode = NXDOMAIN
        header flags:  response, want recursion, recursion avail.
        questions = 1,  answers = 0,  authority records = 1,  additional = 0

    QUESTIONS:
        google.com.mydomain.tld, type = A, class = IN
    AUTHORITY RECORDS:
    ->  mydomain.tld
        ttl = 446 (7 mins 26 secs)
        primary name server = ns1.mydomain.tld
        responsible mail addr = postmaster.mydomain.tld
        serial  = 2023020723
        refresh = 14400 (4 hours)
        retry   = 3600 (1 hour)
        expire  = 1209600 (14 days)
        default TTL = 10800 (3 hours)

------------
------------
Got answer:
    HEADER:
        opcode = QUERY, id = 3, rcode = NXDOMAIN
        header flags:  response, want recursion, recursion avail.
        questions = 1,  answers = 0,  authority records = 1,  additional = 0

    QUESTIONS:
        google.com.mydomain.tld.net, type = AAAA, class = IN
    AUTHORITY RECORDS:
    ->  mydomain.tld
        ttl = 446 (7 mins 26 secs)
        primary name server = ns1.mydomain.tld
        responsible mail addr = postmaster.mydomain.tld
        serial  = 2023020723
        refresh = 14400 (4 hours)
        retry   = 3600 (1 hour)
        expire  = 1209600 (14 days)
        default TTL = 10800 (3 hours)

------------
------------
Got answer:
    HEADER:
        opcode = QUERY, id = 4, rcode = NOERROR
        header flags:  response, want recursion, recursion avail.
        questions = 1,  answers = 1,  authority records = 0,  additional = 0

    QUESTIONS:
        google.com, type = A, class = IN
    ANSWERS:
    ->  google.com
        internet address = 142.250.74.238
        ttl = 30 (30 secs)

------------
Réponse ne faisant pas autorité :
------------
Got answer:
    HEADER:
        opcode = QUERY, id = 5, rcode = NOERROR
        header flags:  response, want recursion, recursion avail.
        questions = 1,  answers = 1,  authority records = 0,  additional = 0

    QUESTIONS:
        google.com, type = AAAA, class = IN
    ANSWERS:
    ->  google.com
        AAAA IPv6 address = 2a00:1450:4007:80c::200e
        ttl = 30 (30 secs)

------------
Nom :    google.com
Addresses:  2a00:1450:4007:80c::200e
          142.250.74.238

>

You saw what happened ?
I wanted details (fact checking) so I used 'set debug' first.

Then it showed that when I look up a domain, it adds the local PC domain first, mydomain.tld.

Because ..... we (me and you) are doing it wrong

When you want to do a DNS lookup, you have to ask :
google.com.
The final dot is important.

It's not really an issue.

If I wanted to look up the IP of my PC, called 'gauche2' :
( which is just the host name, not the FQDN !)
nslookup adds again mydomain.tld. and this time and asks pfSense
gauche2.mydomain.tld

and that is a 'good' question :
I got an IPv4 and IPv6 as nslookup asks both by default.

So, not really an error, and you could consider adding a final dot if the GUI accepts it (it does, I guess).

Btw : when unbound receives "google.com.mydomain.tld." as the request, it knows that it is authoritative for "mydomain.tld." so it isn't going to ask upstream details about "mydomain.tld." : after all "unbound handles "mydomain.tld" and the upstream resolver doesn't know anything about local domains and resources (normally).

I'm not going to ask 9.9.9.9 or 1.1.1.1 about FQDN info for the device in my LAN, that's not logic.

Btw : I have the resolvers/unound "System Domain Local Zone Type" set to "Static", not to the (default?) "Transparant".
When set to "Transparant", unbound will ask 9.9.9.9 to resolve "vrac-nicolas.dyndns.org.jimbohello.arpa." which ... no surprise, will give no answer or a "NXDOMAIN" as this domain is unknown or "new ?" to 9.9.9.9

edit : since yesterday, I'm doing the forward thing : DoT to :

No issues what so ever.

[joedan]

@joedan

Well I am 95% sure I fixed my issue. Decided to switch dns over tls back on and after a couple of hours had the dreaded dns failures. This time I removed ntopng package completely. Ntopng has been monitoring both lan and wan since Nov 22 under 22.05 and 23.01 since release candidate.

As soon as I removed ntopng, dns over tls through Cloudflare has been running ok for 24 hours. Browsing websites is super quick. My machine and bandwidth were never under stress however since removing ntopng it has drastically sped up overall speed to load a website and even the pfsense web interface itself. Pfblockerng is showing around 20k dns entries per hour which is normal load.

[joedan]

@joedan

Nevermind, thought I had fixed it, been over 24 hours and it happened again. Will just stay in Unbound resolver mode for now and leave it be. That seems to be stable and working at least.

[Jimbohello]

@gertjan

I’ve tried static ! All dyndns in my aliases does not resolves.

Before 22.05 was transparent and ad no issue

I did a work arround

Instead of regular network/host aliases i did « url ip table aliases » update frequency 1 days. Now it’s working as expected !

[stephenw10]

To be clear you created a file with the dyndns FQDNs in it hosted locally and added that as the URL Table location?

[Jimbohello]

@stephenw10

Exaclly

Aliases url ip table

Host on a web server

Http://server.com/mydnamicdns.txt

All my dynamic in that files

DoT activated

All good ninja style

[stephenw10]

Ok, good. I thought for a minute it was handling URL aliases incorrectly.

Well that seems like a clue then. Why is it resolving those entries differently.

[Jimbohello]

@stephenw10
hey that's why i'm doing debugging !
i'm not pfsene engeenir !
but i don't let my self goes down until i found solution.
and for DoT activated with formarding to remote dns ! that's the only solution a found so far
hope help :)

have a nice one !

i know that pfsense aliases HOST/NETWORK seem to use someting call "dns filter"
maybe when resolving from "URL IP TABLE" it does it using nslookup or dig or something else !

[joedan]

@joedan

I gave DNS over TLS another go after making two adjustments in my environment (under 23.01).

I unchecked Disable hardware checksum offload
I unchecked Enable the ALTQ support for hn NICs.

Not sure why I had the last option ticked given I don't virtualise or use shaping, I use Intel igc / i225 on a dedicated Mini PC. Both these settings were on without issue in 22.05.

I ran some load testing on my machine and funny enough this thing is now stable, it actually completed.

348988 queries over 2853 seconds at an average of 120 queries a second way, way more than I normally do. It actually finished and I could WFH comfortable and browse websites whilst this was running. Prior to that dns stopped working after a couple of minutes.

I feel more confident I may have finally (fingers crossed) solved my specific config issue.