Discovery

Dangling DNS References

A DNS record pointing at a name nobody owns any more isn't just a broken record; it's an open door. Whoever registers that name can send email in your name, receive your mail, or publish content on your subdomain. Specula resolves every SPF, MX, NS and CNAME target and separates the orphans.

• Four reference types, four distinct outcomes

  A missing SPF target makes the record permerror, and whoever takes that name can send email as you. A missing MX means your mail isn't delivered. A missing NS means someone else runs your DNS. A missing CNAME target means your subdomain can be taken over.

• Is the missing piece a domain or a subdomain?

  One query settles it: the Authority section of an NXDOMAIN answer carries the SOA of the zone that replied. If that zone is a TLD, the missing piece is the domain itself; if not, it's a subdomain of a domain that exists.

• “Available to register” is only said with proof

  That phrase appears only when the registry's own RDAP endpoint returns 404. Intermediary services return 404 for TLDs they simply don't cover, so they are never used as the source.