Resolution differences for getaddrinfo versus host/dig/delv

Mark Andrews marka at isc.org
Wed Nov 18 21:12:26 UTC 2015


In message <564C6CED.6060403 at imperial.ac.uk>, Phil Mayers writes:
> All,
> 
> This isn't strictly a "bind" question, but it kind-of, sort-of is.
> 
> We've got an Office 365 tenancy, along with offsite voicemail. We send 
> our SIP connections to a hostname:
> 
> $GUID.um.outlook.com
> 
> This hostname is resolvable using "dig" & "host", but on Linux (glibc 
> 2.20) the "ping", "telnet" and "nc" commands return "unknown host" or 
> equivalent.
> 
> I suspect getaddrinfo isn't parsing the DNS response for some reason.
> 
> Can anyone cast their eye over the response to the query below and guess 
> why host/dig/delv think it's OK, but glibc getaddrinfo() apparently doesn't?
> 
> $ dig blahblah.um.outlook.com
> 
> ;; ANSWER SECTION:
> blahblah.um.outlook.com. 118	IN	CNAME 
> *.um.outlook.com.glbdns2.microsoft.com.
> *.um.outlook.com.glbdns2.microsoft.com.	60 IN CNAME 
> wildcard-emeawest.um.outlook.com.
> wildcard-emeawest.um.outlook.com. 60 IN	A	157.55.9.252
> 
> (It's a wildcard, any left-hand-side will work)
> 
> Obviously the *.thing on the RHS of the first CNAME is weird, but is it 
> illegal?

As a hostname lookup, yes.  RFC 952 + RFC 1123 define a valid hostname.
Even with IDN this is a illegal hostname.

As a record in the DNS, no.  The DNS is a distributed database that
can contain lots of things.  

dig, delve are designed to be general purpose DNS lookup tools.
host has a general lookup component to it though it is focused on hosnames.
getaddrinfo is strictly address lookups of hostnames.  It applies the
stricter set of rules to the data returned.

> If you're of a sensitive disposition I'd avoid digging (pardon the pun) 
> into the minutiae of the zone surrounding those records e.g. enclosing 
> SOA - they're very seriously odd.
> 
> Cheers,
> Phil
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-- 
Mark Andrews, ISC
1 Seymour St., Dundas Valley, NSW 2117, Australia
PHONE: +61 2 9871 4742                 INTERNET: marka at isc.org


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