DANE Validator

Enhance TLS Security with DANE

Ensure your domain’s TLS communication is secure with our DANE (DNS-Based Authentication of Named Entities) Validator. This tool verifies your DANE policy configuration, validates syntax, and checks DNS records for correctness. DANE enhances security for various TLS-based services, including email (SMTP), HTTPS, XMPP, and SIP, by enforcing certificate validation at the DNS level. Protect your organization from man-in-the-middle attacks, encryption downgrade attempts, and unauthorized certificate usage.

What is DANE?

DANE (DNS-Based Authentication of Named Entities) is a security mechanism that allows clients and servers to verify the authenticity of TLS certificates before establishing a secure connection. By using DNSSEC-protected TLSA records, DANE ensures that TLS communication is only established with trusted certificates, reducing the risk of man-in-the-middle attacks, rogue certificate authorities, and encryption downgrade attempts.

While DANE is widely known for securing email (SMTP), it can also be applied to other TLS-based services such as:

HTTPS: Verifying TLS certificates for websites and APIs.
XMPP: Ensuring secure instant messaging connections.
SIP: Protecting VoIP communication by validating TLS certificates.

Why is DANE Important?

Authenticate TLS Certificates: Ensures that only the correct TLS certificate is used for secure connections.
Prevent Downgrade Attacks: Stops attackers from forcing connections into an unencrypted or weaker encryption state.
Enhance Email Security: Allows mail servers to verify encrypted delivery to protect against tampering.
Improve Security for Websites and Services: Adds an extra layer of verification for TLS-based protocols beyond traditional CA validation.

How Does DANE Work?

Policy Publication: A domain owner publishes a TLSA record in DNS that defines the expected TLS certificate or certificate authority.
Policy Verification by Clients: Clients supporting DANE retrieve the TLSA record via DNSSEC and compare it against the certificate presented during the TLS handshake.
Enforced Secure Connections: If the certificate does not match the published record, the connection can be rejected to prevent misuse.

Common DANE Issues

Incorrect DNS Configuration: Missing, malformed, or misconfigured TLSA records.
DNSSEC Issues: Since DANE relies on DNSSEC, improper DNSSEC validation can lead to failures.
Certificate Problems: Expired or mismatched certificates can cause TLSA validation failures.
Service-Specific Considerations: Not all protocols fully support DANE yet, so proper testing is required.

Best Practices for DANE

Ensure TLS certificates are valid and match the published TLSA records.
Use multiple TLSA records to enable seamless certificate rollover and prevent downtime.
Enable DNSSEC correctly, as DANE validation depends on it.
Monitor DNS queries and logs to detect misconfigurations or validation failures.
Test DANE deployment across different services (SMTP, HTTPS, XMPP, SIP) to ensure compatibility.

The URIports Comprehensive
Email and Domain Validation Tools

Achieve complete security and deliverability for your email and domain with our suite of advanced validation tools. Each tool is tailored to ensure your configurations are optimized and compliant with the latest standards.