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DNS query for known malicious domain acortaurl.com

XQLmediumconfidence 86/100generated 2026-10-18

DNS resolution of a domain tracked by skopnix as apt-c-36 infrastructure.

ATT&CK
T1071 mitre ↗
Correlation
set the rule's MITRE tactic to command-and-control and technique to T1071
Linked actors
APT-C-36
False positives
Scoped to one indicator with skopnix confidence 86/100 from 2 independent sources; checked against RFC1918/reserved space, CDN / cloud / scanner ranges and top-site lists (MISP warninglists), GreyNoise when enriched, and skopnix's benign-infrastructure list. Re-validate against last_seen before blocking: infrastructure is re-assigned.

XQL query

skopnix-cortex-ioc-domain-acortaurl-com-23c462cd.xqldownload .xql ↓
dataset = xdr_data
| filter dns_query_name in ("acortaurl.com") or action_external_hostname in ("acortaurl.com")
| fields agent_hostname, dns_query_name, action_external_hostname, _time
| sort desc _time

How to deploy on Cortex XDR

  1. 1.Paste the XQL into Incident Response > Investigation > Query Builder > XQL Search.
  2. 2.To alert, save it as a Correlation Rule and set the MITRE tactic and technique printed with the rule.
  3. 3.Schedule it on the interval you hunt at; keep the fields stage for the alert's columns.

Check · CVE rules read PAN-OS URL logs (panw_ngfw_url_raw), which need the NGFW integration and, for HTTPS, decryption.

References