Changelog

Steady

2022.09.23

Improvements

2022.08.25

Improvements

  • DNS Resolver update to Knot Resolver version 5.5.0 * One of the most significant changes is an improved algorithm of nameserver selection for recursive resolution. The updated algorithm ensures a faster and more reliable process. * Fixed issue with QName minimization affecting resolution of console.aws.amazon.com subdomains

  • Real-time Threat Intelligence synchronization * Whenever Whalebone finds a new threat, the resolver immediately receives the information and starts behaving accordingly. * For this purpose, the resolver stays connected to the service stream.whalebone.io on TCP/433.

  • Blocking of a new type of DNS requests (TYPE65/HTTPS) * At this point, this type of request is most commonly used by Apple devices accessing services hosted on Cloudflare.

  • New categories of content filtering * Peer To Peer (P2P) * DNS over HTTPS (DoH) * Child abuse

  • New categories of legal blocking requirements in different countries: * United Kingdom, Serbia and Philippines * Observability: new network and disk operations metrics are available from the portal

Bugfixes

  • Higher precision of reporting of the available memory on the resolver machine

  • Optimization of memory usage of the service which manages the threat database and the local blocking page

  • Fixed minor issues during update process in the local orchestration agent (will be put to work after the update is finished)

  • Adjusted DNSSEC log gathering format to comply with changes in Knot Resolver

  • Fixed memory leak causing occasional swap issues on some of the resolvers

  • Improvements in specific scenarios for threat evaluation of specific subdomains, which are included in content categories and at the same time under legal requirements of countries

2021.07.21

Bugfixes

  • Fixed Knot resolver version to 5.2.1 (fixed ocassional slow resolution issue and issues with particular domains)

Latest

2022.05.04

New features

  • Completely reworked DNS logging (passivedns service is replaced by dnstag service)

  • Ability to log even encrypted traffic (DNS over HTTPS / TLS)

  • New DNS query types supported

  • Under heavy load does not overload single CPU core but distributes the load evenly

  • New network and disk operations metrics will be available from the portal

  • Based on up-to-date Knot Resolver version (5.5.0)

Bugfixes

  • Fixed memory leak causing occasional swap issues on some of the resolvers

  • Higher precision of reporting of the available memory on the resolver machine

  • Fixed minor issues during update process in the agent (will be put to work after the update is finished)

  • Set memory limit for real-time Threat Intelligence updates as we have observed occasional overconsumption

  • Adjusted DNSSEC log gathering format to comply with changes in Knot Resolver

2021.12.14

Bugfixes

  • fixed issue with QName minization affecting resolution of console.aws.amazon.com subdomains

  • small fixes on real time threat intelligence updates

2020.10.12

Important! Before upgrade, make sure that the service systemd-resolved is running (in case it is installed): sudo systemctl enable systemd-resolved sudo systemctl start systemd-resolved

Changes

  • Software update source for Whalebone resolver is now https://harbor.whalebone.io (please check your firewall rules)

  • Based on DNS Flag Day 2020 recommendation that EDNS buffer size is adjusted to 1232 bytes

New features

  • Blocking page is reworked from the scratch (originally referred to as “Sinkhole”) * You can find the configuration in Configuration -> Blocking pages and the activation can be done in the resolver details in Policy assignment * It is hosted directly on the resolver (ports TCP/80,443 has to be reachable from clients) * Full access to html code editor * Feature “Continue anyway” * user can decide to continue to the destination malicious website on his own * Different blocking pages per IP or subnet * could be used to customize the blocking page for a specific customer (school, government office, etc.) * Definition of supported languages and a default language (for browsers that do not tell which language they prefer if any) * Knot resolver updated to version 5.1.3 (from version 5.1.1)

  • Management Agent for cloud communication is now independently monitored and if there are any issues, it is automatically restarted (no impact on DNS resolution)

2021.08.10

New features

  • Knot Resolver update from version 5.2.1 to version 5.3.2 * Various new features and fixed issues * One of the most significant changes is an improved algorithm of nameserver selection for recursive resolution. The updated algorithm ensures a faster and more reliable process.

  • Real-time threat intelligence synchronization * Whenever Whalebone finds a new threat, the resolver immediately receives the information and starts behaving accordingly. * For this purpose, the resolver stays connected to the service stream.whalebone.io on the TCP/433 port.

  • Blocking of a new type of DNS requests (Type 65/HTTPS) * At this point, this type of request is most commonly used by Apple devices accessing services hosted on Cloudflare.

  • New categories of content filtering * P2P * DoH (DNS over HTTPS) * Child abuse

  • New categories of legal blocking requirements in different countries * United Kingdom * Serbia * Philippines

Fixed issues

  • Improvements in specific scenarios for threat evaluation of specific subdomains, which are included in content categories and at the same time under legal requirements of countries

  • Optimization of memory usage of the service which manages the threat database and the local blocking page