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DNS resolver returns NOERROR/0 answers for SOA, SRV, PTR records #612

Description

@unsuman

When using gvisor-tap-vsock on macOS (tested via Lima and Podman Machine), the internal DNS resolver correctly handles standard A and AAAA queries but fails to return records for SOA, SRV, and PTR queries.

These queries return a NOERROR status with ANSWER: 0 and an immediate response time (0 msec), suggesting the internal resolver is intercepting the request but failing to resolve it upstream, likely due to the state of /etc/resolv.conf on macOS hosts.

Environment:

  • Host OS: Apple Silicon macOS Tahoe 26.1
  • Runtime: Podman Machine(Applehv) / Lima(VZ driver)

Steps:

  1. Start a VM using gvisor-tap-vsock networking.

  2. Query an A record (Works):

# core@localhost:~$ dig google.com A

; <<>> DiG 9.18.38 <<>> google.com A
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 18550
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;google.com.			IN	A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
google.com.		0	IN	A	142.251.221.110

;; Query time: 0 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.127.1#53(192.168.127.1) (UDP)
;; WHEN: Wed Feb 18 16:38:00 IST 2026
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 54
  1. Query an SOA record (Fails):
# core@localhost:~$ dig google.com soa

; <<>> DiG 9.18.38 <<>> google.com soa
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 3828
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;google.com.			IN	SOA

;; Query time: 0 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.127.1#53(192.168.127.1) (UDP)
;; WHEN: Wed Feb 18 16:38:06 IST 2026
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 28

This issue breaks critical infrastructure tools running inside the VM, such as cert-manager (ACME DNS challenges rely on SOA).

Related to lima-vm/lima#4520

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