OSINT › Module 4 › Lesson 2
holehe Gravatar and MX Records
holehe YOUR email, Gravatar hash, MX of YOUR domain
Visual · holehe_gravatar_mx
holehe + gravatar.com + dig MX. YOUR email/domain only.
Opening
Registered-here checkers and mail maps are mirrors — hold them up to your own address.
holehe (github.com/megadose/holehe) asks many sites whether an email is registered. Gravatar (gravatar.com) may still publish a face for an email hash. MX records say where mail for a domain should go — dig MX, nslookup, or Resolve-DnsName, and MX Toolbox (mxtoolbox.com) in a browser for a domain YOU own. Original Cyberlium. GATE 192.168.0.1. pipx/pip holehe or git clone official repo. Never holehe classmates. Never MX-map a company you do not own as “practice.” Next: theHarvester on a Domain YOU Own.
1. holehe: official install, YOUR email, private output
pipx install holehe or git clone https://github.com/megadose/holehe. Run holehe on EMAIL from scope.env. Save output chmod 600. A “registered” hit means go log in as yourself and tighten that account — not a trophy.
If holehe is missing, skip the CLI and still refuse classmate emails. first.
Command guide
holehe: official install, YOUR email, private output
═══ INSTALL ═══
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu):
Command — copy this
pipx install holehe
macOS:
Command — copy this
pipx install holehe
Windows:
Command — copy this
pip install holehe
═══ LINUX / macOS ═══
Check which services are registered to an email
Command — copy this
holehe [email protected]
Check MX records for the email domain
Command — copy this
dig example.com MX +short nslookup -type=MX example.com
═══ WINDOWS ═══
Command — copy this
holehe [email protected] nslookup -type=MX example.com
2. Gravatar: your hash, your photo policy
Gravatar serves avatars from an MD5/SHA of an email. If you used Gravatar, YOUR photo may still be public. Visit gravatar.com logged in as you, or compute a hash of YOUR email for literacy — do not hash classmate inboxes to “see their face.”
If you never used Gravatar, write none. That is a complete finding.
3. MX: dig/nslookup/Resolve-DnsName and MX Toolbox on YOUR domain
dig example.com MX +short is public literacy (example.com is the documentation domain). For YOUR domain, replace the name. Windows: Resolve-DnsName YOURDOMAIN -Type MX. Browser: mxtoolbox.com MX lookup on YOUR domain only.
If DOMAIN=none, skip MX Toolbox and skip dig of other people’s companies. Mail mapping a hospital “for class” is out.
4. What you ship: holehe on YOUR email, Gravatar literacy, MX of YOUR domain or skip
Official holehe. Gravatar.com as yourself. dig/MX Toolbox only for example.com literacy or YOUR domain. DEMO GATE. Notes 600.
5. What you record before the next lesson
Date. holehe output path. MX rows or skip. mxtoolbox.com named. File t12-m04-l02-holehe-mx.txt chmod 600.
6. Wrong vs right: strangers vs identifiers YOU own
Worked failure — same OSINT word, opposite target. Right never needs a classmate or a dump site.
Wrong
holehe classmates. Gravatar-hash a teacher. MX Toolbox the university. hydra the MX host.
Right
YOUR email, YOUR domain or skip. Next: theHarvester on a Domain YOU Own.
Mission: registered-here and mail map for YOU
1) / STOP if router. 2) holehe YOUR email (official install) or skip CLI. 3) Visit gravatar.com as yourself. 4) dig MX example.com; dig MX YOUR domain or skip. Never other inboxes.
Stuck? Ask Cyberlium AI Mentor
Ask Mentor how to read an MX row — not how to harvest a company.
Knowledge Check
APPLY: holehe in-scope target?
Multiple choice
Knowledge Check
APPLY: True or False: Hashing a classmate email to view Gravatar is allowed if you do not save the image.
True or False
Knowledge Check
APPLY: MX Toolbox (mxtoolbox.com) in this course is for:
Multiple choice