Manual Chapter : Event Messages and Attack Types

Applies To:

  • BIG-IP APM

    14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0

  • BIG-IP Analytics

    14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0

  • BIG-IP LTM

    14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0

  • BIG-IP PEM

    14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0

  • BIG-IP AFM

    14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0

  • BIG-IP DNS

    14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0

  • BIG-IP ASM

    14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0

Updated Date: 07/07/2026

Event Messages and Attack Types

This table lists the fields contained in event messages that might display in ASM logs. The fields are listed in the order in which they appear in a message in the log.

Field name and type Example value Description
unit_hostname (string) bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com BIG-IP system FQDN
management_ip_address (IP address) 192.168.1.246 BIG-IP system management IP address
http_class_name (string) /Common/topaz4-web4 HTTP policy name
policy_name (string) My security policy Name of the security policy reporting the violation
violations (string) Attack signature detected Violation name
support_id (non-negative integer) 18205860747014045721 Internally-generated integer to assist with client access support
request_status (string) Blocked Action applied to the client request
response_code (non-negative integer) 200 The HTTP response code returned by the back-end server (application). This information is only relevant for requests that are not blocked.
ip_client (IP address) 192.168.5.10 Client source IP address
route_domain (non-negative integer) 0 (zero) Route domain number
method (string) GET HTTP method requested by client
protocol (string) HTTP, HTTPS Protocol name
query_string (string) key1=val1&key2=val2 Query sent by client; query appears in the first line of the HTTP request after the path and the question mark (?)
x_forwarded_for_header_value (string) 192.168.5.10 Value of the XFF HTTP header
sig_ids (positive non-zero integer) 200021069 Signature ID number
sig_names (string) Automated client access %22wget%22 Signature name
date_time (string) 2012-09-19 13:52:29 Data and time in the format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
severity (string) Error Severity category to which the event belongs
attack_type (string) Non-browser client Name of identified attack
geo_location (string) USA/NY Country/city location information
ip_address_intelligence (string) Botnets, Scanners List of IP intelligence categories found for an IP address
username (string) Admin User name for client session
session_id (hexadeicmal number) a9141b68ac7b4958 TCP session ID
src_port (non-negative integer) 52974 Client protocol source port
dest_port (non-negative integer) 80 Requested service listening port number
dest_ip (IP address) 192.168.5.11 Requested service IP address
sub_violations (string) Bad HTTP version, Null in request Comma-separated list of sub-violation strings
virus_name (string) Melissa Virus name
uri (string) / URI requested by client
request (string) GET / HTTP/1.0\r\nUser-Agent: Wget/1.12 (linux-gnu)\r\nAccept: */*\r\nHost: 10.4.1.200\r\nConnection: Keep-Alive\r\n\r\n Request string sent by client
headers Host: myhost.com; Connection: close Found in request logs
response HTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-type: text/html Content-Length: 7 <html/> HTTP response from server when response logging is configured
violation_details (string) <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>​<BAD_MSG><request-violations><violation>​<viol_index>14</viol_index>​<viol_name>VIOL_HTTP_PROTOCOL</viol_name>​ <http_sanity_checks_status>65536​</http_sanity_checks_status>​<http_sub_violation_status>65536​</http_sub_violation_status>​<http_sub_violation>​SFRUUCB2ZXJzaW9uIG5vdCBmb3VuZA=​=</http_sub_violation>​</violation></request-violations></BAD_MSG> Extended information about a violation on a transaction

This list contains examples of events you might find in ASM logs.

<134>Sep 19 13:35:00 bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com 
ASM:CEF:0|F5|ASM|11.3.0|Successful Request|Successful Request|2|
dvchost=bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com dvc=172.16.73.34 cs1=topaz4-web4
cs1Label=policy_name cs2=/Common/topaz4-web4 cs2Label=http_class_name
deviceCustomDate1=Sep 19 2012 11:38:36 
deviceCustomDate1Label=policy_apply_date
externalId=18205860747014045699 act=passed cn1=200 cn1Label=response_code
src=10.4.1.101 spt=52963 dst=10.4.1.200 dpt=80 requestMethod=GET app=HTTP 
cs5=N/A cs5Label=x_forwarded_for_header_value rt=Sep 19 2012 13:35:00 
deviceExternalId=0 cs4=N/A cs4Label=attack_type cs6=N/A 
cs6Label=geo_location c6a1= c6a1Label=device_address c6a2= 
c6a2Label=source_address c6a3= c6a3Label=destination_address c6a4=N/A 
c6a4Label=ip_address_intelligence msg=N/A
suid=2e769a9e1ea8b777 suser=N/A request=/ cs3Label=full_request 
cs3=GET / HTTP/1.0\r\nUser-Agent: Wget/1.12 (linux-gnu)\r\nAccept: 
*/*\r\nHost: 10.4.1.200\r\nConnection: Keep-Alive\r\n\r\n
<131>Sep 19 13:53:34 bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com
ASM:CEF:0|F5|ASM|11.3.0|200021069|Automated client access
"wget"|5|dvchost=bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com dvc=172.16.73.34 cs1=topaz4-web4
cs1Label=policy_name cs2=/Common/topaz4-web4 cs2Label=http_class_name
deviceCustomDate1=Sep 19 2012 13:49:25 
deviceCustomDate1Label=policy_apply_date externalId=18205860747014045723 
act=blocked cn1=0 cn1Label=response_code src=10.4.1.101 spt=52975 
dst=10.4.1.200 dpt=80 requestMethod=GET app=HTTP cs5=N/A 
cs5Label=x_forwarded_for_header_value rt=Sep 19 2012 13:53:33 
deviceExternalId=0 cs4=Non-browser Client cs4Label=attack_type cs6=N/A 
cs6Label=geo_location c6a1= c6a1Label=device_address 
c6a2= c6a2Label=source_address c6a3= c6a3Label=destination_address 
c6a4=N/A c6a4Label=ip_address_intelligence msg=N/A
suid=86c4f8bf7349cac9 suser=N/A request=/ cs3Label=full_request cs3=GET /
HTTP/1.0\r\nUser-Agent: Wget/1.12 (linux-gnu)\r\nAccept: */*\r\nHost:
10.4.1.200\r\nConnection: Keep-Alive\r\n\r\n

<134>Sep 19 13:42:41 bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com ASM:"",
"2012-09-19 13:42:40","10.4.1.200","80","N/A","/Common/topaz4-web4"
"N/A","10.4.1.101","10.4.1.101%0","172.16.73.34","GET",
"2012-09-19 11:38:36","topaz4-web4","HTTP","",
"GET / HTTP/1.0\r\nUser-Agent: Wget/1.12(linux-gnu)\r\nAccept: */*\r\nHost: 
10.4.1.200\r\nConnection: Keep-Alive\r\n\r\n","passed",
"Response logging disabled","200","0","7514e0ee8f0eb493","Informational",
"","","52965","","18205860747014045703","bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com","/","N/A",
"<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><BAD_MSG>
<request-violations><violation><viol_index>42</viol_index>
<viol_name>VIOL_ATTACK_SIGNATURE</viol_name>
<context>request</context><sig_data>
<sig_id>200021069</sig_id><blocking_mask>4</blocking_mask>
<kw_data><buffer>VXNlci1BZ2VudDogV2dldC8xLjEyIChsaW51eC1nbn
;UpDQpBY2NlcHQ6ICovKg0KSG9zdDogMTAuNC4xLjIwMA0KQ29
ubmVjdGlvbjogS2VlcC1BbGl2ZQ0KDQo=</buffer>
<offset>0</offset><length>16</length></kw_data>
</sig_data></violation></request-violations>
</BAD_MSG>","","N/A","N/A"

23003140

<134>Sep 19 13:40:27 bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com
ASM:unit_hostname="bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com",
management_ip_address="172.16.73.34",http_class_name="/Common/topaz4-web4",
policy_name="topaz4-web4",policy_apply_date="2012-09-19 11:38:36",
violations="",support_id="18205860747014045701",request_status="passed",
response_code="200",ip_client="10.4.1.101",route_domain="0",method="GET",
protocol="HTTP",query_string="",x_forwarded_for_header_value="N/A",
sig_ids="",sig_names="",date_time="2012-09-19 13:40:26",
severity="Informational",attack_type="",geo_location="N/A",
ip_address_intelligence="N/A",username="N/A",
session_id="98630496c8413322",src_port="52964",dest_port="80",
dest_ip="10.4.1.200",sub_violations="",virus_name="N/A",uri="/",
request="GET / HTTP/1.0\r\nUser-Agent: Wget/1.12 (linux-gnu)\r\nAccept: 
*/*\r\nHost: 10.4.1.200\r\nConnection: Keep-Alive\r\n\r\n"
<134>Sep 19 13:40:27 bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com
ASM:unit_hostname="bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com",
management_ip_address="172.16.73.34",http_class_name="/Common/topaz4-web4",
policy_name="topaz4-web4",policy_apply_date="2012-09-19 11:38:36",
violations="",support_id="18205860747014045701",request_status="passed",
response_code="200",ip_client="10.4.1.101",route_domain="0",method="GET",
protocol="HTTP",query_string="",x_forwarded_for_header_value="N/A",
sig_ids="",sig_names="",date_time="2012-09-19 13:40:26",
severity="Informational",attack_type="",geo_location="N/A",
ip_address_intelligence="N/A",username="N/A",session_id="98630496c8413322",
src_port="52964",dest_port="80",dest_ip="10.4.1.200",sub_violations="",
virus_name="N/A",uri="/",request="GET / HTTP/1.0\r\nUser-Agent: Wget/1.12 
(linux-gnu)\r\nAccept: */*\r\nHost: 10.4.1.200\r\nConnection: 
Keep-Alive\r\n\r\n"
<131>Sep 19 13:52:30 bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com
ASM:unit_hostname="bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com",
management_ip_address="172.16.73.34",http_class_name="/Common/topaz4-web4",
policy_name="topaz4-web4",policy_apply_date="2012-09-19 13:49:25",
violations="Attack signature detected",support_id="18205860747014045721",
request_status="blocked",response_code="0",ip_client="10.4.1.101",
route_domain="0",method="GET",protocol="HTTP",query_string="",
x_forwarded_for_header_value="N/A",sig_ids="200021069",
sig_names="Automated client access %22wget%22",
date_time="2012-09-19 13:52:29",severity="Error",
attack_type="Non-browser Client",geo_location="N/A",
ip_address_intelligence="N/A",username="N/A",session_id="a9141b68ac7b4958",
src_port="52974",dest_port="80",dest_ip="10.4.1.200",sub_violations="",
virus_name="N/A",uri="/",request="GET / HTTP/1.0\r\nUser-Agent: Wget/1.12 
(linux-gnu)\r\nAccept: */*\r\nHost: 10.4.1.200\r\nConnection: 
Keep-Alive\r\n\r\n"

This table lists the fields contained in event messages that might display in ASM logs. The fields are listed in alphabetical order by field name.

Field name and type Example value Description
act (string) Alerted or Blocked Action taken in response to attack
anomaly_attack_type (string) DoS attack or Brute Force attack Type of attack
attack_id (integer) 12345678 Unique identifier of an attack
attack_status (string) Started, Ended, or Ongoing Status of an attack
current_mitigation (string) Source IP-based client-side integrity defense, URL-based client-side integrity defense, Source IP-based rate limiting, URL-based rate limiting, or Transparent How the attack is being mitigated
date_time (string) 2012-11-07 06:53:06, or for Arcsight: Nov 07 2012 06:53:50 Current date and time in format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS, or for ArcSight: MMM DD YYYY HH:MM:SS
detection_average (integer) 400 Historical average of TPS, latency, or failed logins
detection_mode (string) For DoS Attacks: TPS Increased or Latency Increased; For Brute Force Attacks: Number of Failed Logins Increased How the attack was detected
dropped_requests (integer) 10000 Number of dropped requests
dvc (IP address) 192.168.1.246 BIG-IP system management IP address
dvchost (string) bigip-4.asm-ds.f5.com BIG-IP system host name
geo_location (string) USA/NY Country/city location information
ip_list (IP addresses) 192.168.5.10:ny, ny, usa:150 Comma-delineated list of attacker IP addresses in the format: client_ip_addr:geo_location:drops_counter
management_ip_address (IP address) 192.168.1.246 BIG-IP system management IP address
operation_mode (string) Transparent or Blocking Current operation mode in the security policy
policy_apply_date 2012-11-07 06:53:06, or for Arcsight: Nov 07 2012 06:53:50 The date and time the policy was last applied in the format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS, or for ArcSight: MMM DD YYYY HH:MM:SS
policy_name (string) My policy Name of current active policy reporting the violation
request (URL) www.siterequest.com Login URL attacked by Brute Force attack
rt (string) Nov 07 2012 06:53:50 Current date and time in the format: MMM DD YYYY HH:MM:SS
severity (string) Emergency Severity category for attacks is always: Emergency
source_ip (IP address) 192.168.4.1:ny, ny, usa:150000 IP address from which the attack originates in the format: client_ip_addr:geo_location:drops_counter
src (IP address) 192.168.4.1 IP address from which the attack originates
unit_hostname (string) bigip-4.asm-ds.f5.com BIG-IP system FQDN
uri (string) / Login URL that was subject to a Brute Force attack
url_list (URLs) 192.168.50.1:sf, ca, usa:200 Comma-delineated list of attacked URLs in the format: client_ip_addr:geo_location:drops_counter
violation_counter (integer) 100 Number of violations
web_application_name My PTO Name of the web application in which the violation occurred

This list contains examples of events you might find in ASM logs.

Example of ASM Anomaly log messages in the ArcSight CEF format
`CEF:0
`CEF:0
`CEF:0
Example of ASM Anomaly log messages in the Reporting Server format
unit_hostname="%s",management_ip_address="%s",web_application_name="%s", policy_name="%s",policy_apply_date="%s",anomaly_attack_type="%s",uri="%s", attack_id="%llu",attack_status="%s",operation_mode="%s", detection_mode="%s", detection_average="%ld",current_mitigation="%s",ip_list="%s",url_list="%s", date_time="%s",severity="%s"
unit_hostname="%s",management_ip_address="%s",web_application_name="%s", policy_name="%s",policy_apply_date="%s", anomaly_attack_type="%s", attack_id="%llu",attack_status="%s",operation_mode="%s", source_ip="%s:%s:%llu",date_time="%s",severity="%s"
Example of ASM Anomaly log message in the Web Scraping format
unit_hostname="%s",management_ip_address="%s",web_application_name="%s", policy_name="%s" policy_apply_date="%s",anomaly_attack_type="%s", attack_id="%llu",attack_status="%s",operation_mode="%s", source_ip="%s:%s:%llu:%u",date_time="%s",severity="%s"

This table lists the fields that are contained in event messages that might display in AFM logs. The fields are listed in alphabetical order by field name.

Field name and type

Example value

Description

acl_rule_name (string)

Non-browser client

Name of ACL rule

action (string)

Accept, Accept decisively, Drop, Reject, Established, Closed

Action performed

hostname (string)

FQDN

BIG-IP system FQDN

bigip_mgmt_ip (IP address)

192.168.1.246

BIG-IP system management IP address

context_name (string)

/Common/topaz3-web3

Name of the object to which the rule applies

context_type (string)

Global, Route Domain, Virtual Server, Self IP address, or Management port

Category of the object to which the rule applies

date_time (string)

01 11 2012 13:11:10

Date and time the event occurred in this format: MMM DD YYYY HH:MM:SS

dest_ip (IP address)

192.168.3.1

Destination IP address

dest_port (integer)

80

Protocol port number

device_product (string)

Advanced Firewall Module

Name of BIG-IP system generating the event message

device_vendor (string)

F5

F5 static keyword

device_version (string)

11.3.0.2012.0

BIG-IP system software version in the format version.point_release.0.yyyy.0

drop_reason (string)

(empty), <name of error>, Policy

Reason action performed.

errdefs_msgno (integer)

23003137

Event number

errdefs_msg_name (string)

Network event

Event name

ip_protocol (string)

TCP, UDP, ICMP

Name of protocol

severity (integer)

8

Level of the event by number

partition_name (string)

Common

Name of the partition or folder in which the object resides

route_domain (integer)

1

Route domain number (non-negative)

src_ip (IP address)

192.168.3.1

Source IP address

src_port (integer)

80

Protocol port number (non-negative)

vlan (string)

External

VLAN interface name

This list contains examples of events you might find in AFM logs.

Examples of AFM log messages in the ArcSight CEF format
`CEF:0
`CEF:0
`CEF:0
`CEF:0
Examples of AFM log messages in the Reporting Server format
acl_rule_name="allow_http",action="Accept",hostname="bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com",bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.73.33",context_name="/Common/topaz3-web3",context_type="Virtual Server",date_time="Oct 04 2012 13:18:04",dest_ip="10.3.1.200",dest_port="80",device_product="Advanced Firewall Module",device_vendor="F5",device_version="11.3.0.2095.0",drop_reason="",errdefs_msgno="23003137",errdefs_msg_name="Network Event",ip_protocol="TCP",severity="8",partition_name="Common",route_domain="0",source_ip="10.3.1.101",source_port="52807",vlan="/Common/external"
acl_rule_name="",action="Open",hostname="bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com",bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.73.33",context_name="/Common/topaz3-all3",context_type="Virtual Server",date_time="Oct 04 2012 13:18:04",dest_ip="10.3.1.200",dest_port="443",device_product="Advanced Firewall Module",device_vendor="F5",device_version="11.3.0.2095.0",drop_reason="",errdefs_msgno="23003137",errdefs_msg_name="Network Event",ip_protocol="TCP",severity="8",partition_name="Common",route_domain="0",source_ip="10.3.1.101",source_port="39329",vlan="/Common/external"
acl_rule_name="",action="Closed",hostname="bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com",bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.73.33",context_name="/Common/topaz3-all3",context_type="Virtual Server",date_time="Oct 04 2012 13:18:04",dest_ip="10.3.1.200",dest_port="443",device_product="Advanced Firewall Module",device_vendor="F5",device_version="11.3.0.2095.0",drop_reason="",errdefs_msgno="23003137",errdefs_msg_name="Network Event",ip_protocol="TCP",severity="8",partition_name="Common",route_domain="0",source_ip="10.3.1.101",source_port="39329",vlan="/Common/external"
Examples of AFM log messages in the Splunk format
acl_rule_name="TCP",action="Accept",hostname="asm176.labt.ts.example.com",bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.69.176",context_name="",context_type="Global",date_time="Nov 08 2012 18:38:18",dest_ip="fc55::3",dest_port="80",device_product="Advanced Firewall Module",device_vendor="F5",device_version="11.3.0.2790.300",drop_reason="",errdefs_msgno="23003137",errdefs_msg_name="Network Event",ip_protocol="TCP",severity="8",partition_name="Common",route_domain="0",source_ip="fc55::99",source_port="20",vlan="/Common/VLAN10"
acl_rule_name="",action="Drop",hostname="asm176.labt.ts.example.com",bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.69.176",context_name="/Common/vs10_TCP_IPv6",context_type="Virtual Server",date_time="Nov 08 2012 18:38:18",dest_ip="fc55::3",dest_port="80",device_product="Advanced Firewall Module",device_vendor="F5",device_version="11.3.0.2790.300",drop_reason="Bad TCP checksum",errdefs_msgno="23003137",errdefs_msg_name="Network Event",ip_protocol="TCP",severity="8",partition_name="Common",route_domain="0",source_ip="fc55::99",source_port="20",vlan="/Common/VLAN10"
Example of AFM log message in the Syslog format
23003137 [F5@12276 acl_rule_name="TCP" action="Accept" hostname="asm176.labt.ts.example.com" bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.69.176" context_name="" context_type="Global" date_time="Nov 08 2012 18:42:49" dest_ip="fc55::3" dest_port="80" device_product="Advanced Firewall Module" device_vendor="F5" device_version="11.3.0.2790.300" drop_reason="" errdefs_msgno="23003137" errdefs_msg_name="Network Event" ip_protocol="TCP" severity="8" partition_name="Common" route_domain="0" source_ip="fc55::99" source_port="20" vlan="/Common/VLAN10"] "192.168.69.176","asm176.labt.ts.example.com","Global","","fc55::99","fc55::3","20","80","/Common/VLAN10","TCP","0","TCP","Accept",""
23003137 [F5@12276 acl_rule_name="" action="Drop" hostname="asm176.labt.ts.example.com" bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.69.176" context_name="/Common/vs10_TCP_IPv6" context_type="Virtual Server" date_time="Nov 08 2012 18:42:49" dest_ip="fc55::3" dest_port="80" device_product="Advanced Firewall Module" device_vendor="F5" device_version="11.3.0.2790.300" drop_reason="Bad TCP checksum" errdefs_msgno="23003137" errdefs_msg_name="Network Event" ip_protocol="TCP" severity="8" partition_name="Common" route_domain="0" source_ip="fc55::99" source_port="20" vlan="/Common/VLAN10"] "192.168.69.176","asm176.labt.ts.example.com","Virtual Server","/Common/vs10_TCP_IPv6","fc55::99","fc55::3","20","80","/Common/VLAN10","TCP","0","","Drop","Bad TCP checksum"
Example of AFM log message in the Syslog BSD format
23003137 "192.168.69.176","asm176.labt.ts.example.com","Global","","fc55::99","fc55::3","20","80","/Common/VLAN10","TCP","0","TCP","Accept",""
23003137 "192.168.69.176","asm176.labt.ts.example.com","Virtual Server","/Common/vs10_TCP_IPv6","fc55::99","fc55::3","20","80","/Common/VLAN10","TCP","0","","Drop","Bad TCP checksum"
Example of AFM log message in the Syslog Legacy F5 format
Oct 04 11:20:15 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com tmm[18691]: 23003137 allow_dns-tcp,Accept,bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com,/Common/topaz3-all3,Virtual Server,Oct 04 2012 11:20:15,10.3.1.200,2607,,192.168.73.33,TCP,0,10.3.1.101,47910,/Common/external
Oct 04 11:20:15 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com tmm[18691]: 23003137 ,Open,bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com,/Common/topaz3-all3,Virtual Server,Oct 04 2012 11:20:15,10.3.1.200,1666,,192.168.73.33,TCP,0,10.3.1.101,36388,/Common/external
Oct 04 11:20:15 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com tmm[18691]: 23003137 ,Closed,bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com,/Common/topaz3-all3,Virtual Server,Oct 04 2012 11:20:15,10.3.1.200,1666,,192.168.73.33,TCP,0,10.3.1.101,36388,/Common/external

This table lists the fields that are contained in event messages that might display in the DoS Protection logs. The fields are listed in alphabetical order by field name.

Field name and type Example value Description
action (string) Allow, Drop, None Action performed or reported
hostname (string) FQDN BIG-IP system FQDN
bigip_mgmt_ip (IP address) 192.168.1.246 BIG-IP system management IP address
date_time (string) 01 11 2012 13:11:10 Date and time the event occurred in this format: MMM DD YYYY HH:MM:SS
dest_ip (IP address) 192.168.3.1 Destination IP address
dest_port (integer) 80 Protocol port number (non-negative)
device_product (string) Advanced Firewall Module Name of BIG-IP system generating the event message
device_vendor (string) F5 F5 static keyword
device_version (string) 11.3.0.2012.0 BIG-IP system software version in the format mm.dd.0.yyyy.0
dos_attack_event (string) Attack started, Attack Sampled, Attack Stopped Attack instances start and stop events
dos_attack_id (string) 2760296639 Unique, non-negative, attack ID
dos_attack_name (string) ICMP Flood, Bad TCP checksum Network DoS event
errdefs_msgno (integer) 23003138 Static number
errdefs_msg_name (string) Network DoS event Static keyword
severity (integer) 8 Event severity value (non-negative integer)
partition_name (string) Common Name of the partition in which the virtual server resides
route_domain (integer) 1 Route domain number (non-negative)
src_ip (IP address) 192.168.3.1 Source IP address
src_port (integer) 80 Protocol port number (non-negative)
vlan (string) External Name of the VLAN interface

The following tables, organized by DoS category, list device DoS attacks, and provide a short description and relevant information. You can adjust the thresholds in device protection by clicking the attack types and adjusting the properties.

Vector

Information

Hardware accelerated

ARP Flood

ARP packet flood

Yes

Bad ICMP Checksum

An ICMP frame checksum is bad. Reuse the TCP or UDP checksum bits in the packet.

Yes

Bad ICMP Frame

The ICMP frame is either the wrong size or not one of the valid IPv4 or IPv6 types. Valid IPv4 types: - 0 Echo Reply

  • 3 Destination Unreachable
  • 4 Source Quench
  • 5 Redirect
  • 8 Echo
  • 11 Time Exceeded
  • 12 Parameter Problem
  • 13 Timestamp
  • 14 Timestamp Reply
  • 15 Information Request
  • 16 Information Reply
  • 17 Address Mask Request
  • 18 Address Mask Reply

Valid IPv6 types: - 1 Destination Unreachable

  • 2 Packet Too Big
  • 3 Time Exceeded
  • 4 Parameter Problem
  • 128 Echo Request
  • 129 Echo Reply
  • 130 Membership Query
  • 131 Membership Report
  • 132 Membership Reduction

Yes

Bad IGMP Frame

IPv4 IGMP packets should have a header >= 8 bytes. Bits 7:0 should be either 0x11, 0x12, 0x16, 0x22 or 0x17, or else the header is bad. Bits 15:8 should be non-zero only if bits 7:0 are 0x11, or else the header is bad.

Yes

Bad IP TTL Value

Time-to-live equals zero for an IPv4 address.

Yes

Bad IP Version

The IPv4 address version in the IP header is not 4.

Yes

Bad IPv6 Addr

IPv6 source IP = 0xff00::

Yes

Bad IPV6 Hop Count

Both the terminated (cnt=0) and forwarding packet (cnt=1) counts are bad.

Yes

Bad IPV6 Version

The IPv6 address version in the IP header is not 6.

Yes

Bad SCTP Checksum

Bad SCTP packet checksum.

No

Bad Source

The IPv4 source IP = 255.255.255.255 or 0xe0000000U.

Yes

Bad TCP Checksum

The TCP checksum does not match.

Yes

Bad TCP Flags (All Cleared)

Bad TCP flags (all cleared and SEQ#=0).

Yes

Bad TCP Flags (All Flags Set)

Bad TCP flags (all flags set).

Yes

Bad UDP Checksum

The UDP checksum is not correct.

Yes

Bad UDP Header (UDP Length > IP Length or L2 Length)

UDP length is greater than IP length or Layer 2 length.

Yes

Ethernet MAC Source Address == Destination Address

Ethernet MAC source address equals the destination address.

Yes

FIN Only Set

Bad TCP flags (only FIN is set).

Yes

Header Length > L2 Length

No room in Layer 2 packet for IP header (including options) for IPv4 address

Yes

Header Length Too Short

IPv4 header length is less than 20 bytes.

Yes

Host Unreachable

Host unreachable error

Yes

ICMP Fragment

ICMP fragment flood

Yes

ICMP Frame Too Large

The ICMP frame exceeds the declared IP data length or the maximum datagram length. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.maxicmpframesize value``, where value is <=65515.

Yes

ICMPv4 Flood

Flood with ICMPv4 packets

Yes

ICMPv6 Flood

Flood with ICMPv6 packets

Yes

IGMP Flood

Flood with IGMP packets (IPv4 packets with IP protocol number 2)

Yes

IGMP Fragment Flood

Fragmented packet flood with IGMP protocol

Yes

IP Error Checksum

The header checksum is not correct.

Yes

IP Fragment Error

Other IPv4 fragment error

Yes

IP Fragment Flood

Fragmented packet flood with IPv4

Yes

IP Fragment Overlap

IPv4 overlapping fragment error

No

IP Fragment Too Small

IPv4 short fragment error

Yes

IP Length > L2 Length

The total length in the IPv4 address header or payload length in the IPv6 address header is greater than the Layer 3 length in a Layer 2 packet.

Yes

IP Option Frames

IPv4 address packets that are part of an IP option frame flood. On the command line, option.db variable tm.acceptipsourceroute must be enabled to receive IP options.

Yes

IP Option Illegal Length

Option present with illegal length.

No

IP uncommon proto

Sets thresholds for and tracks packets containing IP protocols considered to be uncommon. By default, all IP protocols other than TCP, UDP, ICMP, IPV6-ICMP, and SCTP are on the IP uncommon protocol list.

Yes

IP Unknown protocol

Unknown IP protocol

No

IPv4 mapped IPv6

The IPv6 stack is receiving IPv4 address packets.

Yes

IPV6 Atomic Fragment

IPv6 Frag header present with M=0 and FragOffset =0.

Yes

IPv6 duplicate extension headers

An extension header should occur only once in an IPv6 packet, except for the Destination Options extension header.

Yes

IPv6 Extended Header Frames

IPv6 address contains extended header frames.

Yes

IPv6 extended headers wrong order

Extension headers in the IPv6 header are in the wrong order.

Yes

IPv6 extension header too large

An extension header is too large. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.maxipv6extsize value``, where value is 0-1024.

Yes

IPv6 Fragment Error

Other IPv6 fragment error

Yes

IPv6 Fragment Flood

Fragmented packet flood with IPv6

Yes

IPv6 Fragment Overlap

IPv6 overlapping fragment error

No

IPv6 Fragment Too Small

IPv6 short fragment error

Yes

IPv6 hop count <= <tunable>

The IPv6 extended header hop count is less than or equal to <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.ipv6lowhopcnt value``, where value is 1-4.

Yes

IPv6 Length > L2 Length

IPv6 address length is greater than the Layer 2 length.

Yes

L2 Length >> IP Length

Layer 2 packet length is much greater than the payload length in an IPv4 address header, and the Layer 2 length is greater than the minimum packet size.

Yes

LAND Attack

Source IP equals destination IP address

Yes

No L4

No Layer 4 payload for IPv4 address.

Yes

No L4 (Extended Headers Go To Or Past End of Frame)

Extended headers go to the end or past the end of the L4 frame.

Yes

No Listener Match

This can occur if the listener is down as it attempts to make a connection, or if it was not started or was configured improperly. It may also be caused by a network connectivity problem.

Non TCP Connection

Sets a connection rate limit for non-TCP flows that takes into account all other connections per second.

Option Present With Illegal Length

Packets contain an option with an illegal length.

Yes

Payload Length < L2 Length

Specified IPv6 payload length is less than the L2 packet length.

Yes

Routing Header Type 0

Identifies flood packets containing type 0 routing headers, which can be used to amplify traffic to initiate a DoS attack.

Yes

Single Endpoint Flood

Flood to a single endpoint and can come from many sources. You can configure packet types to check for, and packets per second for both detection and rate limiting.

No

Single Endpoint Sweep

Sweep on a single endpoint. You can configure packet types to check for, and packets per second for both detection and rate limiting.

No

SYN && FIN Set

Bad TCP flags (SYN and FIN set).

Yes

TCP BADACK Flood

TCP ACK packet flood

No

TCP Flags - Bad URG

Packet contains a bad URG flag; this is likely malicious.

Yes

TCP Half Open

TCP connection whose state is out of synchronization between the two communicating hosts

Yes

TCP Header Length > L2 Length

The TCP header length exceeds the Layer 2 length.

Yes

TCP Header Length Too Short (Length < 5)

The Data Offset value in the TCP header is less than five 32-bit words.

Yes

TCP Option Overruns TCP Header

The TCP option bits overrun the TCP header.

Yes

TCP PUSH Flood

TCP PUSH flood

Yes

TCP RST Flood

TCP RST flood

Yes

TCP SYN ACK Flood

TCP SYN/ACK flood

Yes

TCP SYN Flood

TCP SYN flood

Yes

TCP SYN Oversize

Detects TCP data SYN packets larger than the maximum specified by the dos.maxsynsize parameter. To tune this value in tmsh: modify sys db dos.maxsynsize value. The default size in bytes is 64 and the maximum allowable value is 9216.

Yes

TCP Window Size

The TCP window size in packets is above the maximum size. To tune this value in tmsh: modify sys db dos.tcplowwindowsize value where value is <= 128.

Yes

TIDCMP

ICMP source quench attack

Yes

Too Many Extension Headers

For an IPv6 address, there are too many extended headers (the default is 4). To tune this value in tmsh: modify sys db dos.maxipv6exthdrs value``, where value is 0-15.

Yes

TTL <= <tunable>

An IP packet with a destination that is not multicast and that has a TTL greater than 0 and less than or equal to a tunable value, which is 1 by default. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.iplowttl value``, where value is 1-4.

Yes

UDP Flood

UDP flood attack

Yes

Unknown Option Type

Unknown IP option type.

No

Unknown TCP Option Type

Unknown TCP option type.

Yes

Vector Information Hardware accelerated
DNS A Query UDP packet, DNS Qtype is A_QRY, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS AAAA Query UDP packet, DNS Qtype is AAAA, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value, where `value` is `0-4094`.. To tune this value, in tmsh: `modify sys db dos.dnsvlan `value, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS AXFR Query UDP packet, DNS Qtype is AXFR, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS Any Query UDP packet, DNS Qtype is ANY_QRY, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS CNAME Query UDP DNS query, DNS Qtype is CNAME, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS IXFR Query UDP DNS query, DNS Qtype is IXFR, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS MX Query UDP DNS query, DNS Qtype is MX, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS Malformed Malformed DNS packet Yes
DNS NS Query UDP DNS query, DNS Qtype is NS, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS NXDOMAIN Query DNS query. Queried domain name does not exist. Yes
DNS OTHER Query UDP DNS query, DNS Qtype is OTHER, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS Oversize Detects oversized DNS headers. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.maxdnssize value``, where value is 256-8192. Yes
DNS PTR Query UDP DNS query, DNS Qtype is PTR, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS Question Items != 1 DNS Query, DNS Qtype is ANY_QRY, the DNS query has more than one question. Yes
DNS Response Flood UDP DNS Port=53, packet and DNS header flags bit 15 is 1 (response), VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS SOA Query UDP packet, DNS Qtype is SOA_QRY, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS SRV Query UDP packet, DNS Qtype is SRV, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes
DNS TXT Query UDP packet, DNS Qtype is TXT, VLAN is <tunable>. To tune this value, in tmsh: modify sys db dos.dnsvlan value``, where value is 0-4094. Yes

Vector Information Hardware accelerated
SIP ACK Method SIP ACK packets Yes
SIP BYE Method SIP BYE packets Yes
SIP CANCEL Method SIP CANCEL packets Yes
SIP INVITE Method SIP INVITE packets Yes
SIP Malformed Malformed SIP packets Yes
SIP MESSAGE Method SIP MESSAGE packets Yes
SIP NOTIFY Method SIP NOTIFY packets Yes
SIP OPTIONS Method SIP NOTIFY packets Yes
SIP OTHER Method Other SIP method packets Yes
SIP PRACK Method SIP PRACK packets Yes
SIP PUBLISH Method SIP PUBLISH packets Yes
SIP REGISTER Method SIP REGISTER packets Yes
SIP SUBSCRIBE Method SIP SUBSCRIBE packets Yes
SIP URI Limit The SIP URI exceeds the limit. Yes

This list contains examples of events you might find in Network (layer 2 - 4) DoS Protection logs.

Example of Network DOS Protection log message in the ArcSight format
`CEF:0
Example of Network DoS Protection log message in the Remote Syslog format
"Nov 06 2012 02:17:27","192.168.69.245","asm245.labt.ts.example.com","","10.10.10.2","10.10.10.200","20","80","0","/Common/vlan1","Bad TCP checksum","3044184075","Attack Sampled","Drop"
Examples of Network DoS Protection log messages in Reporting Server format
Oct 30 13:59:38 192.168.57.163 action="None",hostname="bigip-7.pme-ds.f5.com",bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.73.18",date_time="Sep 20 2012 15:30:43",dest_ip="",dest_port="",device_product="Advanced Firewall Module",device_vendor="F5",device_version="11.3.0.1910.0",dos_attack_event="Attack Started",dos_attack_id="2760296639",dos_attack_name="Ethernet broadcast packet",errdefs_msgno="23003138",errdefs_msg_name="Network DoS Event",severity="8",partition_name="Common",route_domain="",source_ip="",source_port="",vlan=""
Oct 30 13:59:38 192.168.57.163 action="Drop",hostname="bigip-7.pme-ds.f5.com",bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.73.18",date_time="Sep 20 2012 15:30:44",dest_ip="",dest_port="",device_product="Advanced Firewall Module",device_vendor="F5",device_version="11.3.0.1910.0",dos_attack_event="Attack Sampled",dos_attack_id="2760296639",dos_attack_name="Ethernet broadcast packet",errdefs_msgno="23003138",errdefs_msg_name="Network DoS Event",severity="8",partition_name="Common",route_domain="",source_ip="",source_port="",vlan="/Common/external"
Example of Network DoS Protection log message in the Splunk format
action="Blocking",hostname="bigip1",bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.36.157",client_ip_geo_location="N/A",client_request_uri="",configuration_date_time="Nov 01 2012 04:39:57",context_name="/Common/vs_159",context_type="Virtual Server",date_time="Nov 01 2012 05:01:40",device_product="ASM",device_vendor="F5",device_version="11.3.0",dos_attack_detection_mode="TPS Increased",dos_attack_event="Attack ongoing",dos_attack_id="3131200721",dos_attack_name="DOS L7 attack",dos_attack_tps="0 tps",dos_dropped_requests_count="487",dos_mitigation_action="Source IP-Based Rate Limiting",errdefs_msgno="23003140",errdefs_msg_name="Application DoS Event",severity="7",partition_name="Common",profile_name="/Common/dos_orna",source_ip="192.168.32.22%0"
action="Blocking",hostname="bigip1",bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.36.157",client_ip_geo_location="N/A",client_request_uri="/short.txt",configuration_date_time="Nov 01 2012 04:39:57",context_name="/Common/vs_159",context_type="Virtual Server",date_time="Nov 01 2012 05:01:40",device_product="ASM",device_vendor="F5",device_version="11.3.0",dos_attack_detection_mode="TPS Increased",dos_attack_event="Attack ongoing",dos_attack_id="3131200721",dos_attack_name="DOS L7 attack",dos_attack_tps="0 tps",dos_dropped_requests_count="487",dos_mitigation_action="Source IP-Based Rate Limiting",errdefs_msgno="23003140",errdefs_msg_name="Application DoS Event",severity="7",partition_name="Common",profile_name="/Common/dos_orna",source_ip=""
action="Drop",hostname="asm176.labt.ts.example.com",bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.69.176",context_name="",date_time="Nov 08 2012 17:58:46",dest_ip="fc55::3",dest_port="80",device_product="Advanced Firewall Module",device_vendor="F5",device_version="11.3.0.2790.300",dos_attack_event="Attack Sampled",dos_attack_id="3083822789",dos_attack_name="Bad TCP checksum",errdefs_msgno="23003138",errdefs_msg_name="Network DoS Event",severity="8",partition_name="Common",route_domain="0",source_ip="fc55::99",source_port="20",vlan="/Common/VLAN10"
Example of Network DoS Protection log message in the Syslog format
23003138 [F5@12276 action="Drop" hostname="asm176.labt.ts.example.com" bigip_mgmt_ip="192.168.69.176" context_name="" date_time="Nov 08 2012 18:26:02" dest_ip="fc55::3" dest_port="80" device_product="Advanced Firewall Module" device_vendor="F5" device_version="11.3.0.2790.300" dos_attack_event="Attack Sampled" dos_attack_id="1493601923" dos_attack_name="Bad TCP checksum" errdefs_msgno="23003138" errdefs_msg_name="Network DoS Event" severity="8" partition_name="Common" route_domain="0" source_ip="fc55::99" source_port="20" vlan="/Common/VLAN10"] "Nov 08 2012 18:26:02","192.168.69.176","asm176.labt.ts.example.com","","fc55::99","fc55::3","20","80","0","/Common/VLAN10","Bad TCP checksum","1493601923","Attack Sampled","Drop"
Example of Network DoS Protection log message in the Syslog F5 format
23003138 "Nov 08 2012 18:23:14","192.168.69.176","asm176.labt.ts.example.com","","fc55::99","fc55::3","20","80","0","/Common/VLAN10","Bad TCP checksum","1493601923","Attack Sampled","Drop"

This table lists the fields that are contained in event messages that might display in the Protocol Security logs. The fields are listed in the order in which they appear in a message in the log.

Field name and type Example value Description
date_time (string) 110513:11:10 Date and time the event occurred in this format: MMM DD HH:MM:SS
hostname (string) bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com BIG-IP system FQDN
PSM: (string) PME:keword Static value keyword
protocol (string) FTP, SMPTP, HTTP, DNS Protocol name
ip_client (IP address) 192.168.5.10 Client source IP address
dest_ip (IP address) 192.168.3.1 Destination IP address
vs_name (string) Common/my_vs Reporting virtual server name and partition
policy_name (string) My security policy Name of the security policy reporting the violatio
violations (string) Active mode Violation name
virus_name (string) <name of virus> Virus name
management_ip_address (IP address) 192.168.1.246 BIG-IP system management IP address
unit_hostname (string) bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com BIG-IP system FQDN
request_status (string) Blocked Action applied to the client request
dest_port (integer) 80 Protocol port number (non-negative)
src_port (integer) 80 Protocol port number (non-negative)
route_domain (integer) 1 Route domain number (non-negative)
geo_location (string) NY, NY, USA City, state, country location information
violation_details (string) port/sendport 10,3,0,33,42,88 Violation description and the values passed

This list contains examples of events you might find in the Protocol Security logs.

Example of Protocol Security log message in the ArcSight format
`Oct 5 11:49:13 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:CEF:0
`Oct 5 11:49:13 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:CEF:0
`Oct 5 11:49:23 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:CEF:0
Example of Protocol Security log message in the Remote Server format
Oct 5 11:55:18 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:protocol="FTP",ip_client="10.3.1.104",dest_ip="10.3.1.204",vs_name="/Common/FTP-3", policy_name="ftp_security",violations="Active mode",virus_name="N/A", management_ip_address="192.168.73.33",unit_hostname="bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com", request_status="alerted",dest_port="21",src_port="1397",route_domain="0",geo_location="N/A", violation_details="port/sendport 10,3,0,33,42,88"
Oct 5 11:55:18 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:protocol="FTP",ip_client="10.3.1.104",dest_ip="10.3.1.204",vs_name="/Common/FTP-3", policy_name="ftp_security",violations="FTP commands",virus_name="N/A", management_ip_address="192.168.73.33",unit_hostname="bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com", request_status="alerted",dest_port="21",src_port="1397",route_domain="0",geo_location="N/A", violation_details="list/dir/mdir"
Oct 5 11:55:23 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:protocol="FTP",ip_client="10.3.1.104",dest_ip="10.3.1.204",vs_name="/Common/FTP-3", policy_name="ftp_security",violations="FTP commands",virus_name="N/A", management_ip_address="192.168.73.33",unit_hostname="bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com", request_status="alerted",dest_port="21",src_port="1397",route_domain="0",geo_location="N/A", violation_details="pwd"
Example of Protocol Security log message in the Syslog format
Oct 5 11:37:14 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:"FTP","10.3.1.104","10.3.1.204","/Common/FTP-3","ftp_security","Active mode","N/A","192.168.73.33","bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com","alerted","21","1355","0","N/A","port/sendport 10,3,0,33,42,22"
Oct 5 11:37:14 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:"FTP","10.3.1.104","10.3.1.204","/Common/FTP-3","ftp_security","FTP commands","N/A","192.168.73.33","bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com","alerted","21","1355","0","N/A","nlist/mls"
Oct 5 11:37:23 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:"FTP","10.3.1.104","10.3.1.204","/Common/FTP-3","ftp_security","FTP commands","N/A","192.168.73.33","bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com","alerted","21","1355","0","N/A","cwd .."
Example of Protocol Security log message in the Syslog BSD format
Oct 5 11:46:26 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:"FTP","10.3.1.104","10.3.1.204","/Common/FTP-3","ftp_security","Active mode","N/A","192.168.73.33","bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com","alerted","21","1388","0","N/A","port/sendport 10,3,0,33,7,217"
Oct 5 11:46:26 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:"FTP","10.3.1.104","10.3.1.204","/Common/FTP-3","ftp_security","FTP commands","N/A","192.168.73.33","bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com","alerted","21","1388","0","N/A","nlist/mls"
Example of Protocol Security log message in the Syslog legacy format
Oct 5 11:43:01 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:"FTP","10.3.1.104","10.3.1.204","/Common/FTP-3","ftp_security","Active mode","N/A","192.168.73.33","bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com","alerted","21","1370","0","N/A","port/sendport 10,3,0,33,7,197"
Oct 5 11:43:01 bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com PSM:"FTP","10.3.1.104","10.3.1.204","/Common/FTP-3","ftp_security","FTP commands","N/A","192.168.73.33","bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com","alerted","21","1370","0","N/A","nlist/mls"

This table lists the fields that are contained in event messages that might display in the DNS logs. The fields are listed in the order in which they appear in a message in the log.

Field name and type Example value Description
errdefs_msgno (integer) 23003141 Static number 23003141
date_time (string) 11 13 2012 12:12:10 Date and time the event occurred in this format: MMM DD YYYY HH:MM:SS
bigip_mgmt_ip (IP address) 192.168.1.246 BIG-IP system management IP address
hostname (string) bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com BIG-IP system FQDN
context_name (string) /Common/vs1_udp Partition in which the virtual server resides and name of virtual server
vlan (string) External Name of the VLAN interface
query_type (string) A Type of DNS query causing the attack
dns_query_name (string) siterequest.com Name being queried
partition_name (string) Common Name of the partition in which the virtual server resides
attack_type (string) CNAME DNS query causing the attack
action (string) None, Drop, Allow Action performed or reported
src_ip (IP address) 192.168.3.1 Source IP address
dest_ip (IP address) 192.168.3.2 Destination IP address
src_port (integer) 80 Protocol port number (non-negative)
dest_port (integer) 80 Protocol port number (non-negative)
route_domain (integer) 1 Route domain number (non-negative)

This table lists DNS attack types and provides a short description and classification. The attack types are listed in alphabetical order by attack name. These attacks are the DNS queries that a client can request. If the requests are received at a high rate and exceed the configured watermark they generate a DNS DoS event

Attack name (RFC number) Description
a6 (1035) Returns a 32-bit IPv4 IP address record
aaaa (3596) Returns a 128-bit IPv6 address record
afsdb (1183) Location of database servers of an AFS database record record
any (1035) Returns all cached records of all types
atma ATM address
axfr (1035) Authoritative zone transfer
cert (4398) Stores PKIX, SPKI, and PGP certificate record
cname (1035) Alias of one name to another (canonical name record)
dname (2672) DNAME (delegation name) creates an alias for a name and all its subnames
eid Endpoint identifier
gpos (1712) Geographical position (state, country)
hinfo (1035) Host information
isdn (1183) ISDN address
ixfr (1996) Incrementatl zone transfer
key (2535, 2930) Used only for SIG(0) (RFC 2931) and TKEY (RFC 2930).[5] key records
kx (2535, 2930) Key exchange record identifies a key management agent for the associated domain-name (not associated with DNSSEC)
loc (1876) Location record
maila (1035) Request for mail agent resource records
mailb (1035) Mailbox or mail list information (MINFO)
mb (1035) Mailbox domain name
md Mail destination
mf (1035) Mail forwarder
mg (1035) Mail group member
minfo (1035) Mailbox or mail list information
mr (1035) Mail rename domain name
mx (1035) Mail exchange record
naptr (3403) Naming authority pointer
nimloc (1002) Nimrod locator
ns (1035) Nameserver record
nsap (1706) NSAP style A record
nsap-ptr (1348) NSAP style domain name pointer
null (1035) Null resource record
nxt (2535) Next domain
opt (2671) Pseudo DNS record type that supports EDNS
ptr (1035) Pointer to a canonical name
px (2163) X.400 mail mapping information
rp (1183) Contact information for the person(s) responsible for the domain
rt (1183) Route through
sg (2535) Signature record
sink DNS sinkhole
soa (1035) Start of authority record
srv (2782) Service locator record
tkey (2930) Secret key record
tsig (2845) Transaction signature that authenticates dynamic updates as coming from an approved client, or authenticates responses as coming from an approved recursive name server
txt (1035) Text record
wks Sender Policy Framework, DKIM, and DMARC DNS-SD
x25 (1183) X.25 PSDN address
zxfr Compressed zone transfer

This list contains examples of events you might find in the DNS logs.

Example of DNS log message in the ArcSight CEF format
`Oct 12 13:35:47 10.3.0.33 CEF:0
Example of DNS log message in the Reporting Server format
"Oct 26 2012 06:23:13","192.168.69.245","asm245.labt.ts.example.com","/Common/vs2_udp","​/Common/vlan1","A","domain1.local","A","Drop","10.10.10.2","10.10.10.251","4000","53","0"
Example of DNS log message in the Syslog format
"Oct 26 2012 06:23:13","192.168.69.245","asm245.labt.ts.example.com","/Common/vs2_udp","​/Common/vlan1","A","domain1.local","A","Drop","10.10.10.2","10.10.10.251","4000","53","0"

This table lists the fields that are contained in event messages that might display in the Network DNS DoS logs. The fields are listed in the order in which they appear in a message in the log.

Field name and type Example value Description
errdefs_msgno (integer) 23003141 Static number
errdefs_msg_name (string) DNS DoS Event Name of event
date_time (string) 11 13 2012 12:12:10 Date and time event occurred in this format: MMM DD YYYY HH:MM:SS
bigip_mgmt_ip (IP address) 192.168.1.246 BIG-IP system management IP address
hostname (string) bigip-4.pme-ds.f5.com BIG-IP system FQDN
context_name (string) /Common/vs1_udp Partition in which the virtual server resides and name of virtual server
vlan (string) External Name of VLAN interface
dns_query_type (string) A Type of DNS query causing the attack
dns_query_name (string) f5.com Name being queried
src_ip (IP address) 192.168.3.1 Source IP address
dest_ip (IP address) 192.168.3.1 Destination IP address
src_port (integer) 80 Protocol port number (non-negative)
dest_port (integer) 80 Protocol port number (non-negative)
partition_name (string) Common Name of the partition in which the virtual server resides
dos_attack_name (string) A query DOS Name of attack
dos_attack_id (integer) 1005891899 Unique, non-negative, attack instance ID
dos_attack_event (string) Attack Sampled Status of attack
action (string) None, Drop, Allow Action performed or reported

This table lists DNS DoS attack types and provides a short description and classification. The attack types are listed in alphabetical order by attack name.

Attack name (RFC) Description Value description
A query DOS (RFC 1035) Returns a 32-bit IPv4 address, most commonly used to map hostnames to an IP address of the host, but also used for DNSBLs, storing subnet masks in RFC 1101. Address record
PTR query DOS (RFC 1035) Pointer to a canonical name. Unlike a CNAME, DNS processing does not proceed, and only the name is returned. The most common use is for implementing reverse DNS lookups, but other uses include such things as DNS-SD. Pointer record
NS query DOS (1035) Delegates a DNS zone to use the given authoritative name servers. Name service record
SOA query DOS (1035) Specifies authoritative information about a DNS zone, including the primary name server, the email of the domain administrator, the domain serial number, and several timers relating to refreshing the zone. Start of authority record
CNAME query DOS (1035) Alias of one name to another: the DNS lookup will continue by retrying the lookup with the new name. Canonical name record
MX query DOS (1035) Maps a domain name to a list of message transfer agents for that domain. Mail exchange record
AAAA query DOS (3596) Returns a 128-bit IPv6 address, most commonly used to map hostnames to an IP address of the host. IPv6 address record
TXT query DOS (1035) Originally for arbitrary human-readable text in a DNS record, however, this record often carries machine-readable data, such as specified by RFC 1464, opportunistic encryption, Sender Policy Framework, DKIM, and DMARC DNS-SD. Text record
SRV query DOS (2782) Generalized service location record, used for newer protocols instead of creating protocol-specific records such as MX. Service locator
AXFR query DOS (1035) Request for a transfer of an entire zone. Request
IXFR query DOS (1995) Incremental transfer of records in the zone. Request
ANY query DOS (1035) Request for all records. Request
Malformed DOS Generated by a DNS packet in which one of the fields, for example, opcode, query_type or query_name, contains invalid information.  
Malicious DOS Generated by malicious packets, that is, malformed DNS packets with references that are invalid.  
Other Query DOS Queries, not listed in this table, which are being used to attack nameservers.  

This list contains examples of events you might find in the DNS DoS attack logs.

Example of DNS DoS attack log message in the Syslog format
"Oct 30 2012 10:57:09","192.168.56.179","Surya_BIG_IP_VM1.example.com","/Common/vs_192_168_57_177_53_gtm","​/Common/external","A","surya.example.com","192.168.56.171","192.168.57.177","43835","53","0","A query DOS","1005891899","Attack Sampled","Allow"

This list contains examples of events you might find in BIG-IP system logs. Please be aware that system log messages might be truncated, because the UDP protocol cannot send large messages. Note that using the TCP protocol impacts performance.

This log entry provides confirmation of a successful configuration save.

1 2012-11-01T18:07:13Z bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com tmsh 29639 01420002:5: 
[F5@12276 hostname="bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com" errdefs_msgno="01420002:5:"] 
AUDIT - pid=29639 user=root folder=/Common module=(tmos)# 
status=[Command OK] cmd_data=save / sys config partitions all

This log entry provides confirmation of the end of a DoS attack.

Nov 01 14:15:44 10.3.0.33 1 2012-11-01T18:09:38Z bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com 
2 28965 01010253:5: [F5@12276 hostname="bigip-3.pme-ds.f5.com" 
errdefs_msgno="01010253:5:"] A DOS attack has stopped for vector Ethernet 
broadcast packet, Attack ID 188335952.