Manual Chapter : Signature Options

Applies To:

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BIG-IP ASM

  • 17.1.1, 17.1.0, 17.0.0, 16.1.5, 16.1.4, 16.1.3, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0, 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0
Manual Chapter

Signature Options

Keyword summary

The keywords, generally referred to as
scopes
, are used in signatures to search for specific fixed strings in different parts of the input. This table summarizes the keywords that you can use in signatures, including the reference keyword, which is not a scope.
Keyword
Use
content
Matches the full content.
uricontent
Matches the URI, including the query string (unless using the
objonly
modifier).
headercontent
Matches the HTTP header.
valuecontent
Matches an alphanumeric user-input parameter (or an extra-normalized parameter, if using the
norm
modifier); used for parameter values, XML objects, JSON/GWT objects, XML/JSON parameters, and cookies. When a signature includes the
valuecontent
keyword, XML payloads are examined.
The
valuecontent
parameter replaces the
paramcontent
parameter that was used in Application Security Manager versions prior to 10.0.
reference
Provides an external link to documentation and other information for the rule.

Modifiers summary

The modifiers alter the meaning of keywords used in a signature. This table summarizes the modifiers.
Modifier
Usage
depth
Specifies that the preceding keyword is found not more than X bytes into the appropriate scope. This is an absolute modifier.
distance
Specifies that the preceding keyword is found not less than X bytes after the prior keyword. This is a relative modifier.
gwtonly
Applies the signature if the request contains Google Web Toolkit (GWT) content. Used with the
valuecontent
keyword.
httponly
Matches on parameters when used with the
valuecontent
keyword.
jsononly
Applies the signature if the request contains JSON content. Used with the
valuecontent
keyword.
nocase
Makes the preceding keyword not case-sensitive.
norm
Matches the preceding parameter to which additional normalizations have been applied.
objonly
Limits the scope of the preceding
uricontent
keyword to the URI part only.
offset
Specifies that the preceding keyword is found not less than X bytes into the appropriate scope. This is an absolute modifier.
plaintextonly
Applies the signature if the request contains plain text content. Used with the
valuecontent
keyword.
within
Specifies that the preceding keyword is found not more than X bytes after the prior keyword. This is a relative modifier.
xmlonly
Applies the signature if the request contains XML content. Used with the
valuecontent
keyword.

Regular expression scopes

Scopes
define the portion of a request or response that the regular expression keyword (
pcre
,
re2
,
ipp
) applies to. This table lists the rule flags to use for different scopes in an attack or bot signature.
Rule flag
Scope
C
Full content of the request or response body
U
URI, including query string
O
URL only (URI without query string)
H
HTTP headers
V
HTTP parameters in query string or POST data
N
HTTP parameters with additional normalizations
In signatures, rules for responses can contain only rule options and modifiers that apply to the entire content of the response. In other words, for response rules, you can use the
content
and
reference
keywords, and any applicable modifiers for these keywords. You can also use the
pcre
,
re2
, or
ipp
rule options for responses, as long as you do not use a scope modifier for them.

Keyword and flag compatibility

These tables describe the compatibility between keyword rule options themselves, and between keywords and regular expression (regex) flags. You can refer to these tables when developing attack or bot signatures to understand which keywords and flags can be used together. "Valid" means that you can use the combination together in a signature. "Invalid" means you cannot use the two together.
Keywords/Keywords
content
uricontent
headercontent
paramcontent
valuecontent
content
Valid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
Invalid
uricontent
Valid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
Invalid
headercontent
Valid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
Invalid
paramcontent
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Valid
Invalid
valuecontent
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Valid
Keywords/Flags
None
U
O
H
P
N
V
content
Valid
Valid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
uricontent
Valid
Valid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
headercontent
Valid
Valid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
paramcontent
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
valuecontent
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Valid
Flags/Flags
None
U
O
H
P
N
V
None
Valid
Valid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
U
Valid
Valid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
O
Valid
Valid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
H
Valid
Valid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
N
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Valid
Valid
Invalid
V (See note)
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Invalid
Valid
You should use V (with
httponly
if necessary) instead of the deprecated P regex flag.

About normalization

For the URI and parameter scopes, the system always applies a normalization process before applying the rule options to the signature. For parameters, you can include the
norm
modifier with the
valuecontent
keyword to cause the system to perform additional normalizations to make the content more regular. The additional parameter normalizations also help mitigate common evasion techniques used in XSS, SQL-Injection, and Command Execution attacks. Therefore, it is a good idea to use additional normalizations, by default.

Composite rules

You can combine rule options together to form
composite rules
. By using keywords combined with modifiers, the rule options merge to form a single assertion. Rule options are combined using an implied AND operator; this makes it so that all conditions in the rule must be met in order to satisfy the rule as a whole.
Consider the following points when combining rule options:
  • You can combine different scopes within one rule as long as you do not use any relative modifiers. For example, this rule is invalid because it includes two scopes (
    content
    and
    uricontent
    ), and
    within
    , a relative modifier:
    content:"ABC"; uricontent:"XYZ"; within:10;
  • You cannot combine the
    valuecontent
    ,
    pcre P
    , or
    re2 P
    rule options with other scope keywords. The parameter rule options must be the only scope keywords in their respective rules. You can, however, combine the parameter keywords with additional
    valuecontent
    ,
    pcre P
    , or
    re2 P
    keywords, including those with the
    norm
    modifier (or
    N
    , for
    pcre
    or
    re2
    ).