name: analyzing-web-server-logs-for-intrusion description: Parse Apache and Nginx access logs to detect SQL injection attempts, local file inclusion, directory traversal, web scanner fingerprints, and brute-force patterns. Uses regex-based pattern matching against OWASP attack signatures, GeoIP enrichment for source attribution, and statistical anomaly detection for request frequency and response size outliers. domain: cybersecurity subdomain: security-operations tags:
- analyzing
- web
- server
- logs version: '1.0' author: mahipal license: Apache-2.0 nist_csf:
- DE.CM-01
- RS.MA-01
- GV.OV-01
- DE.AE-02
Analyzing Web Server Logs for Intrusion
When to Use
- When investigating security incidents that require analyzing web server logs for intrusion
- When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
- When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
- When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques
Prerequisites
- Familiarity with security operations concepts and tools
- Access to a test or lab environment for safe execution
- Python 3.8+ with required dependencies installed
- Appropriate authorization for any testing activities
Instructions
- Install dependencies:
pip install geoip2 user-agents - Collect web server access logs in Combined Log Format (Apache) or Nginx default format.
- Parse each log entry extracting: IP, timestamp, method, URI, status code, response size, user-agent, referer.
- Apply detection rules:
- SQL injection:
UNION SELECT,OR 1=1,' OR ', hex encoding patterns - LFI/Path traversal:
../,/etc/passwd,/proc/self,php://filter - XSS:
<script>,javascript:,onerror=,onload= - Scanner signatures: nikto, sqlmap, dirbuster, gobuster, wfuzz user-agents
- Brute force: >50 POST requests to login endpoints from same IP in 5 minutes
- SQL injection:
- Enrich with GeoIP data and generate a prioritized findings report.
python scripts/agent.py --log-file /var/log/nginx/access.log --geoip-db GeoLite2-City.mmdb --output web_intrusion_report.json
Examples
Detect SQLi in URI
192.168.1.100 - - [15/Jan/2024:10:30:45 +0000] "GET /products?id=1' UNION SELECT username,password FROM users-- HTTP/1.1" 200 4532
Scanner User-Agent Detection
Nikto/2.1.6, sqlmap/1.7, DirBuster-1.0-RC1, gobuster/3.1.0