Snort - the de facto standard for intrusion detection/prevention
the de facto standard in IPS  
Got Source? About Snort About Sourcefire Snort FAQ
Sourcefire Network Security - the creators of Snort
Snort News Snort Downloads Snort Rules Snort Docs Snort Training Snort Forums Snort Community Snort Store
Search Site
Search Rules
Account
email
password
not registered?
can't login?
user preferences
next up previous
Next: 5 Getting Fancy Up: 4 Rules and Alerts Previous: 4.31 How long can

4.32 What do the numbers (ie: [116:56:1]) in front of a Snort alert mean?

For this explanation, we'll use the following example: 

[**] [116:56:1] (snort_decoder): T/TCP Detected [**]
The first number is the Generator ID, this tells the user what component of Snort generated this alert. For a list of GIDs, please read etc/generators in the Snort source. In this case, we know that this event came from the ``decode'' (116) component of Snort.

The second number is the Snort ID (sometimes referred to as Signature ID). For a list of preprocessor SIDs, please see etc/gen-msg.map. Rule-based SIDs are written directly into the rules with the ``sid'' option. In this case, ``56'' represents a T/TCP event.

The third number is the revision ID. This number is primarily used when writing signatures, as each rendition of the rule should increment this number with the ``rev'' option.

next up previous
Next: 5 Getting Fancy Up: 4 Rules and Alerts Previous: 4.31 How long can
site feedback | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | forum archives ©2008 Snort and Sourcefire are registered trademarks of Sourcefire, Inc. All rights reserved.