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Next: 4.33 I upgraded to 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.


Nigel Houghton 2006-10-02
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