Valid XML Handler

Purpose

The Valid XML Handler returns an error code if XML data sent with a request don’t adhere to a specified DTD.

For more information regarding adding and editing Handlers, see Editing Handlers.

Severity

Events triggered by this handler are given the severity: medium. (For details on severity levels, see Severity of Events Triggered by Handlers).

Recommendations for use

Use the Valid XML Handler if your web application uses XML and you want to ensure that all requests adhere to your DTD.

Attributes

Attribute Meaning

content types

Specify the content types of requests for which vWAF should validate the XML content.

Example: text/xml

dtd

Here you can enter the name of the DTD file or click the Browse button to select the file. The file must be on your local computer.

When you've chosen the file, click Submit File.

error code

HTTP error code that vWAF returns when the request doesn't adhere to the submitted DTD.

(For an overview of possible error codes, see HTTP Error Codes.)

usertext

Optional:

Here you can specify some text that vWAF adds to the log file entries created by this handler. You can use this, for example, to document why you've added the handler to your configuration, and how the handler is intended to behave.

enable logging

Disable this option if you do not want vWAF to create a log file entry when the handler is executed. This can be useful to keep log files smaller in case the handler creates a large number of entries but you don't need these entries.

When in detection mode, disabling logging de facto makes the handler ineffective. Disabling logging also prevents the actions of the handler from being taken into account for the Top-10 lists in Attack Analysis, and from being listed in Reports. To decrease the size of the log files, also consider to enable reduced logging, which excludes all non-handler-related information from the log files (see Editing Applications).

For details regarding entries added to the log file by this handler, see the relevant section in Entries in Application-Specific Log Files.