Web Server Logs


  • typically configured to log HTTP traffic that:
    • encounters an error
    • or traffic that matches some predefined rule set
  • This can preserve indicators of attempted and successful replay, forgery, and injection attacks
  • status code of a response can reveal info about the request and the server’s behavior
    • 400 range indicate client-based errors
      • repeated 403 (“Forbidden”) responses
        • may indicate that the server is rejecting a client’s attempts to access resources they are not authorized to
    • 500 range indicate server-based errors
      • 502 (“Bad Gateway”) response could indicate
        • that communications between the target server and its upstream server are being blocked
        • or that the upstream server is down
  • some web server software also logs HTTP header information for both requests and responses
    • can provide a detailed picture of the makeup of each request or response
      • e.g., cookie information