DOCA Documentation v1.5.3 LTS

DPI Compiler

NVIDIA DOCA DPI Compiler

This document describes DPI compiler architecture, supported signatures format, compiler usage, etc.

DPI compiler is used to compile a signature file which will be loaded into the BlueField RegEx HW accelerator using a dedicated API (doca_dpi_load_signatures(cdo_file)). The output for the DPI compiler is a JSON-based CDO file.

dpi-compiler-architecture-diagram.png

This diagram contains the following elements:

  • Input rules file – file containing a list of rules

    Supported formats:

    • Suricata (limited support—see section "Description" for more information)
    • Third party signature files (for more information, please contact NVIDIA Support at: networking-support@nvidia.com).
  • RXP compiler – regular expression compiler which is part of the DPI compiler
  • Output CDO file – compiled signature output from compiler. File containing list of rules to be loaded to the RegEx engine.

The following is a Suricata syntax example:

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alert udp any any -> any 53 (msg:"ET DOS DNS BIND 9 Dynamic Update DoS attempt"; content:"|00 00 06|"; offset:8; content:"|c0 0c 00 ff|"; sid:2009701; )


Suricata rules are made of three parts – action, header, and options. Take the following rule for example:

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drop tcp 1.1.1.1/11 8080 -> 2.2.2.2/22 9090 (msg:"ET TROJAN Likely Bot Nick in IRC (USA +..)"; flow: to_server; content:"NICK "; nocase; pcre:"/NICK .*USA.*[0-9]{3,}/iI"; sid:2008124;)


The following table breaks down the rule syntax:
Part Rule Element
Action drop
Header tcp any any -> any any 1.1.1.1/11 8080 -> 2.2.2.2/22 9090
Options

(msg:"ET TROJAN Likely Bot Nick in IRC (USA +..)"; flow: to_server; content:"NICK "; nocase; pcre:"/NICK .*USA.*[0-9]{3,}/i"; sid:2008124;)

Detailed explanation can be found in Suricata's official documentation.

DPI compiler has limited support for Suricata format. Field support is detailed in the following table:
Part Keyword Support
Action any Accept any value. The application decides what to do with each action value.
Header Protocol Possible values: tcp, udp
Header Port Single port number or range (ex. 100:150)
Header Address Single IP address and netmask (ex. 1.2.3.4/5)
Header Direction
  • -> - unidirectional: client-to-server OR server-to-client (default is client-to-server)
  • <> - bidirectional: client to server and server to client
Option msg Any string – use to identify the rule in case of match on the DPI
Option http. (must come before content option) uri, cookie, user_agent, host, referer, content_type, request_body, response_body
Option http_ (must come after content option) uri, cookie, user_agent, host, referer, content_type, request_body, response_body
Option content modifiers

nocase, startswith, endswith, offset

Negation (!) for content is not supported

Option PCRE modifiers
  • i – PCRE is case insensitive
  • s – PCRE checks new line characters
  • A – A pattern must match at the beginning of a buffer
  • I – Makes PCRE match on the HTTP-raw-uri
  • C – Makes PCRE match on the HTTP-cookie
  • V – Makes PCRE match on the HTTP-User-Agent
  • W – Makes PCRE match on the HTTP-Host
  • P – Makes PCRE match on the HTTP-Content for CTS
  • Q – Makes PCRE match on the HTTP-Content for STC
Option ip_proto Supported values: 1 (ICMP), 6 (TCP), 17 (UDP)
Option flow from_client, to_client, from_server, to_server
Option tls. sni – server name indication
Option dns. query
Option sid Any number
Option gid

Group rules to have OR dependency for rules with the same sid. By default, every all gid are 0.

Note:

If content or PCRE are provided without a field (e.g., http_uri), content/PCRE is searched on TCP/UDP payload according to the header protocol.


To execute the compiler:

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Usage: doca_dpi_compiler [DOCA Flags] [Program Flags] DOCA Flags: -h, --help Print a help synopsis -v, --version Print program version information -l, --log-level <CRITICAL=20, ERROR=30, WARNING=40, INFO=50, DEBUG=60> Program Flags: -i, --input Full path to signature file -f, --format Signature file format -o, --output Full path to CDO file -c, --classtype Path to the classtype file for priority in suricata file


For example:

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doca_dpi_compiler -i ./suricata_rules.rules -o compiler_output.cdo -f suricata


To run doca_dpi _compiler using a JSON file:

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doca_dpi_compiler --json [json_file]


For example:

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doca_dpi_compiler --json /tmp/doca_dpi_compiler.json

Refer to NVIDIA DOCA Arg Parser User Guide for more information.

Flag Description JSON Content
-h / --help Print all information about the available options N/A
-i / --input Path to input files
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"input" : "/tmp/signatures.rules"

-o / --output Path to output file
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"output" : "/tmp/signatures.cdo"

-f / --format Signatures format
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"format" : "suricata"

-p / --print_rules-c / --classtype Add the RegEx rules being passed to the RXPC to the CDO as well (useful for debug). Path to a classtype file containing information for priority in suricata format.
Note:

Needed only for input files that contain a classtype field in the rules.

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"classtype" : "/tmp/classtype_config.txt"

-v / --version Print the current DOCA version in use N/A

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