Functions reference
The Cloudflare Rules language provides functions for manipulating and validating values in an expression:
- Transformation functions manipulate values extracted from an HTTP request.
- The HMAC validation function tests the validity of an HMAC token. Use it to write expressions that target requests based on the presence of a valid HMAC token.
Transformation functions
The Rules language supports several functions that transform values extracted from HTTP requests. A common use case for transformation functions is the conversion of a string of characters to uppercase or lowercase, since by default, string evaluation is case sensitive.
For example, the lower() function converts all uppercase characters in a string to lowercase.
In the expression below, thelower() function transforms http.host values to lowercase so that they match the target value "www.cloudflare.com":
lower(http.host) == "www.cloudflare.com"
Transformation functions that do not take arrays as an argument type require the [*] index notation. Refer to Arrays for more information.
The Rules language supports these transformation functions:
any(Array<Boolean>)BooleanReturns
truewhen the comparison operator in the argument returnstruefor any of the values in the argument array. Returnsfalseotherwise.Example:
any(url_decode(http.request.body.form.values[*])[*] contains "an xss attack")
all(Array<Boolean>)BooleanReturns
truewhen the comparison operator in the argument returnstruefor all values in the argument array. Returnsfalseotherwise.Example:
all(http.request.headers["content-type"][*] == "application/json")
concat(String | Integer | bytes | Array elements)StringTakes a comma-separated list of values. Concatenates the argument values into a single String.
Example:
concat("String1"," ","String",2) == "String1 String2"
ends_with(sourceString, substringString)BooleanReturns
truewhen the source ends with a given substring. Returnsfalseotherwise. The source cannot be a literal value (for example,"foo").Example:
Ifhttp.request.uri.pathis"/welcome.html", thenends_with(http.request.uri.path, ".html")will returntrue.
len(String | bytes)IntegerReturns the byte length of a String or Bytes field.
Example:
len(http.host)
lookup_json_integer(fieldString, keyString | Integer [, keyString | Integer, …])IntegerReturns the integer value associated with the supplied
keyinfield.
Thefieldmust be a string representation of a valid JSON document.
Thekeycan be an attribute name, a zero-based position number in a JSON array, or a combination of these two options (as extra function parameters), while following the hierarchy of the JSON document to obtain a specific integer value.
Note: This function only works for plain integers. For example, it will not work for floating numbers with a zero decimal part such as42.0.Examples:
A) Given the following JSON object contained in the
http.request.body.rawfield:{ "record_id": "aed53a", "version": 2 }
The following function call will return2:lookup_json_integer(http.request.body.raw, "version") == 2B) Given the following nested object:
{ "product": { "id": 356 } }
The following function call will return356:lookup_json_integer(http.request.body.raw, "product", "id") == 356C) Given the following JSON array at the root level:
["first_item", -234]
The following function call will return-234:lookup_json_integer(http.request.body.raw, 1) == -234D) Given the following array in a JSON object attribute:
{ "network_ids": [123, 456] }
The following function call will return123:lookup_json_integer(http.request.body.raw, "network_ids", 0) == 123E) Given the following root-level array of JSON objects:
[{ "product_id": 123 }, { "product_id": 456 }]
The following function call will return456:lookup_json_integer(http.request.body.raw, 1, "product_id") == 456
lookup_json_string(fieldString, keyString | Integer [, keyString | Integer, …])StringReturns the string value associated with the supplied
keyinfield.
Thefieldmust be a string representation of a valid JSON document.
Thekeycan be an attribute name, a zero-based position number in a JSON array, or a combination of these two options (as extra function parameters), while following the hierarchy of the JSON document to obtain a specific value.Examples:
A) Given the following JSON object contained in the
http.request.body.rawfield:{ "company": "cloudflare", "product": "rulesets" }
The following expression will returntrue:lookup_json_string(http.request.body.raw, "company") == "cloudflare"B) Given the following nested object:
{ "network": { "name": "cloudflare" } }
The following expression will returntrue:lookup_json_string(http.request.body.raw, "network", "name") == "cloudflare"C) Given the following JSON array at the root level:
["other_company", "cloudflare"]
The following expression will returntrue:lookup_json_string(http.request.body.raw, 1) == "cloudflare"D) Given the following array in a JSON object attribute:
{ "networks": ["other_company", "cloudflare"] }
The following expression will returntrue:lookup_json_string(http.request.body.raw, "networks", 1) == "cloudflare"E) Given the following root-level array of JSON objects:
[{ "network": "other_company" }, { "network": "cloudflare" }]
The following expression will returntrue:lookup_json_string(http.request.body.raw, 1, "network") == "cloudflare"
lower(String)StringConverts a string field to lowercase. Only uppercase ASCII bytes are converted. All other bytes are unaffected.
Example:
lower(http.host) == "www.cloudflare.com"
regex_replace(sourceString, regular_expressionString, replacementString)StringReplaces a part of a source string matched by a regular expression with a replacement string, returning the result. The replacement string can contain references to regular expression capture groups.
Examples:
Literal match replace:
regex_replace("/foo/bar", "/bar$", "/baz") == "/foo/baz"If there is no match, the input string does not change:
regex_replace("/x", "^/y$", "/mumble") == "/x"Match is case sensitive by default:
regex_replace("/foo", "^/FOO$", "/x") == "/foo"When there are multiple matches, only one replacement occurs (the first one):
regex_replace("/a/a", "/a", "/b") == "/b/a"Escape a
$in the replacement string by prefixing it with another$:regex_replace("/b", "^/b$", "/b$$") == "/b$"Replace with capture groups:
regex_replace("/foo/a/path", "^/foo/([^/]*)/(.*)$", "/bar/${2}/${1}") == "/bar/path/a/"Create capture groups by putting part of the regular expression in parentheses. Then, reference a capture group using
${<num>}in the replacement string, where<num>is the number of the capture group.
remove_bytes(bytes)bytesReturns a new byte array with all the occurrences of the given bytes removed.
Example:
// With http.host = "www.cloudflare.com":remove_bytes(http.host, "\x2e\x77") == "cloudflarecom"
starts_with(sourceString, substringString)BooleanReturns
truewhen the source starts with a given substring. Returnsfalseotherwise. The source cannot be a literal value (for example,"foo").Example:
// With http.request.uri.path = "/blog/first-post":starts_with(http.request.uri.path, "/blog") == true
substring(fieldString | Bytes, startInteger [, endInteger])StringReturns part of the
fieldvalue (the value of a String or Bytes field) from thestartbyte index up to (but excluding) theendbyte index. The first byte infieldhas index0. If you do not provide the optionalendindex, the function returns the part of the string fromstartindex to the end of the string.The
endindex must be greater than thestartindex. Thestartandendindexes can be negative integer values, which allows you to access characters from the end of the string instead of the beginning.Examples:
// With http.request.body.raw = "asdfghjk":substring(http.request.body.raw, 2, 5) == "dfg"substring(http.request.body.raw, 2) == "dfghjk"substring(http.request.body.raw, -2) == "jk"
to_string(Integer | Boolean | IP address)StringReturns the string representation of an Integer, Boolean, or IP address value.
Examples:
to_string(cf.bot_management.score) == "5"to_string(ssl) == "true"
upper(String)StringConverts a string field to uppercase. Only lowercase ASCII bytes are converted. All other bytes are unaffected.
Example:
upper(http.host) == “WWW.CLOUDFLARE.COM”
url_decode(sourceString[, optionsString])StringDecodes a URL-formatted string defined in
source, as in the following:%20and+decode to a space character ().%E4%BDdecodes toä½.
The
optionsparameter is optional. You must provide any options as a single string wrapped in quotes, such as"r"or"ur". The available options are the following:r: Applies recursive decoding. For example,%2520will be decoded twice (recursively) to a space character ().u: Enables Unicode percent decoding. For example,%E2%98%81%EF%B8%8Fwill be decoded to a cloud emoji (☁️).
Examples:
url_decode("John%20Doe") == "John Doe"url_decode("John+Doe") == "John Doe"url_decode("%2520") == "%20"url_decode("%2520", "r") == " "// With the any() function:any(url_decode(http.request.body.form.values[*])[*] contains "an xss attack")
uuidv4(Bytes)StringGenerates a random UUIDv4 (Universally Unique Identifier, version 4) based on the given argument (a source of randomness). To obtain an array of random bytes, use the
cf.random_seedfield.Example:
uuidv4(cf.random_seed)returns a UUIDv4 similar to49887398-6bcf-485f-8899-f15dbef4d1d5
Magic Firewall Functions
bit_slice(protocolString, offset_startNumber, offset_endNumber)Number- This function looks for matches on a given slice of bits.
- The offset starts on the given protocol header. For example, to match on the first bit of payload for a UDP packet, you must set
offset_startto64. - This is primarily intended for use with
ip,udp, andtcp. - The slice (
offset_end—offset_start) cannot be longer than 32 bits, but multiple calls can be joined together via logical expressions. - The
bit_sliceoffset cannot exceed 2,040 bits.
HMAC validation
Overview
You can validate hash-based message authentication code (HMAC) tokens in a rule expression by using the is_timed_hmac_valid_v0() function, which has this signature:
is_timed_hmac_valid_v0(<String literal as Key>,<String field as MessageMAC>,<Integer literal as ttl>,<Integer as currentTimeStamp>,<Optional Integer literal as lengthOfSeparator, default: 0>,<Optional String literal as flags>) -> <Bool as result>
The is_timed_hmac_valid_v0() function has these parameter definitions:
KeyString literal- Specifies the secret cryptographic key for validating the HMAC.
MessageMACString- Contains a concatenation of these HMAC elements:
message,separator,timestamp,mac. For a definition and an example, refer to MessageMAC.
- Contains a concatenation of these HMAC elements:
ttlInteger literal- Defines the time-to-live for the HMAC token, expressed in seconds. Determines how long the token is valid, relative to the time it was issued.
currentTimeStampInteger- Represents the UNIX timestamp when Cloudflare received the request, expressed in seconds. Pass the
http.request.timestamp.secfield as an approximate value to this argument.
- Represents the UNIX timestamp when Cloudflare received the request, expressed in seconds. Pass the
lengthOfSeparatorInteger literal- Specifies the length of the
separatorbetween thetimestampand themessagein theMessageMAC. Expressed in bytes, with a default value of0.
- Specifies the length of the
flagsString literalWhen you set this optional argument to
's', the function expects the value of the Base64-encodedmacin theMessageMACargument to use the URL-safe character set with no padding.When you do not set the value of
flagsto's', you must URL encode the Base64 value formacin theMessageMACargument.
Usage
The is_timed_hmac_valid_v0() function uses the supplied Key to generate a message authentication code (MAC) from the message and the timestamp regions of the MessageMAC. When the generated MAC matches the mac region of the MessageMAC and the token has not expired, the HMAC is valid and the function returns true.
For example, the following expression matches requests to download.example.com that do not include valid HMAC tokens:
http.host == "download.example.com"and not is_timed_hmac_valid_v0("mysecretkey", http.request.uri, 100000, http.request.timestamp.sec, 8)
For examples of rules that use HMAC validation, refer to Require a valid HMAC token in the WAF documentation.
MessageMAC
A valid MessageMAC satisfies the following regular expression:
(.+)(.*)(\d{10})-(.{43,})
and is composed of these parentheses-delimited expressions:
| Expression | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
(.+) | The message to validate. | /download/cat.jpg |
(.*) | The separator between message and timestamp, commonly a parameter name. | &verify= |
(\d{10}) | The 10-digit UNIX timestamp when the MAC was issued, expressed in seconds. | 1484063137 |
(.{43,}) | A Base64-encoded version of the When the Base64 MAC encoding is URL-safe, the | IaLGSmELTvlhfd0ItdN6PhhHTFhzx |
For details on generating a MessageMAC, refer to Implement token creation.
HMAC validation examples
MessageMAC in a single field
Consider the case where the MessageMAC is contained entirely within a single field, as in this example URI path:
/download/cat.jpg?verify=1484063787-IaLGSmELTvlhfd0ItdN6PhhHTFhzx73EX8uy%2FcSDiIU%3D
Note how the URI maps to the elements of the MessageMAC:
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
message | /download/cat.jpg |
separator | ?verify= (with length 8) |
timestamp | 1484063787 |
mac | IaLGSmELTvlhfd0ItdN6PhhHTFhzx73EX8uy%2FcSDiIU%3D |
When the MessageMAC is contained entirely within a single field such as http.request.uri, pass the field name to the MessageMAC argument of the HMAC validation function:
is_timed_hmac_valid_v0("mysecretkey",http.request.uri,100000,http.request.timestamp.sec,8)
Concatenated MessageMAC argument
To compose a MessageMAC from more than one field, use the concat() function.
This example constructs the value of the MessageMAC argument by concatenating the request URI and two header fields:
is_timed_hmac_valid_v0("mysecretkey",concat(http.request.uri,http.request.headers["timestamp"][0],"-",http.request.headers["mac"][0]),100000,http.request.timestamp.sec,0)