Everything about ModSecurity

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

1. Read the overview: ModSecurityA 5-minute orientation
2. Skim a recent paper: INTEGRASI WAZUH SIEM DENGAN MODSECURITY DAN VIRUS TOTAL MENGGUNAKAN NIST FRAMEWORK UNTUK MENDETEKSI SERANGAN WEBSITEInfluential work since 2022
3. Pick up a classic book: Apache CookbookThe most-reprinted book on the subject
4. Read the landmark paper: SQL Injection and Cross Site Scripting Prevention using OWASP ModSecurity Web Application FirewallCited 8 times
5. Go sideways: Web application firewallA closely related topic
6. Go sideways: Apache HTTP ServerA closely related topic

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

• SQL Injection and Cross Site Scripting Prevention using OWASP ModSecurity Web Application Firewall

  - Robinson, Memen Akbar, Muhammad Arif Fadhly Ridha · 2018 · JOIV : International Journal on Informatics Visualization · 8 citations

• A Thirty-Day Dataset of Malicious HTTP Requests Blocked by OWASP ModSecurity on a Production Web Server

  Geza Lucz, Bertalan Forstner · 2025 · Data · 4 citations

• An empirical study on the evaluation and enhancement of OWASP CRS (Core Rule Set) in ModSecurity

  Anuvarshini MK, Kommuri Sai Suhitha Bala, Sri Sai Tanvi Sonti · 2026 · Computers & Security · 3 citations

• Analysis of Polyglot Obfuscation Techniques against ModSecurity in Preventing Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) and SQL Injection Attacks with Experimental Method

  Nelmiawati Nelmiawati, Kessy Dealova · 2025 · Jurnal Teknik Informatika (Jutif) · 1 citations

• Analisis Performa ModSecurity Core Rule Set Menggunakan GoTestWAF untuk Mengidentifikasi Serangan dan Teknik Bypass pada Aplikasi Web

  Satriawan Desmana, Krisna Nuresa Qodri, Ratih Ratih · 2026 · Academic Journal of Computer Science Research · 0 citations

• Enhancing Web Application Protection with ModSecurity and Reverse Proxy

  K. Harini · 2025 · International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology · 0 citations

• Analisis Cyber Crime handling pada Aplikasi Web dengan WAF ModSecurity

  Hardianto Hardianto · 2023 · PETIR · 0 citations

• ПРИМЕНА MODSECURITY WAF-A У ЗАШТИТИ ВЕБ АПЛИКАЦИЈА

  Леона Недељковић · 2022 · Zbornik radova Fakulteta tehničkih nauka u Novom Sadu · 0 citations

🆕 Influential since 2022

• INTEGRASI WAZUH SIEM DENGAN MODSECURITY DAN VIRUS TOTAL MENGGUNAKAN NIST FRAMEWORK UNTUK MENDETEKSI SERANGAN WEBSITE

  Rizki Nurul Fahmi, Rudi Hartono, Dede Syahrul Anwar · 2025 · JATI (Jurnal Mahasiswa Teknik Informatika) · 0 citations

• Analisis Modsecurity dan Modantiloris pada Serangan DDOS SLOWHTTP terhadap Web Server

  Fariz Fadhilah, Eka Wahyudi, Eko Fajar Cahyadi · 2023 · Jurnal Litek : Jurnal Listrik Telekomunikasi Elektronika · 0 citations

• SmartWAF: Real-Time Web Threat Detection Using a Pretrained GRU Model and ModSecurity Integration

  Cristian Chindrus, Constantin-Florin Caruntu · 2026 · Applied Sciences · 0 citations

• Log Analysis and Evaluation of DoS Attacks in ModSecurity-Based Web Application Firewalls

  Mustafa Kara · 2026 · Applied Sciences · 0 citations

📚 Books worth reading

• Apache CookbookKen Coar, Rich Bowen · 2003
• Modsecurity handbookIvan Ristic · 2010
• ModSecurity 2.5Magnus Mischel · 2009

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics

• Web application firewall A Web application firewall (WAF) is a specific form of application firewall that filters, monitors, and blocks HTTP traffic to and from a web service.…
• Apache HTTP Server The Apache HTTP Server is a free and open-source cross-platform web server, released under the Apache License 2.0. It is developed and maintained by a…
• Nginx nginx (pronounced "engine x" /ˌɛndʒɪnˈɛks/ EN-jin-EKS, stylized as NGINX) is a web server that can also be used as a reverse proxy, load balancer, mail…
• Rewrite engine In web applications, a rewrite engine is a software component that performs rewriting on URLs (Uniform Resource Locators), modifying their appearance.…
• Web server directory index When an HTTP client (generally a web browser) requests a URL that points to a directory structure instead of an actual web page within the directory structure…
• Slowloris (cyber attack) Slowloris is a type of denial of service attack tool which allows a single machine to take down another machine's web server with minimal bandwidth and…
• Apache JServ Protocol The Apache JServ Protocol (AJP) is a binary protocol that can proxy inbound requests from a web server through to an application server that sits behind…
• URL redirection URL redirection, also called URL forwarding, is an Internet technique for making a web page available under more than one URL address. When a web browser…