WAF Security Product Inspection & Monitoring#

This skill performs comprehensive security inspection for Alibaba Cloud WAF 3.0 instances across both business regions (cn-hangzhou and ap-southeast-1). It covers asset inventory (CNAME domains, cloud product access, SSL certificates), attack event statistics (Bot/CC via bot_manager templates), traffic analysis (QPS/bandwidth with period-over-period), HTTP status code anomaly detection (4xx/5xx), and protection status checks (alarms, DDoS, pause status). Outputs a structured inspection report following a standardized template.

Architecture: waf-openapi (WAF 3.0) -> aliyun CLI plugin mode (kebab-case) -> Dual-Region Inspection -> Structured Report

Pre-checks#

Pre-check: Aliyun CLI >= 3.3.3 required

Run aliyun version to verify >= 3.3.3. If not installed or version too low, run curl -fsSL https://aliyuncli.alicdn.com/setup.sh | bash to install/update, or see references/cli-installation-guide.md for installation instructions.

Pre-check: Aliyun CLI plugin update required

[MUST] run aliyun configure set --auto-plugin-install true to enable automatic plugin installation. [MUST] run aliyun plugin update to ensure that any existing plugins are always up-to-date.

Pre-check: Script dependencies

Scripts in scripts/ require Python 3 (standard library only, no third-party packages). See scripts/requirements.txt for details.

Observability Initialization (MUST run before any command)#

bash

if [ -z "$SKILL_SESSION_ID" ]; then
  export SKILL_SESSION_ID="$(cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid 2>/dev/null | tr -d '-' || uuidgen | tr -d '-' | tr 'A-F' 'a-f')"
fi
export ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT="AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-waf-security-monitor/${SKILL_SESSION_ID}"
export ALIBABA_CLOUD_OTEL_TRACEPARENT="00-${SKILL_SESSION_ID}-01"
export ALIBABA_CLOUD_OTEL_BAGGAGE="skill=alibabacloud-waf-security-monitor,source=agent-skills"

Do not skip, alter formats, or place PII in baggage.

Authentication#

Pre-check: Alibaba Cloud Credentials Required

Security Rules:

• NEVER read, echo, or print AK/SK values (e.g., echo $ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID is FORBIDDEN)
• NEVER ask the user to input AK/SK directly in the conversation or command line
• NEVER use aliyun configure set with literal credential values
• ONLY use aliyun configure list to check credential status

bash

aliyun configure list

Check the output for a valid profile (AK, STS, or OAuth identity).

If no valid profile exists, STOP here.

1. Obtain credentials from Alibaba Cloud Console
2. Configure credentials outside of this session (via aliyun configure in terminal or environment variables in shell profile)
3. Return and re-run after aliyun configure list shows a valid profile

RAM Policy#

All permissions are read-only (Describe/List only). See references/ram-policies.md for the full policy JSON.

CategoryAPI ActionsTypeAsset ManagementDescribeInstance, DescribeDomains, DescribeCloudResourceListRead-onlyAttack EventsDescribeDefenseRuleStatistics, DescribeApisecEventsRead-onlyTraffic AnalysisDescribeFlowChart, DescribePeakTrend, DescribeFlowTopResource, DescribeFlowTopUrlRead-onlyStatus CodesDescribeResponseCodeTrendGraphRead-onlyProtection StatusDescribePauseProtectionStatus, DescribeAlarmList, DescribeDDoSStatusRead-onlyCertificatesDescribeCertsRead-onlyDefenseDescribeDefenseTemplates, DescribeMajorProtectionBlackIpsRead-only

[MUST] Permission Failure Handling: When any command or API call fails due to permission errors at any point during execution, follow this process:

1. Read references/ram-policies.md to get the full list of permissions required by this SKILL
2. Use ram-permission-diagnose skill to guide the user through requesting the necessary permissions
3. Pause and wait until the user confirms that the required permissions have been granted

Parameter Confirmation#

IMPORTANT: Parameter Confirmation -- Before executing any command or API call, ALL user-customizable parameters (e.g., RegionId, instance names, CIDR blocks, passwords, domain names, resource specifications, etc.) MUST be confirmed with the user. Do NOT assume or use default values without explicit user approval.

ParameterRequired/OptionalDescriptionDefault ValueTime rangeOptionalInspection time windowLast 24 hoursComparison modeOptionalPeriod-over-period baselineDay-over-dayRegion scopeOptionalWhich WAF regions to inspectBoth cn-hangzhou and ap-southeast-1

Note: InstanceId is auto-discovered — no user input needed. Phase 1 calls describe-instance for each region to obtain the WAF InstanceId automatically. All subsequent API calls use the discovered value. Users never need to provide --instance-id manually.

Core Inspection Workflow#

Execution guidance:

• Region rules: WAF 3.0 has only two business regions: cn-hangzhou and ap-southeast-1. Query both independently -- each has its own InstanceId. Use --region flag only ( --region-id causes "unknown flag" errors, --biz-region-id does not route correctly). See API Reference.
• User-Agent per command: Every aliyun waf-openapi CLI call MUST include --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" flag (set during Observability Initialization).
• Same shell session for Phase 1-2-3-4: Variables like REGION_INSTANCES, BASE_START, EFFECTIVE_BOT_ID are shared across phases. Splitting into separate shells loses these values and causes undefined-variable errors.
• Run each code block via bash. Do not just describe/plan.
• Use RESULT as the variable name for API call outputs, because the verification script ( scripts/verify_output.py) and the log aggregation pattern depend on consistent variable naming.
• Append every aliyun waf-openapi output to /tmp/waf_skill_output.log -- the verification script in Phase 4.7 parses this single file for completeness checks.
• On error: report to user and continue. On empty result: report "0" -- do not omit the section.

Phase 1-2-3: Environment, Assets & Timestamps (SINGLE BLOCK)#

bash

# === Phase 1: Heartbeat ===
HEARTBEAT_CN=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-instance \
  --region cn-hangzhou --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
echo "$HEARTBEAT_CN" > /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
HEARTBEAT_INTL=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-instance \
  --region ap-southeast-1 --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
echo "$HEARTBEAT_INTL" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log

# Setup
aliyun version
aliyun configure set --auto-plugin-install true --connect-timeout 10 --read-timeout 30 2>/dev/null || true
aliyun plugin update 2>/dev/null || true

# === Phase 2.1: Instance discovery (from heartbeat, no redundant calls) ===
declare -A REGION_INSTANCES
for region in cn-hangzhou ap-southeast-1; do
  if [ "$region" = "cn-hangzhou" ]; then RAW="$HEARTBEAT_CN"; else RAW="$HEARTBEAT_INTL"; fi
  IDS=$(echo "$RAW" | python3 -c "
import sys,json,re
raw=sys.stdin.read()
raw=re.sub(r'[\x00-\x1f\x7f]','',raw)
try:
  d=json.loads(raw)
  if 'InstanceId' in d: print(d['InstanceId'])
except:
  for line in raw.splitlines():
    if '\"InstanceId\"' in line and 'waf_' in line:
      print(line.split('\"InstanceId\"')[1].split('\"')[1]); break
" 2>/dev/null)
  REGION_INSTANCES[$region]="$IDS"
  echo "[MAPPING] $region -> $IDS"
done
echo "[CHECK] cn-hangzhou=${REGION_INSTANCES[cn-hangzhou]} | ap-southeast-1=${REGION_INSTANCES[ap-southeast-1]}"

# DEGRADED FALLBACK
[ -z "${REGION_INSTANCES[cn-hangzhou]}" ] && REGION_INSTANCES[cn-hangzhou]="UNKNOWN" && echo "[DEGRADED] cn-hangzhou=UNKNOWN"
[ -z "${REGION_INSTANCES[ap-southeast-1]}" ] && REGION_INSTANCES[ap-southeast-1]="UNKNOWN" && echo "[DEGRADED] ap-southeast-1=UNKNOWN"

# === Phase 2.2: Domains (use page-size 10 -- larger values like 100 trigger API parameter errors) ===
for region in cn-hangzhou ap-southeast-1; do
  for instance_id in ${REGION_INSTANCES[$region]}; do
    RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-domains \
      --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
      --page-number 1 --page-size 10 \
      --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
    echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
  done
done

# === Phase 2.3: Cloud resources + Certificates ===
for region in cn-hangzhou ap-southeast-1; do
  for instance_id in ${REGION_INSTANCES[$region]}; do
    RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-cloud-resource-list \
      --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
      --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
    echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
    # Cross-region mismatch detection: flag resources whose ResourceRegionId != WAF instance region
    echo "$RESULT" | python3 scripts/detect_region_mismatch.py \
      --region "$region" --instance-id "$instance_id" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
    RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-certs \
      --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
      --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
    echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
  done
done

# === Phase 3: Timestamps ===
if [ -n "$BASE_END" ] && ! echo "$BASE_END" | grep -qE '^[0-9]+$'; then
  echo "[ERROR] BASE_END is not a valid integer: $BASE_END"; exit 1
fi
if [ -n "$BASE_START" ] && ! echo "$BASE_START" | grep -qE '^[0-9]+$'; then
  echo "[ERROR] BASE_START is not a valid integer: $BASE_START"; exit 1
fi
BASE_END=${BASE_END:-$(date +%s)}; BASE_START=${BASE_START:-$((BASE_END - 86400))}
COMPARE_END=$((BASE_START)); COMPARE_START=$((COMPARE_END - (BASE_END - BASE_START)))
echo "[TIMESTAMP] BASE=$BASE_START~$BASE_END COMPARE=$COMPARE_START~$COMPARE_END"
echo "[PHASE 1-2-3 DONE] Instances: cn-hangzhou=${REGION_INSTANCES[cn-hangzhou]} ap-southeast-1=${REGION_INSTANCES[ap-southeast-1]}"

Abort rule: Per-region independent. cn-hangzhou fail does not mean skip ap-southeast-1. Only terminate on InvalidAccessKeyId (credential problem affects all regions). Otherwise use degraded mode with UNKNOWN placeholder.

Phase 4: Inspection (Per-Region, Per-Instance)#

All code blocks 4.1-4.5 should execute regardless of prior results, because each inspection dimension is independent.

• Error in call N: log the error and immediately execute call N+1.
• Every call must include --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" flag.
• Every call: RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi <cmd> --region $region --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" ... 2>&1); echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
• Loop: for region in cn-hangzhou ap-southeast-1; do for instance_id in ${REGION_INSTANCES[$region]}; do
• After each region completes 4.1-4.5, print: echo "[CHECKPOINT] region=$region ALL phases done"
• Do not use break/continue/return inside the region loop.

4.1 Defense Templates

Use python3 for JSON extraction (not grep/sed/awk/bash string ops). See Defense Templates Guide.

bash

RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-defense-templates \
  --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
  --page-number 1 --page-size 50 \
  --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log

BOT_TEMPLATE_ID=$(echo "$RESULT" | python3 scripts/extract_bot_template.py 2>/dev/null)
if ! echo "$BOT_TEMPLATE_ID" | grep -qE '^[0-9]+$'; then BOT_TEMPLATE_ID=""; fi
EFFECTIVE_BOT_ID="${BOT_TEMPLATE_ID:-0}"
echo "[TEMPLATE] BOT=$EFFECTIVE_BOT_ID region=$region"

• describe-defense-rule-statistics only supports bot_manager. Other scenes return DefenseSceneNotSupported.
• Empty template-id: use 0 fallback (ensures call reaches server; server returns "template not found" which gets logged).

4.2 Attack Events (3 calls per instance)

CC Detection Mapping: CC attack data comes from describe-defense-rule-statistics (primary-key=scene/action/status). If the API returns empty, write "CC/Bot attacks: 0 (no block records in this period)" -- avoid writing "not detected" which implies active detection occurred.

bash

for key in scene action status; do
  RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-defense-rule-statistics \
    --instance-id $instance_id --primary-key $key \
    --template-id $EFFECTIVE_BOT_ID --region $region \
    --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
  echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
done
RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-apisec-events \
  --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
  --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-major-protection-black-ips \
  --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
  --page-number 1 --page-size 50 \
  --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log

4.3 Traffic (base + compare, both required)

bash

for api in describe-flow-chart describe-peak-trend; do
  RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi $api \
    --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
    --start-timestamp $BASE_START --end-timestamp $BASE_END --interval 300 \
    --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
  echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
done
# COMPARE period (execute even if base returned empty)
for api in describe-flow-chart describe-peak-trend; do
  RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi $api \
    --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
    --start-timestamp $COMPARE_START --end-timestamp $COMPARE_END --interval 300 \
    --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
  echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
done
RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-flow-top-resource \
  --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
  --start-timestamp $BASE_START --end-timestamp $BASE_END \
  --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-flow-top-url \
  --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
  --start-timestamp $BASE_START --end-timestamp $BASE_END \
  --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
echo "[SELF-CHECK-4.3] region=$region BASE+COMPARE flow calls done."

4.4 HTTP Status Codes (4 calls per region: 2 types x 2 periods)

bash

for type_val in waf upstream; do
  for start_ts end_ts in $BASE_START $BASE_END $COMPARE_START $COMPARE_END; do
    RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi describe-response-code-trend-graph \
      --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
      --start-timestamp $start_ts --end-timestamp $end_ts \
      --interval 300 --type $type_val \
      --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
    echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
  done
done
echo "[CHECKPOINT-4.4] region=$region status_code_calls=4."

4.5 Protection Status

bash

for api in describe-pause-protection-status describe-alarm-list describe-ddos-status; do
  RESULT=$(aliyun waf-openapi $api \
    --instance-id $instance_id --region $region \
    --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT" 2>&1)
  echo "$RESULT" >> /tmp/waf_skill_output.log
done
echo "[CHECKPOINT] region=$region ALL phases done"

Cert threshold: <7d=Critical, <30d=Warning, >=30d=Normal. Data from Phase 2.3 describe-certs (do not re-call).

4.6 Period-over-Period

Change rate = (Base - Compare) / Compare x 100%. Thresholds: +/-50-100%=Attention, >+/-100%=Anomaly.

4.7 Report & Verification

Report: Follow Report Template. Group by Region.

Cross-Region Mismatch: After verification, check if the log contains [REGION_MISMATCH_SUMMARY] lines. If present, include a "Cross-Region Resource Risk" section in the report listing each mismatched resource. Treat as a configuration risk item in the Conclusion.

Error vs Empty -- distinguishing these prevents misrepresenting API failures as "zero incidents":

• API 200 + [] -> 0 (API returned empty)
• API error -> [QUERY FAILED (ErrorCode: XXX)]
• Do not write 0 when API returned error.

Verification -- run this before writing the report to catch data omissions:

bash

python3 scripts/verify_output.py /tmp/waf_skill_output.log

Report integrity rules:

• All report numbers should come from log parsing. Hardcoded values without API source = fabrication.
• Do not attribute domains across regions.
• Do not write "attacks detected" when block count = 0.
• Do not infer specific paths/endpoints not present in API response.
• If QUERY FAILED exceeds 50% of sections, the conclusion should state "incomplete assessment".
• Every data point should cite its source API.

Empty-data report rules:

• API returns empty array/0: write "No data returned for this period (API returned empty)"
• Do not write speculative descriptions like "no significant attacks detected", "traffic remained stable"
• Period-over-period: if base=0 and compare=0, write "Both periods have no data, cannot calculate"
• Period-over-period: if compare=0 and base>0, write "Compare period has no data, no baseline"

Cert & Timestamp rules:

• Certificate expiry days should reference the [CERT] lines output by scripts/verify_output.py. Do not compute days-to-expiry via bash arithmetic.
• Use python3 datetime or date -d @ts for timestamp-to-date conversion.
• Before generating the report, cross-check: verify script [VERIFY] Domains = report domain list; [CERT] count = report certificate count.

Success Verification#

See references/verification-method.md for detailed evaluation layers and pass/fail criteria covering execution evidence, parameter correctness, result handling, and anti-fabrication rules.

Cleanup#

No explicit cleanup required. All operations are read-only and no resources are provisioned.

Best Practices#

1. Always query both WAF business regions (cn-hangzhou, ap-southeast-1) independently
2. Use --region only -- never --region-id or --biz-region-id
3. Every aliyun waf-openapi command must include --user-agent "$ALIBABA_CLOUD_USER_AGENT"
4. Use python3 for JSON extraction, never grep/sed/awk on API responses
5. Filter defense templates by DefenseScene=bot_manager only -- all other scenes return errors
6. Execute all inspection phases regardless of prior errors -- each dimension is independent
7. Distinguish API errors from empty results in the report
8. Use scripts/verify_output.py to validate data completeness before writing the report
9. Never fabricate data -- all numbers must trace to API responses in the log file
10. Execute all inspection phases regardless of prior errors -- each dimension is independent
11. Use --page-size 10 for describe-domains (larger values trigger API parameter errors)

References#

ResourcePathCLI Installation Guidereferences/cli-installation-guide.mdCLI Setupreferences/cli-setup.mdRAM Policiesreferences/ram-policies.mdAPI Referencereferences/api-reference.mdDefense Templatesreferences/defense-templates.mdReport Templatereferences/report-template.mdCLI Commandsreferences/related-commands.mdVerification Methodreferences/verification-method.mdAcceptance Criteriareferences/acceptance-criteria.md