Nginx does not allow nested http directives

[ajn142attamu]

Describe the bug
Documentation indicates waf_maps.conf should be included within the nginx.conf http directive. However, waf_maps.conf contains an http directive. Nginx does not permit nested http directives, resulting in

root@instance-20231029-2110:/home/ubuntu# nginx -t && service nginx reload
2026/06/08 01:57:07 [emerg] 1166803#1166803: "http" directive is not allowed here in /etc/nginx/waf_patterns/waf_maps.conf:3
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test failed

This can be validated with a minimal test case:

Running nginx -t -c /path/to/test against:

http { }

passes without errors, while running the same against

http { http { } }

replicates the same error message

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Start with functioning nginx site.
2. Follow documentation at https://fabriziosalmi.github.io/patterns/nginx.
3. Run nginx -t
4. See error

Expected behavior
Following documentation results in working site

Error messages/logs
If applicable, add error messages or log output to help explain your problem.

Provided above

Environment (please complete the following information):

• OS: Ubuntu 24.04.1
• Python Version: N/a
• Web Server: Nginx 1.24.0
• Installation Method: downloaded pre-generated configs

Additional context

I suspect a contributing factor is that the nginx rule tests use nginxinc/crossplane to parse the configs, but don’t test the evaluation with a demo nginx site.

[ajn142attamu]

I suspect there are likely other bugs that similarly result in differences in parsing between the crossplane json/nginx.conf converter and nginx itself, as commenting out the duplicative http { on line 3 and } at the bottom results in evaluation continuing and finding additional errors.