diff --git a/src/util.c b/src/util.c
--- a/src/util.c
+++ b/src/util.c
@@ -1743,8 +1743,65 @@ void * SnortAlloc2(size_t size, const char *format, ...)
     return tmp;
 }
 
 /**
+ * SnortStrToNumRng - Parses a number (signed) range split by a delimiter.
+ * @str: char pointer to the string to be parsed.
+ * @delimiter: char pointer to the delimiter separating the two ranges.
+ * @rng: int pointer to the smaller value of the range.
+ *
+ * Returns:
+ *   SNORT_STR2RNG_SUCCESS is a range was successfully parsed.
+ *   SNORT_STR2RNG_NOTRNG if the range delimiter was not found.
+ *   SNORT_STR2RNG_ERROR if an error condition was encountered.
+ */
+int SnortStrToNumRng(char *str, const char *delimiter, NumericRange *rng)
+{
+    if (!str || !delimiter || !rng)
+        return SNORT_STR2RNG_ERROR;
+
+    if (SnortStrcasestr(str, strlen(str), delimiter))
+    {
+        char *tok, *end;
+        int num = 0;
+
+        /* Get the first token. */
+        tok = strtok(str, delimiter);
+        if (!tok)
+            return SNORT_STR2RNG_ERROR;
+
+        num = strtol(tok, &end, 10);
+        if (*end)
+            return SNORT_STR2RNG_ERROR;
+
+        rng->min = num;
+
+        /* Get the second token. */
+        tok = strtok(NULL, delimiter);
+        if (!tok)
+            return SNORT_STR2RNG_ERROR;
+
+        num = strtol(tok, &end, 10);
+        if (*end)
+            return SNORT_STR2RNG_ERROR;
+
+        rng->max = num;
+
+        /* See if min is > max.  If so, swap them. */
+        if (rng->min > rng->max)
+        {
+            int tmp = rng->min;
+            rng->min = rng->max;
+            rng->max = tmp;
+        }
+
+        return SNORT_STR2RNG_SUCCESS;
+    } else {
+        return SNORT_STR2RNG_NOTRNG;
+    }
+}
+
+/**
  * Chroot and adjust the snort_conf->log_dir reference
  *
  * @param directory directory to chroot to
  * @param logstore ptr to snort_conf->log_dir which must be dynamically allocated

diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -73,8 +73,12 @@
 #define SNORT_STRNCPY_ERROR -1
 
 #define SNORT_STRNLEN_ERROR -1
 
+#define SNORT_STR2RNG_SUCCESS 0
+#define SNORT_STR2RNG_ERROR -1
+#define SNORT_STR2RNG_NOTRNG -2
+
 #define SECONDS_PER_DAY  86400  /* number of seconds in a day  */
 #define SECONDS_PER_HOUR  3600  /* number of seconds in a hour */
 #define SECONDS_PER_MIN     60     /* number of seconds in a minute */
 
@@ -171,8 +175,15 @@ typedef struct _IntervalStats
 #endif
 
 } IntervalStats;
 
+/* Used by rule keywords that involve number ranges. */
+typedef struct _NumericRange
+{
+    int min;
+    int max;
+} NumericRange;
+
 
 /* Public function prototypes *************************************************/
 int DisplayBanner(void);
 void GetTime(char *);
@@ -215,8 +226,9 @@ const char *SnortStrnPbrk(const char *s, int slen, const char *accept);
 const char *SnortStrnStr(const char *s, int slen, const char *searchstr);
 const char *SnortStrcasestr(const char *s, int slen, const char *substr);
 void *SnortAlloc(unsigned long);
 void *SnortAlloc2(size_t, const char *, ...);
+int SnortStrToNumRng(char *, const char *, NumericRange *);
 char *CurrentWorkingDir(void);
 char *GetAbsolutePath(char *dir);
 char *StripPrefixDir(char *prefix, char *dir);
 void PrintPacketData(const uint8_t *, const uint32_t);