diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index be32f7bef7..b6a22ac66a 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ TESTS+=test/test-cases/regression/request-body-parser-xml-validade-dtd.json
 TESTS+=test/test-cases/regression/rule-920120.json
 TESTS+=test/test-cases/regression/rule-920200.json
 TESTS+=test/test-cases/regression/rule-920274.json
+TESTS+=test/test-cases/regression/rule-942480.json
 TESTS+=test/test-cases/regression/secaction.json
 TESTS+=test/test-cases/regression/sec_component_signature.json
 TESTS+=test/test-cases/regression/secmarker.json
diff --git a/src/transaction.cc b/src/transaction.cc
index be50538a5f..acea6bbd15 100644
--- a/src/transaction.cc
+++ b/src/transaction.cc
@@ -556,21 +556,45 @@ int Transaction::addRequestHeader(const std::string& key,
 
     if (keyl == "cookie") {
         size_t localOffset = m_variableOffset;
+        size_t pos1, pos2;
         std::vector<std::string> cookies = utils::string::ssplit(value, ';');
         for (const std::string &c : cookies) {
-            std::vector<std::string> s = utils::string::split(c,
-               '=');
-            if (s.size() > 1) {
-                if (s[0].at(0) == ' ') {
-                    s[0].erase(0, 1);
-                }
-                m_variableRequestCookiesNames.set(s[0],
-                    s[0], localOffset);
+            pos1 = c.find_first_of("=", 0);
+            std::string ckey = "";
+            std::string cval = "";
+
+            // if the cookie doesn't contains '=', its just a key
+            if (pos1 == std::string::npos) {
+                ckey = c;
+            }
+            // else split to two substrings
+            else {
+                ckey = c.substr(0, pos1);
+                cval = c.substr(pos1+1, c.length());
+            }
 
-                localOffset = localOffset + s[0].size() + 1;
-                m_variableRequestCookies.set(s[0], s[1], localOffset);
-                localOffset = localOffset + s[1].size() + 2;
+            // remove leading spaces from key
+            while (ckey.at(0) == ' ') {
+                ckey.erase(0, 1);
+                localOffset++;
+            }
+            // replace remained spaces with underscore in key
+            pos2 = 0;
+            while(pos2 < ckey.length()) {
+                if (ckey.at(pos2) == ' ') {
+                    ckey.replace(pos2, 1, "_");
+                }
+                pos2++;
+            }
+            if (ckey.length() > 0) {
+                // set cookie name
+                m_variableRequestCookiesNames.set(ckey,
+                        ckey, localOffset);
+                localOffset = localOffset + ckey.length() + 1;
+                // set cookie value
+                m_variableRequestCookies.set(ckey, cval, localOffset);
             }
+            localOffset = localOffset + cval.length() + 1;
         }
     }
     /**
diff --git a/test/test-cases/regression/rule-942480.json b/test/test-cases/regression/rule-942480.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dc588a8be6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test-cases/regression/rule-942480.json
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+[
+  {
+    "enabled":1,
+    "version_min":300000,
+    "title":"Testing cookie parser :: OWASP CRS id:942480",
+    "client":{
+      "ip":"200.249.12.31",
+      "port":123
+    },
+    "server":{
+      "ip":"200.249.12.31",
+      "port":80
+    },
+    "request":{
+      "headers":{
+        "Host":"localhost",
+        "Cookie": "'msdasql'; key1=val1;  key2=val2=val2a;  key3 =  val3 "
+      },
+      "uri":"/",
+      "method":"GET"
+    },
+    "response":{
+      "headers":{
+        "Date":"Mon, 13 Jul 2015 20:02:41 GMT",
+        "Last-Modified":"Sun, 26 Oct 2014 22:33:37 GMT",
+        "Content-Type":"text/html"
+      },
+      "body":[
+        "no need."
+      ]
+    },
+    "expected":{
+      "http_code":400,
+      "debug_log":"'msdasql' with value: 'msdasql'"
+    },
+    "rules":[
+      "SecRuleEngine On",
+      "SecDefaultAction \"phase:2,deny,block,status:400,log\"",
+      "SecRule REQUEST_COOKIES|!REQUEST_COOKIES:/__utm/|!REQUEST_COOKIES:/_pk_ref/|REQUEST_COOKIES_NAMES|ARGS_NAMES|ARGS|XML:/* \"@rx (?i:(?:\\b(?:(?:s(?:elect\\b.{1,100}?\\b(?:(?:(?:length|count)\\b.{1,100}?|.*?\\bdump\\b.*)\\bfrom|to(?:p\\b.{1,100}?\\bfrom|_(?:numbe|cha)r)|(?:from\\b.{1,100}?\\bwher|data_typ)e|instr)|ys_context)|in(?:to\\b\\W*?\\b(?:dump|out)file|sert\\b\\W*?\\binto|ner\\b\\W*?\\bjoin)|u(?:nion\\b.{1,100}?\\bselect|tl_inaddr)|group\\b.*?\\bby\\b.{1,100}?\\bhaving|d(?:elete\\b\\W*?\\bfrom|bms_\\w+\\.)|load\\b\\W*?\\bdata\\b.*?\\binfile)\\b|print\\b\\W*?\\@\\@)|(?:;\\W*?\\b(?:shutdown|drop)|collation\\W*?\\(a|\\@\\@version)\\b|'(?:s(?:qloledb|a)|msdasql|dbo)'))\" \"id:942480,phase:2,block,capture,t:none,t:urlDecodeUni,msg:'SQL Injection Attack',logdata:'Matched Data: %{TX.0} found within %{MATCHED_VAR_NAME}: %{MATCHED_VAR}',ctl:auditLogParts=+E,ver:'OWASP_CRS/3.1.0',severity:'CRITICAL',setvar:'tx.msg=%{rule.msg}',setvar:'tx.sql_injection_score=+%{tx.critical_anomaly_score}', setvar:'tx.anomaly_score_pl2=+%{tx.critical_anomaly_score}',setvar:'tx.%{rule.id}-OWASP_CRS/WEB_ATTACK/SQL_INJECTION-%{MATCHED_VAR_NAME}=%{tx.0}'\""
+    ]
+  }
+]