Untested but should work;
between http {}
map $request $shellshockblock {
default 0;
~*\:\; 1;
~*ping 1;
~*\/bash 1;
}
inside location {} if ($shellshockblock) { return 412; }
Posted at Nginx Forum: http://forum.nginx.org/read.php?2,253553,253554#msg-253554