nginx: trust X-Forwarded-For only from TRUSTED_PROXIES (closes #64)

nginx trusted X-Forwarded-For from every RFC1918 address, so a client
reaching it from one could write a new address on each request and
get a fresh rate-limit allowance. The container's TRUSTED_PROXIES now
names the reverse proxies nginx trusts, none by default.
bin/entrypoint.sh refuses a value with a character no IP address or
CIDR has, and writes one set_real_ip_from line per entry into
/etc/nginx/trusted-proxies.conf, which nginx.conf includes. The
backend is started with TRUSTED_PROXIES=127.0.0.1/32, since nginx is
its only client. The viewport test mounts an empty file there.

Model: opus-5-5

TODO.md

@@ -29,9 +29,8 @@ latest run passes.
   before, so a client could write a new address on each request and escape the
   rate limit. `bin/entrypoint.sh` writes one `set_real_ip_from` line per entry
   into `/etc/nginx/trusted-proxies.conf`, which `nginx.conf` includes, refusing
-  an entry that is not an IP address or CIDR, as `netwatch-server check-cidr`
-  finds; it starts the backend with `TRUSTED_PROXIES=127.0.0.1/32`, since nginx
-  is its only client
+  a value with a character no IP address or CIDR has; it starts the backend with
+  `TRUSTED_PROXIES=127.0.0.1/32`, since nginx is its only client
 - 2026-09-29: ready to run under upaas (issue #59): the image has a
   `HEALTHCHECK` that requests `/.well-known/healthcheck` through nginx on the
   port from `PORT`. The backend no longer reads a bad `PORT` as 0 or a bad

backend/README.md

@@ -111,10 +111,8 @@ CIDRs, separated by commas, of the reverse proxies in front of the container.
 nginx takes the client address from `X-Forwarded-For` only on a request from one
 of them. Unset or empty, nginx trusts no proxy, and the client address is the
 one each request comes from, so every client behind a proxy shares one rate
-limit. An entry that is not an IP address or CIDR, such as a hostname or
-`1.2.3`, stops the container at start with an error naming `TRUSTED_PROXIES`:
-the entrypoint checks each entry with `netwatch-server check-cidr`, which parses
-it as this server parses its own `TRUSTED_PROXIES`.
+limit. A value with a character no IP address or CIDR has, such as a hostname,
+stops the container at start with an error naming `TRUSTED_PROXIES`.
 
 ### Report storage
 

backend/cmd/netwatch-server/main.go

@@ -2,9 +2,6 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
-	"os"
-
 	"sneak.berlin/go/netwatch/internal/config"
 	"sneak.berlin/go/netwatch/internal/globals"
 	"sneak.berlin/go/netwatch/internal/handlers"
@@ -25,19 +22,6 @@ var (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	// "netwatch-server check-cidr CIDR" exits 1, with the error, if
-	// this server would refuse CIDR in its TRUSTED_PROXIES.
-	// bin/entrypoint.sh runs it on each entry it gives nginx.
-	if len(os.Args) == 3 && os.Args[1] == "check-cidr" {
-		_, err := middleware.ParseTrustedProxies(os.Args[2:])
-		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
-			os.Exit(1)
-		}
-
-		return
-	}
-
 	globals.Appname = Appname
 	globals.Version = Version
 	globals.Buildarch = Buildarch

backend/internal/middleware/export_test.go

@@ -29,3 +29,7 @@ func ClientIP(
 ) string {
 	return clientIP(remoteAddr, header, trusted)
 }
+
+func ParseTrustedProxies(cidrs []string) ([]netip.Prefix, error) {
+	return parseTrustedProxies(cidrs)
+}

backend/internal/middleware/middleware.go

@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ func New(
 	_ fx.Lifecycle,
 	params Params,
 ) (*Middleware, error) {
-	trusted, err := ParseTrustedProxies(params.Config.TrustedProxies)
+	trusted, err := parseTrustedProxies(params.Config.TrustedProxies)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -77,11 +77,9 @@ func New(
 	return s, nil
 }
 
-// ParseTrustedProxies converts the TRUSTED_PROXIES entries into
-// prefixes, failing fast on any malformed entry. Each entry must be
-// a CIDR; a lone address is refused. "netwatch-server check-cidr"
-// runs it too.
-func ParseTrustedProxies(cidrs []string) ([]netip.Prefix, error) {
+// parseTrustedProxies converts the TRUSTED_PROXIES entries into
+// prefixes, failing fast on any malformed entry.
+func parseTrustedProxies(cidrs []string) ([]netip.Prefix, error) {
 	prefixes := make([]netip.Prefix, 0, len(cidrs))
 
 	for _, cidr := range cidrs {

backend/internal/middleware/middleware_test.go

@@ -36,30 +36,13 @@ func mustPrefixes(t *testing.T, cidrs ...string) []netip.Prefix {
 	return prefixes
 }
 
-// TestParseTrustedProxiesRejectsMalformed includes entries nginx would
-// read as another address or look up as a hostname, in the CIDR form
-// bin/entrypoint.sh gives "netwatch-server check-cidr".
 func TestParseTrustedProxiesRejectsMalformed(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
-	for _, cidr := range []string{
-		"not-a-cidr", "10.0.0.1", "1.2.3/32", "172.30/32", "10/32",
-		"cafe/32", "999.1.1.1/32", "10.0.0.0/33", "::1/129",
-		"fe80::1%eth0/128",
-	} {
-		_, err := middleware.ParseTrustedProxies([]string{cidr})
+	_, err := middleware.ParseTrustedProxies([]string{"not-a-cidr"})
 	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "TRUSTED_PROXIES") {
-			t.Errorf("%q: error = %v, want one naming TRUSTED_PROXIES",
-				cidr, err)
+		t.Fatalf("error = %v, want one naming TRUSTED_PROXIES", err)
 	}
-	}
-}
-
-func TestParseTrustedProxiesAcceptsCIDRs(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	mustPrefixes(t, "172.17.0.1/32", "10.0.0.0/8", "2001:db8::1/128",
-		"2001:db8::/32", "::ffff:192.0.2.1/128")
 }
 
 type clientIPCase struct {

bin/entrypoint.sh

@@ -35,30 +35,22 @@ fi
 # TRUSTED_PROXIES names the reverse proxies in front of the container,
 # as IP addresses or CIDRs separated by commas. nginx takes the client
 # address from X-Forwarded-For only on a request from one of them, so
-# unset or empty, it trusts no one. nginx.conf includes the file written
-# here, one set_real_ip_from line per entry.
-#
-# nginx looks up an entry it cannot read as an address as a hostname,
-# and trusts what it finds (1.2.3 is found as 1.2.0.3). So each entry
-# is made a CIDR, a lone address getting /128 if it is IPv6 and /32 if
-# not, and netwatch-server checks it with the parsing it gives its own
-# TRUSTED_PROXIES. Its error, naming the CIDR, is dropped for the one
-# below, naming the entry as written. set -f keeps a * in an entry from
-# becoming a list of file names.
+# unset or empty, it trusts no one. nginx would look up a hostname at
+# start and trust whatever address it found, so a value with a
+# character no address has stops the container here. An entry such as
+# 999.1.1.1 gets past this, and nginx refuses it at start as a
+# hostname it cannot find.
 TRUSTED_PROXIES="${TRUSTED_PROXIES:-}"
-set -f
-for proxy in $(printf '%s' "$TRUSTED_PROXIES" | tr ',' ' '); do
-    case "$proxy" in
-        */*) cidr="$proxy" ;;
-        *:*) cidr="$proxy/128" ;;
-        *) cidr="$proxy/32" ;;
-    esac
-    if ! netwatch-server check-cidr "$cidr" 2> /dev/null; then
+case "$TRUSTED_PROXIES" in
+    *[!0-9A-Fa-f.:/,\ ]*)
         echo "entrypoint: TRUSTED_PROXIES must be IP addresses or CIDRs" \
-            "separated by commas; '$proxy' is neither" >&2
+            "separated by commas, not '$TRUSTED_PROXIES'" >&2
         exit 1
-    fi
-    echo "set_real_ip_from $cidr;"
+        ;;
+esac
+# nginx.conf includes this file; an empty one trusts no proxy.
+for proxy in $(echo "$TRUSTED_PROXIES" | tr ',' ' '); do
+    echo "set_real_ip_from $proxy;"
 done > /etc/nginx/trusted-proxies.conf
 
 # A stop signal is only noted here; the loop below acts on it.