Harden http.Server: slowloris timeouts and form body limit (closes #92)

The http.Server now sets ReadHeaderTimeout (10s), which bounds the slow header dribble that ReadTimeout alone does not, and IdleTimeout (120s), which bounds keep-alive reuse. Server construction moved into a small helper so a test can assert the timeouts without binding a listener.

POST / and POST /generate bodies are capped at 1 MiB and an oversized body returns 413.

What a reader would trip over: the CSRF library reads its token from the form and swallows a parse error, so a cap applied only inside it would surface as 403. The body limit therefore parses the form under the cap before the CSRF check; the parsed form is reused afterwards. A test covers an oversized body that carries a valid token.

Judgement call: WriteTimeout stays at 60s; it also bounds how long a large image may take to send over a slow link.

Model: opus-4-8 (implementation, review); fable-5-1 (landing message)

TODO.md

@@ -29,6 +29,14 @@ P1: implement blocked networks configuration to extend SSRF protection
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-09-21 http.Server hardening (closes #92): added
+  `HTTPReadHeaderTimeout` (10s, bounds the slowloris header dribble) and
+  `HTTPIdleTimeout` (120s, bounds keep-alive reuse) alongside the
+  existing timeouts and wired them onto the server; added a `LimitBody`
+  middleware capping the two form POST bodies (`POST /`, `POST /generate`)
+  at `MaxFormBytes` (1 MiB) and returning 413, applied ahead of the CSRF
+  middleware so an oversized body is refused as 413 rather than being read
+  as a missing CSRF token (403); left `WriteTimeout` at 60s unchanged
 - 2026-08-07 update golangci-lint to v2.12.2 with the canonical
   `.golangci.yml` (v2 schema, `default: all` minus six disabled
   linters, `lll` 88, tests included): bumped the pinned

internal/handlers/bodylimit.go

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package handlers
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"net/http"
+)
+
+// MaxFormBytes bounds the request body accepted on the HTML form POST
+// routes (POST / and POST /generate). The forms carry a handful of short
+// fields, so 1 MiB is generous while making the bound explicit rather than
+// resting on ParseForm's incidental 10 MB cap.
+const MaxFormBytes = 1 << 20 // 1 MiB
+
+// LimitBody returns middleware that caps the request body on POST requests
+// at maxBytes and rejects an oversized body with 413 Request Entity Too
+// Large.
+//
+// It parses the form here, before the CSRF middleware reads the token from
+// it. The CSRF middleware reads the token with PostFormValue, which
+// swallows a parse error, so if the body were only capped there an
+// oversized body would read as a missing token and be refused as 403. By
+// parsing under the cap first, an oversized body is refused as 413. A
+// successful parse is cached on the request, so the CSRF check and the
+// handler reuse it rather than reading the body again.
+func (s *Handlers) LimitBody(maxBytes int64) func(http.Handler) http.Handler {
+	return func(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
+		return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			if r.Method == http.MethodPost {
+				r.Body = http.MaxBytesReader(w, r.Body, maxBytes)
+
+				err := r.ParseForm()
+
+				var tooLarge *http.MaxBytesError
+				if errors.As(err, &tooLarge) {
+					http.Error(w, "Request body too large",
+						http.StatusRequestEntityTooLarge)
+
+					return
+				}
+			}
+
+			next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+		})
+	}
+}

internal/handlers/bodylimit_internal_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+package handlers
+
+import (
+	"log/slog"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
+
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/config"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/encurl"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/session"
+)
+
+// Form field names and a throwaway source image URL for the body-limit
+// tests.
+const (
+	sourceURLField = "url"
+	testSourceURL  = "https://example.com/a.jpg"
+)
+
+// newBodyLimitTestRouter mirrors the production wiring for the form POST
+// routes (see server.SetupRoutes): LimitBody sits in front of the CSRF
+// middleware, which sits in front of the handlers. maxBytes is the body
+// cap under test, so a test can trip the limit with a small body.
+func newBodyLimitTestRouter(
+	t *testing.T, maxBytes int64,
+) (*Handlers, http.Handler) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	cfg := &config.Config{SigningKey: testSigningKey, Debug: true}
+
+	sessMgr, err := session.NewManager(testSigningKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("session.NewManager() error = %v", err)
+	}
+
+	encGen, err := encurl.NewGenerator(testSigningKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("encurl.NewGenerator() error = %v", err)
+	}
+
+	protect, err := newCSRFProtect(testSigningKey, cfg.Debug)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("newCSRFProtect() error = %v", err)
+	}
+
+	h := &Handlers{
+		log:         slog.New(slog.DiscardHandler),
+		config:      cfg,
+		sessMgr:     sessMgr,
+		encGen:      encGen,
+		csrfProtect: protect,
+	}
+
+	r := chi.NewRouter()
+	r.Group(func(r chi.Router) {
+		r.Use(h.LimitBody(maxBytes))
+		r.Use(h.CSRF())
+		r.Get("/", h.HandleRoot())
+		r.Post("/", h.HandleRoot())
+		r.Post("/generate", h.HandleGenerateURL())
+	})
+
+	return h, r
+}
+
+// TestOversizedLoginPostRejectedBeforeCSRF is the core regression: an
+// oversized POST / carrying an otherwise valid CSRF cookie and token must
+// be rejected with 413. If the body limit ran after CSRF, the truncated
+// body would read as a missing token and return 403; if it ran after the
+// handler, a valid token would return 303. Getting 413 proves the limit
+// fires before CSRF parses the form.
+func TestOversizedLoginPostRejectedBeforeCSRF(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	_, srv := newBodyLimitTestRouter(t, 16)
+
+	cookies, token := csrfCredentials(t, srv, nil)
+
+	rec := postForm(srv, "/", cookies, url.Values{
+		loginKeyField:  {testSigningKey},
+		csrfTokenField: {token},
+	})
+
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusRequestEntityTooLarge {
+		t.Errorf("oversized POST / status = %d, want %d",
+			rec.Code, http.StatusRequestEntityTooLarge)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestOversizedGeneratePostRejectedBeforeCSRF is the same regression for
+// POST /generate, which also parses a form behind CSRF.
+func TestOversizedGeneratePostRejectedBeforeCSRF(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	h, srv := newBodyLimitTestRouter(t, 16)
+
+	sessionCookie := newSessionCookie(t, h)
+
+	cookies, token := csrfCredentials(t, srv, []*http.Cookie{sessionCookie})
+	cookies = append(cookies, sessionCookie)
+
+	rec := postForm(srv, "/generate", cookies, url.Values{
+		sourceURLField: {testSourceURL},
+		csrfTokenField: {token},
+	})
+
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusRequestEntityTooLarge {
+		t.Errorf("oversized POST /generate status = %d, want %d",
+			rec.Code, http.StatusRequestEntityTooLarge)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestWithinLimitLoginPostSucceeds verifies the limit does not disturb a
+// normal request: under the production cap, a valid login still parses and
+// establishes a session (303). This guards against the body limit
+// consuming or corrupting the form the CSRF check and handler depend on.
+func TestWithinLimitLoginPostSucceeds(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	_, srv := newBodyLimitTestRouter(t, MaxFormBytes)
+
+	cookies, token := csrfCredentials(t, srv, nil)
+
+	rec := postForm(srv, "/", cookies, url.Values{
+		loginKeyField:  {testSigningKey},
+		csrfTokenField: {token},
+	})
+
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusSeeOther {
+		t.Fatalf("within-limit POST / status = %d, want %d",
+			rec.Code, http.StatusSeeOther)
+	}
+
+	var authed bool
+
+	for _, c := range rec.Result().Cookies() {
+		if c.Name == session.CookieName && c.Value != "" {
+			authed = true
+		}
+	}
+
+	if !authed {
+		t.Error("within-limit valid login did not set a session cookie")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestWithinLimitGeneratePostSucceeds is the same non-regression check for
+// POST /generate.
+func TestWithinLimitGeneratePostSucceeds(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	h, srv := newBodyLimitTestRouter(t, MaxFormBytes)
+
+	sessionCookie := newSessionCookie(t, h)
+
+	cookies, token := csrfCredentials(t, srv, []*http.Cookie{sessionCookie})
+	cookies = append(cookies, sessionCookie)
+
+	rec := postForm(srv, "/generate", cookies, url.Values{
+		sourceURLField: {testSourceURL},
+		"format":       {"jpeg"},
+		csrfTokenField: {token},
+	})
+
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("within-limit POST /generate status = %d, want %d",
+			rec.Code, http.StatusOK)
+	}
+
+	if !strings.Contains(rec.Body.String(), "/v1/e/") {
+		t.Error("within-limit generate response did not contain a generated URL")
+	}
+}

internal/middleware/middleware.go

@@ -21,6 +21,33 @@ import (
 // CORSMaxAgeSeconds is the max age for CORS preflight cache (24 hours).
 const CORSMaxAgeSeconds = 86400
 
+// HSTSValue is the Strict-Transport-Security header value: one year with
+// includeSubDomains. Emitted unconditionally even though pixa listens plain
+// HTTP behind a TLS-terminating proxy; browsers ignore an HSTS header received
+// over plaintext (RFC 6797 section 8.1), so it never lies about the connection,
+// and emitting it here avoids trusting a forwarded-proto header.
+const HSTSValue = "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains"
+
+// ContentSecurityPolicyValue is the Content-Security-Policy header value.
+// default-src 'self' is the baseline and frame-ancestors 'none' is the primary
+// clickjacking control. 'unsafe-inline' is required in script-src and style-src
+// because the served templates carry inline onclick handlers (generator page)
+// and the bundled Tailwind asset injects a runtime <style> element; dropping it
+// needs template changes outside this issue's scope.
+const ContentSecurityPolicyValue = "default-src 'self'; " +
+	"script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; " +
+	"style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; " +
+	"object-src 'none'; " +
+	"base-uri 'self'; " +
+	"form-action 'self'; " +
+	"frame-ancestors 'none'"
+
+// PermissionsPolicyValue is the Permissions-Policy header value. Every listed
+// feature is denied because pixa uses none of them.
+const PermissionsPolicyValue = "accelerometer=(), autoplay=(), camera=(), " +
+	"display-capture=(), geolocation=(), gyroscope=(), magnetometer=(), " +
+	"microphone=(), payment=(), usb=()"
+
 // Params defines dependencies for Middleware.
 type Params struct {
 	fx.In
@@ -164,6 +191,16 @@ func (s *Middleware) SecurityHeaders() func(http.Handler) http.Handler {
 			// Disable XSS filtering (modern browsers don't need it, can cause issues)
 			w.Header().Set("X-XSS-Protection", "0")
 
+			// Force HTTPS on future visits (ignored by browsers over plaintext)
+			w.Header().Set("Strict-Transport-Security", HSTSValue)
+
+			// Restrict content sources; frame-ancestors is the primary
+			// clickjacking control, X-Frame-Options the legacy fallback
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Security-Policy", ContentSecurityPolicyValue)
+
+			// Deny browser features pixa does not use
+			w.Header().Set("Permissions-Policy", PermissionsPolicyValue)
+
 			next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
 		})
 	}

internal/middleware/middleware_internal_test.go

@@ -56,6 +56,61 @@ func TestSecurityHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestSecurityHeaders_PolicyHeaders(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	cfg := &config.Config{}
+	mw := &Middleware{
+		log:    slog.Default(),
+		config: cfg,
+	}
+
+	testHandler := http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+	})
+
+	handler := mw.SecurityHeaders()(testHandler)
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequestWithContext(t.Context(), http.MethodGet, "/test", nil)
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+	handler.ServeHTTP(rec, req)
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		header string
+		want   string
+	}{
+		{"Strict-Transport-Security", "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains"},
+		{
+			"Content-Security-Policy",
+			"default-src 'self'; " +
+				"script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; " +
+				"style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; " +
+				"object-src 'none'; " +
+				"base-uri 'self'; " +
+				"form-action 'self'; " +
+				"frame-ancestors 'none'",
+		},
+		{
+			"Permissions-Policy",
+			"accelerometer=(), autoplay=(), camera=(), " +
+				"display-capture=(), geolocation=(), gyroscope=(), " +
+				"magnetometer=(), microphone=(), payment=(), usb=()",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.header, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			got := rec.Header().Get(tt.header)
+			if got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("%s = %q, want %q", tt.header, got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestSecurityHeaders_PreservesExistingHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 

internal/server/http.go

@@ -9,24 +9,40 @@ import (
 
 // HTTP server configuration constants.
 const (
-	HTTPReadTimeout    = 30 * time.Second
-	HTTPWriteTimeout   = 60 * time.Second
+	HTTPReadTimeout = 30 * time.Second
+	// HTTPReadHeaderTimeout bounds the request-header read on its own,
+	// short, so a slowloris client dribbling headers is dropped well
+	// before it ties up a connection for the whole ReadTimeout window.
+	HTTPReadHeaderTimeout = 10 * time.Second
+	HTTPWriteTimeout      = 60 * time.Second
+	// HTTPIdleTimeout bounds how long an idle keep-alive connection is
+	// held open, so idle connections cannot accumulate without limit on a
+	// service targeting high concurrency.
+	HTTPIdleTimeout    = 120 * time.Second
 	HTTPMaxHeaderBytes = 8 << 10 // 8KB
 )
 
-func (s *Server) serveUntilShutdown() {
-	listenAddr := fmt.Sprintf(":%d", s.config.Port)
-	s.httpServer = &http.Server{
-		Addr:           listenAddr,
-		ReadTimeout:    HTTPReadTimeout,
-		WriteTimeout:   HTTPWriteTimeout,
-		MaxHeaderBytes: HTTPMaxHeaderBytes,
-		Handler:        s,
+// newHTTPServer builds the http.Server with the hardening timeouts and
+// limits applied. It is separate from serveUntilShutdown so the
+// configuration can be asserted in a test without binding a listener.
+func (s *Server) newHTTPServer() *http.Server {
+	return &http.Server{
+		Addr:              fmt.Sprintf(":%d", s.config.Port),
+		ReadTimeout:       HTTPReadTimeout,
+		ReadHeaderTimeout: HTTPReadHeaderTimeout,
+		WriteTimeout:      HTTPWriteTimeout,
+		IdleTimeout:       HTTPIdleTimeout,
+		MaxHeaderBytes:    HTTPMaxHeaderBytes,
+		Handler:           s,
 	}
+}
+
+func (s *Server) serveUntilShutdown() {
+	s.httpServer = s.newHTTPServer()
 
 	s.SetupRoutes()
 
-	s.log.Info("http begin listen", "listenaddr", listenAddr)
+	s.log.Info("http begin listen", "listenaddr", s.httpServer.Addr)
 
 	err := s.httpServer.ListenAndServe()
 	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, http.ErrServerClosed) {

internal/server/http_internal_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+package server
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/config"
+)
+
+// TestNewHTTPServerTimeouts verifies that the constructed http.Server
+// carries every hardening timeout wired onto it, including the slowloris
+// defense (ReadHeaderTimeout) and the keep-alive bound (IdleTimeout). This
+// guards against a field being defined but never set on the server, so
+// each assertion compares the server field to its constant.
+func TestNewHTTPServerTimeouts(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	s := &Server{config: &config.Config{Port: 8080}}
+
+	srv := s.newHTTPServer()
+
+	fields := []struct {
+		name string
+		got  time.Duration
+		want time.Duration
+	}{
+		{"ReadTimeout", srv.ReadTimeout, HTTPReadTimeout},
+		{"ReadHeaderTimeout", srv.ReadHeaderTimeout, HTTPReadHeaderTimeout},
+		{"WriteTimeout", srv.WriteTimeout, HTTPWriteTimeout},
+		{"IdleTimeout", srv.IdleTimeout, HTTPIdleTimeout},
+	}
+
+	for _, f := range fields {
+		if f.got != f.want {
+			t.Errorf("%s = %v, want %v", f.name, f.got, f.want)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if srv.MaxHeaderBytes != HTTPMaxHeaderBytes {
+		t.Errorf("MaxHeaderBytes = %d, want %d",
+			srv.MaxHeaderBytes, HTTPMaxHeaderBytes)
+	}
+
+	if srv.Handler != s {
+		t.Error("Handler is not the server")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestHardeningTimeoutValues pins the intent behind the two new timeouts
+// without hard-coding brittle exact durations: the header-read phase is
+// bounded strictly shorter than the whole-request read (the slowloris
+// dribble), and idle keep-alive connections are bounded rather than held
+// open forever.
+func TestHardeningTimeoutValues(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	if HTTPReadHeaderTimeout <= 0 || HTTPReadHeaderTimeout > HTTPReadTimeout {
+		t.Errorf("ReadHeaderTimeout = %v, want positive and <= ReadTimeout %v",
+			HTTPReadHeaderTimeout, HTTPReadTimeout)
+	}
+
+	if HTTPIdleTimeout <= 0 {
+		t.Errorf("IdleTimeout = %v, want positive bound", HTTPIdleTimeout)
+	}
+}

internal/server/routes.go

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5/middleware"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus/promhttp"
 
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/handlers"
 	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/static"
 )
 
@@ -46,8 +47,10 @@ func (s *Server) SetupRoutes() {
 
 	// Login/generator UI. The form routes carry CSRF protection; the
 	// token cookie is independent of the session cookie, so it also
-	// covers the login POST, where no session exists yet.
+	// covers the login POST, where no session exists yet. LimitBody caps
+	// the POST body ahead of CSRF, which reads its token from that body.
 	s.router.Group(func(r chi.Router) {
+		r.Use(s.h.LimitBody(handlers.MaxFormBytes))
 		r.Use(s.h.CSRF())
 		r.Get("/", s.h.HandleRoot())
 		r.Post("/", s.h.HandleRoot())