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Lower the default request and byte limits (closes #193)
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New defaults, as sneak approved: 120 requests a minute, 1,500 an hour and 6,000 a day; bytes off a minute, 50G an hour and 100G a day. The README, `SPEC.md`, `docs/settings.md` and `docs/gitea.md` give the new figures and reasoning, and point Actions runners and shared addresses at `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_NETS`. The README examples now hold against the new defaults.

An Actions runner that is not exempted makes more requests an hour than the new limit and will be banned.

Model: opus-5-5
This commit was merged in pull request #200.
This commit is contained in:
clawbot
2026-11-06 20:14:23 +01:00
parent 2ab57eb278
commit 21cac70b50
8 changed files with 95 additions and 108 deletions
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README.md
+16 -22
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@@ -26,10 +26,10 @@ It protects against:
- Scrapers that fetch every page of a site, all day. Each client gets a limit on
requests and on bytes per minute, per hour and per day. The defaults leave
room for programmatic use of an API, such as an automation fleet, and catch a
client firing requests as fast as it can within seconds. A client over a limit
is refused and banned: for a while at first, for three times as long at each
repeat, and permanently when it keeps at it.
room for a person reading a site for hours. They catch a scraper that keeps up
one request every 2 seconds. A client over a limit is refused and banned: for
a while at first, for three times as long at each repeat, and permanently when
it keeps at it.
- Scanners that probe for secrets, such as `/.env` or `/.git/config`. The
default rule file bans such a client at its first probe, and its next request
during the ban makes the ban permanent. Your own rules, or a list of trap
@@ -236,13 +236,13 @@ Every setting the code reads, with its default:
| `SWWAF_ALLOW_NETS` | empty | Netblocks whose clients skip every check, such as your monitoring. |
| `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_NETS` | empty | Netblocks whose clients the request and byte limits neither count nor refuse. |
| `SWWAF_DENY_NETS` | empty | Netblocks whose clients are refused. |
| `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE` | `500` | The most requests a client may make in a minute, a count or `off`; one more bans it. |
| `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR` | `20000` | The most requests a client may make in an hour, a count or `off`; one more bans it. |
| `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_DAY` | `300000` | The most requests a client may make in a day, a count or `off`; one more bans it. |
| `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE` | `120` | The most requests a client may make in a minute, a count or `off`; one more bans it. |
| `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR` | `1500` | The most requests a client may make in an hour, a count or `off`; one more bans it. |
| `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_DAY` | `6000` | The most requests a client may make in a day, a count or `off`; one more bans it. |
| `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_PATHS` | empty | Path prefixes whose requests the request and byte limits neither count nor refuse, such as `/assets/`. |
| `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE` | `4G` | The most bytes a client's requests may carry in a minute, a size or `off`; the request that takes a client past any byte limit bans it. |
| `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_HOUR` | `20G` | The most bytes a client's requests may carry in an hour, a size or `off`. |
| `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_DAY` | `200G` | The most bytes a client's requests may carry in a day, a size or `off`. |
| `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE` | `off` | The most bytes a client's requests may carry in a minute, a size or `off`; the request that takes a client past any byte limit bans it. |
| `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_HOUR` | `50G` | The most bytes a client's requests may carry in an hour, a size or `off`. |
| `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_DAY` | `100G` | The most bytes a client's requests may carry in a day, a size or `off`. |
| `SWWAF_BYTES_COUNT` | `both` | Which body bytes the byte limits count: `response`, `request` or `both`. |
| `SWWAF_ERROR_BURST_THRESHOLD` | `30` | The most refusals by a rule file, a trap path or the Core Rule Set a client may get in a minute, a count or `off`; one more bans it. |
| `SWWAF_BAN_RESPONSE` | `403` | How a refused client is answered: `403`, `429` or `close`, which drops the connection. |
@@ -407,10 +407,10 @@ services:
SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_NETS: 203.0.113.0/24,198.51.100.7
# A netblock that sends nothing wanted.
SWWAF_DENY_NETS: 198.51.100.128/25
# Tighter limits for everyone else: a site with no API.
SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE: "120"
SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR: "3000"
SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_DAY: "30000"
# Tighter limits for everyone else: a small static site.
SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE: "60"
SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR: "600"
SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_DAY: "3000"
# Hosting networks and one country get a share of those limits.
SWWAF_ASN_LIMIT_PERCENT: AS14061:50,AS16276:25
SWWAF_COUNTRY_LIMIT_PERCENT: cn:25
@@ -431,10 +431,9 @@ volumes:
gitea behind traefik, set up for a code forge:
- the upload limits raised, in size and in time;
- the response size limit and the byte limits raised, for clones over 1 GiB;
- the response size limit raised, for clones over 1 GiB;
- the Actions runners exempt from counting;
- the default request limits kept, since they already leave room for API
clients.
- the default request and byte limits kept.
`traefik` is the network traefik is on, made outside this file.
@@ -488,11 +487,6 @@ services:
SWWAF_INSTANCE_NAME: fsn1/servewaf
# The Actions runners ask for work all day; never count them.
SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_NETS: 10.0.4.0/24
# Raised with rproxy's response limit, to four times the default
# each, so that one clone of that size breaks no byte limit.
SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE: 16G
SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_HOUR: 80G
SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_DAY: 800G
# gitea never serves these; a request for one bans the client.
SWWAF_TRAP_PATHS: /wp-login.php,/xmlrpc.php,/wp-admin/
volumes:
SPEC.md
+26 -29
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@@ -397,32 +397,31 @@ Conventions:
### Request rate limits, per client
Breaking one bans the client. The defaults suit programmatic use of an API, such
as an automation fleet on another host, and still stop abusive bots. A fleet of
20 agents, each making a request every 10 seconds at its busiest, makes 120
requests a minute and 7,200 an hour. Working around the clock, it makes 172,800
a day. It stays under all three limits.
Breaking one bans the client. The defaults let people read a site and stop
scrapers that send many requests slowly over hours or days. The hour limit is
the main one.
- Per minute: 500, about 8 requests a second. It leaves room for the fleet's 120
a minute and a few quick first visits with an empty cache. A gitea page opened
with an empty cache loads about 40 files. A client firing requests as fast as
it can passes the limit within seconds.
- Per hour: 20,000, about 5.5 requests a second for a whole hour. A client that
keeps up 6 a second makes 21,600 in an hour, and passes it, at 360 a minute,
under the minute limit. The fleet's 7,200 an hour is about a third of it.
- Per day: 300,000, about 3.5 requests a second around the clock. A scraper that
keeps up 4 a second makes 345,600 a day, and passes it. At 240 a minute and
14,400 an hour, it stays under the other two limits.
- Per minute: 120, 2 requests a second. It leaves room for a person opening two
pages at once with an empty cache. A gitea page opened with an empty cache
loads 20 to 60 files, and a handful once cached.
- Per hour: 1,500. A person reading code in gitea for a whole hour, a page every
20 seconds, makes about 900 requests. A scraper making one request every 2
seconds makes 1,800 an hour, more than the limit.
- Per day: 6,000, four hours at the hour limit. A scraper making one request
every 10 seconds makes 8,640 a day, more than the limit.
Counting cannot catch a client that stays under all three limits, such as one
that keeps up 3 requests a second. Only the other checks can catch an abuser
Counting cannot catch a client that stays under all three limits, about 4
requests a minute around the clock. Only the other checks can catch an abuser
that slow. They include the trap paths, the rule files, the Core Rule Set and
the blocklists. An abuser that trips none of them is not caught. A machine that
keeps up more than 500 requests a minute passes the minute limit. One that keeps
up more than about 5.5 a second for an hour passes the hour limit. One that
keeps up more than about 3.5 a second all day passes the day limit, as two busy
Actions runners on one address do. Such a machine's address belongs in
`SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_NETS`.
the blocklists. An abuser that trips none of them is not caught.
Some legitimate clients pass the limits:
- An Actions runner asks gitea for work all day and can pass the limits.
- Everyone behind one shared address, such as an office, shares one client's
limits.
Their addresses belong in `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_NETS`.
`SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_PATHS` takes path prefixes out of the count, such as
static assets or health checks; their bytes are not counted either. A prefix is
@@ -435,12 +434,10 @@ matched the same way.
### Byte limits, per client
The hour and day limits sit about twice above what 40 people busy with heavy web
apps move together on one address. Each moves about 256 MiB an hour, for ten
hours a day. A response's bytes are counted when it ends (see step 15). So the
minute limit holds three of the largest responses, with their requests, ending
in the same minute. No single download then breaks a limit. An operator who
raises `SWRP_MAX_RESPONSE_SIZE` must raise the byte limits too.
By default there is no minute limit, so a client can download in a burst at full
speed. The hour limit defaults to 50 GiB and the day limit to 100 GiB. They
allow several downloads of a few GiB each. A response's bytes are counted when
it ends (see step 15).
### Lookup of AS number and country
deploy/gitea/compose.yaml
+1 -1
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@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ services:
SMALLWEBWAF_COMMAND: servewaf
# The containers on the shared network skip the checks. Add the
# address of an automation fleet on another host here too; without
# that, the default request limits are sized for such a fleet.
# that, it is counted like any client.
SWWAF_ALLOW_NETS: 10.99.0.128/25,fd10:99:0:0:8000::/65
# In block mode the Core Rule Set refuses everyday Gitea searches
# and file names, and 31 refusals in a minute ban the address.
docs/gitea.md
+14 -21
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@@ -72,11 +72,10 @@ A clone or a download is a response:
- `SWRP_MAX_RESPONSE_TIME_MS` is `900000`, 15 minutes, half the default. A clone
or download that takes longer is cut off.
- `SWRP_MAX_RESPONSE_SIZE` stays at its default, 1 GiB. A repository whose clone
is larger needs it raised, and the byte limits with it ("Byte limits, per
client" in `SPEC.md`).
is larger needs it raised.
The byte limits stay at their defaults. Two uploads of 2 GiB from one address in
one minute pass the minute's limit of 4 GiB, and ban the address.
The byte limits stay at their defaults: no minute limit, 50 GiB an hour and 100
GiB a day.
## The checks
@@ -86,9 +85,9 @@ gitea searches and file names. The section "What the Core Rule Set refuses in
`block` mode" below lists them. Each such refusal counts toward the error burst,
so 31 in one minute ban the address.
Every other check stays at its default. A client may make 500 requests a minute,
20,000 an hour and 300,000 a day. Archive downloads and blame and history pages
are what scrapers hammer, and these limits do most of the work there.
Every other check stays at its default. A client may make 120 requests a minute,
1,500 an hour and 6,000 a day. Archive downloads and blame and history pages are
what scrapers hammer, and these limits do most of the work there.
## The shared network
@@ -108,7 +107,7 @@ Containers on the shared network skip `servewaf`'s checks:
- A container on the shared network that asks for the site at the host's public
address arrives from the gateway. It is checked like any visitor.
- A fleet on another host can have its address added to `SWWAF_ALLOW_NETS`.
Without that, the default request limits are sized for such a fleet.
Without that, it is counted like any client.
- traefik replaces the `X-Forwarded-For` a visitor sends, by default. Keep it
so: otherwise a visitor could name an address on the shared network, and skip
the checks.
@@ -145,20 +144,14 @@ in the query string, as `?token=`, is then in the log. Send it in the
A runner on the shared network skips the checks. One on another host is counted
like any client. A runner older than version 0.4 (April 2026) asks for work
every 2 seconds, 43,200 requests a day. While it runs a job, it reports the
job's log and state every second instead, two requests a second. So one runner
busy all day sends 120 requests a minute and 172,800 a day, under the request
limits.
every 2 seconds, 1,800 requests an hour. While it runs a job, it reports the
job's log and state every second instead, two requests a second.
Several runners on one address can pass them:
- Two busy all day make 345,600 requests, and pass the day limit of 300,000.
- Three busy at once make 21,600 an hour, and pass the hour limit of 20,000.
- Five busy at once make 600 a minute, and pass the minute limit of 500.
Their address is then banned, their running jobs fail, and each repeat within a
day makes the ban longer. Newer runners ask for work less often. Put the
runners' addresses in `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_NETS`.
So one idle runner makes 1,800 requests an hour, more than the hour limit of
1,500. A busy one, at two requests a second, passes the minute limit of 120
within two minutes. Its address is then banned, its running jobs fail, and each
repeat within a day makes the ban longer. Newer runners ask for work less often.
Put the runners' addresses in `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_NETS`.
## What the Core Rule Set refuses in `block` mode
docs/settings.md
+18 -15
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@@ -99,19 +99,22 @@ chooses between the two (see "The image's command" below).
## Request rate limits, per client
- `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE` (default `500`, about 8 a second): the most
requests a client may make in a minute. A count or `off`. The default catches,
within seconds, a client firing requests as fast as it can. It leaves room for
a fleet of about 20 agents at its busiest, about 120 requests a minute. It
also leaves room for a few quick first visits to gitea with an empty cache,
about 40 files each.
- `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR` (default `20000`, about 5.5 a second): the most
requests a client may make in an hour. A count or `off`. The default leaves
room for an automation fleet at work. It catches a client that keeps up more
than about 5.5 a second for an hour.
- `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_DAY` (default `300000`, about 3.5 a second): the most
requests a client may make in a day. A count or `off`. The default catches a
scraper that keeps up 4 a second around the clock.
- `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE` (default `120`, 2 a second): the most requests a
client may make in a minute. A count or `off`. The default leaves room for a
person opening two gitea pages at once with an empty cache, up to 60 files
each.
- `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR` (default `1500`): the most requests a client may
make in an hour. A count or `off`. It is the main limit against scrapers. A
person reading code in gitea for an hour, a page every 20 seconds, makes
about 900. A scraper making one request every 2 seconds makes 1,800 an hour,
more than the limit.
- `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_DAY` (default `6000`): the most requests a client may
make in a day. A count or `off`. The default is four hours at the hour limit.
A scraper making one request every 10 seconds makes 8,640 a day, more than the
limit.
- An Actions runner asks gitea for work all day and can pass the limits. Put the
runners' addresses in `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_NETS`. Do the same for a
network where many people share one address, such as an office.
- Counting cannot catch a client that stays under all three limits (see "Request
rate limits, per client" in [`SPEC.md`](../SPEC.md)).
- `SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_PATHS` (default empty): path prefixes exempt from
@@ -119,8 +122,8 @@ chooses between the two (see "The image's command" below).
## Byte limits, per client
- `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE` (default `4G`), `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_HOUR`
(default `20G`) and `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_DAY` (default `200G`): the most
- `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE` (default `off`), `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_HOUR`
(default `50G`) and `SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_DAY` (default `100G`): the most
bytes counted for a client in each window. A size or `off`.
- `SWWAF_BYTES_COUNT` (default `both`): which body bytes the byte limits count:
`response`, `request` or `both`.
internal/config/config.go
+6 -6
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@@ -468,13 +468,13 @@ func FromEnvironment(lookupEnv func(string) (string, bool)) (*Config, error) {
AllowNets: env.netblocks("SWWAF_ALLOW_NETS", ""),
RateLimitExemptNets: env.netblocks("SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_NETS", ""),
DenyNets: env.netblocks("SWWAF_DENY_NETS", ""),
RateLimitPerMinute: env.count("SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE", "500"),
RateLimitPerHour: env.count("SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR", "20000"),
RateLimitPerDay: env.count("SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_DAY", "300000"),
RateLimitPerMinute: env.count("SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE", "120"),
RateLimitPerHour: env.count("SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR", "1500"),
RateLimitPerDay: env.count("SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_DAY", "6000"),
RateLimitExemptPaths: env.pathPrefixes("SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_PATHS", ""),
BytesLimitPerMinute: env.size("SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE", "4G"),
BytesLimitPerHour: env.size("SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_HOUR", "20G"),
BytesLimitPerDay: env.size("SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_DAY", "200G"),
BytesLimitPerMinute: env.size("SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE", "off"),
BytesLimitPerHour: env.size("SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_HOUR", "50G"),
BytesLimitPerDay: env.size("SWWAF_BYTES_LIMIT_PER_DAY", "100G"),
BytesCount: env.bytesCount("SWWAF_BYTES_COUNT", "both"),
LookupSource: env.lookupSource("SWWAF_LOOKUP_SOURCE", "geojs"),
LookupDBPath: env.value("SWWAF_LOOKUP_DB_PATH", ""),
internal/config/config_test.go
+11 -11
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@@ -244,9 +244,9 @@ func TestDefaults(t *testing.T) {
wantSettings(t, cfg, config.Config{
ListenAddr: ":8080",
Observe: false,
RateLimitPerMinute: 500,
RateLimitPerHour: 20000,
RateLimitPerDay: 300000,
RateLimitPerMinute: 120,
RateLimitPerHour: 1500,
RateLimitPerDay: 6000,
BanResponse: 403,
LimitBanDuration: time.Hour,
LimitBanRepeatWindow: 24 * time.Hour,
@@ -266,8 +266,8 @@ func TestDefaults(t *testing.T) {
LookupSource: defaultLookupSource, LookupTimeout: 800 * time.Millisecond,
})
wantByteLimitSettings(t, cfg, config.Config{
BytesLimitPerMinute: 4 << 30, BytesLimitPerHour: 20 << 30,
BytesLimitPerDay: 200 << 30, BytesCount: "both",
BytesLimitPerMinute: 0, BytesLimitPerHour: 50 << 30,
BytesLimitPerDay: 100 << 30, BytesCount: "both",
})
wantNetblocks(t, cfg.AllowNets)
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ func TestNoSingleRequestBreaksAByteLimitAtTheDefaults(t *testing.T) {
for _, limit := range []int64{
cfg.BytesLimitPerMinute, cfg.BytesLimitPerHour, cfg.BytesLimitPerDay,
} {
if largest > limit {
if limit != 0 && largest > limit { // 0 is off
t.Errorf("a request of %d bytes breaks the byte limit of %d", largest, limit)
}
}
@@ -2271,12 +2271,12 @@ func TestLogsEachSettingWithItsValue(t *testing.T) {
rateLimitExemptNets: "",
denyNets: "",
rateLimitPerMinute: "45",
rateLimitPerHour: "20000",
rateLimitPerDay: "300000",
rateLimitPerHour: "1500",
rateLimitPerDay: "6000",
rateLimitExemptPaths: "",
bytesLimitPerMinute: "4G",
bytesLimitPerHour: "20G",
bytesLimitPerDay: "200G",
bytesLimitPerMinute: "off",
bytesLimitPerHour: "50G",
bytesLimitPerDay: "100G",
bytesCount: "both",
lookupSource: defaultLookupSource,
lookupDBPath: "",
internal/smallwebwaf/smallwebwaf_test.go
+3 -3
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@@ -1225,9 +1225,9 @@ func wantStartingLine(t *testing.T, line map[string]any, dir string) {
"SWWAF_ALLOW_NETS": "",
rateLimitExemptNets: "",
"SWWAF_DENY_NETS": "",
"SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE": "500",
"SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR": "20000",
rateLimitPerDay: "300000",
"SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE": "120",
"SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR": "1500",
rateLimitPerDay: "6000",
"SWWAF_RATE_LIMIT_EXEMPT_PATHS": "",
"SWWAF_DENIED_COUNTRIES": "",
"SWWAF_EXCLUSIVELY_ALLOWED_COUNTRIES": "",