servewaf always answers rproxy well within its time limit (closes #182)
check / check (push) Successful in 8m31s

A question waits on GeoJS at most 800ms, the new default of
SWWAF_LOOKUP_TIMEOUT. In enforce mode it does not wait at all when it is
over the header limits, on a fetched blocklist with deny, on the CrowdSec
decision list, or over a whole rate limit. Not waiting never lowers a
client's limit. Just before the Core Rule Set, servewaf refuses more than
50 cookies or 100 header fields with 431.

Shared default changed: SWWAF_LOOKUP_TIMEOUT also applies to smallwebwaf
with no command.
Judgement call: SWWAF_REPUTATION_TIMEOUT stays 2s, since no request waits
on the DNS blocklists or AbuseIPDB.

Model: opus-5-5
This commit was merged in pull request #183.
This commit is contained in:
2026-11-05 05:48:50 +01:00
parent 2eeea136e8
commit 4a4874ae2f
22 changed files with 937 additions and 55 deletions
+68 -2
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@@ -1102,8 +1102,9 @@ metrics.
### The answer
`servewaf` runs steps 3 to 12 of "What happens to a request", in that order.
Every answer but the last below carries `X-Smallwebwaf-Disposition`.
`servewaf` runs steps 3 to 12 of "What happens to a request", in that order,
with the header limits just before step 12 (see "Answering in time"). Every
answer but the last below carries `X-Smallwebwaf-Disposition`.
- `X-Smallwebwaf-Disposition: allow`, status `200`, no body. `rproxy` passes the
request to the app. With `SWWAF_ADD_LOOKUP_HEADERS` the answer also carries
@@ -1114,6 +1115,7 @@ Every answer but the last below carries `X-Smallwebwaf-Disposition`.
status is one of:
- `SWWAF_BAN_RESPONSE`, for a refusal;
- `403`, for a `block` rule or the Core Rule Set;
- `431`, for a request over the header limits;
- `404`, for a path under `/_smallwebwaf/` that passes the checks, so that
the app never sees that prefix.
- `X-Smallwebwaf-Disposition: close`, status `200`, no body. This takes the
@@ -1131,6 +1133,70 @@ The Core Rule Set inspects the body a question carries only while
does not inspect a JSON or XML body of 64 KiB or more, which may have been cut
short.
### Answering in time
`rproxy` stops waiting for `servewaf` after `SWRP_TIMEOUT_MS`, by default 2
seconds, and `SWRP_DEFAULT_DISPOSITION` then decides. So at the defaults,
`servewaf` answers a request well within that time, whatever the request and
whatever its outside sources do.
GeoJS is the only outside source a question can wait on. A question waits only
when step 5 says so, and for at most `SWWAF_LOOKUP_TIMEOUT`, by default 800
milliseconds. A client without an answer by then counts as unknown. No question
waits on these, which run in the background:
- the DNS blocklists and AbuseIPDB;
- fetching the blocklists, the CrowdSec decision list and the file
`SWWAF_ASN_LIMIT_PERCENT_URL` names.
In `enforce` mode, a question does not wait for GeoJS when it is a request:
- over the header limits;
- from a client on a fetched blocklist, while `SWWAF_BLOCKLIST_ACTION` is
`deny`;
- from a client on the CrowdSec decision list;
- that would take its client over a rate limit at 100% of it, since a percentage
can only lower a limit.
Such a request still goes through the steps in their order. Its client's AS
number and country stay unknown until GeoJS has answered. So while
`SWWAF_EXCLUSIVELY_ALLOWED_COUNTRIES` is set, that list can refuse it first.
`SWWAF_UNKNOWN_LIMIT_PERCENT` does not apply to it until then, so not waiting
never lowers its limit.
The static lists and bans come before the lookup, so they never wait. These can
still wait for GeoJS:
- a country list, which needs the answer;
- a rate limit a percentage has lowered, which needs the answer;
- a DNS blocklist or AbuseIPDB, while `SWWAF_REPUTATION_ACTION` is `deny`;
- a trap path;
- a rule file;
- the Core Rule Set.
The header limits are fixed, with no setting. `servewaf` refuses a request over
either one:
- more than 50 cookies. Each part of its `Cookie` headers between semicolons
counts as one, unless it is empty or only spaces and tabs.
- more than 100 header fields. A header sent twice counts twice. `Host` and
`Transfer-Encoding` do not count. `X-Request-ID` and `X-Forwarded-Proto` do.
Real clients never reach these limits. The answer is `deny` with `431`, and the
log line's action is `too_large`. The refusal makes no ban and is no offence.
The rate limits count the request as usual, so a client that keeps sending such
requests breaks a limit.
The limits apply on every path and in every `SWWAF_WAF_MODE`. A client in
`SWWAF_ALLOW_NETS` skips them, as it skips the Core Rule Set. In `observe` mode
such a request is answered `allow` with `would_action`, and the Core Rule Set
does not read it.
The Core Rule Set runs each of its rules on each cookie, so thousands of small
cookies would keep it busy for over a second. Within the limits, one long cookie
or query string can still keep it busy for a fraction of a second. So enough
such requests at once can overload `servewaf` past `SWRP_TIMEOUT_MS`.
### The report
Once the visitor's answer has ended, `rproxy` sends `POST /_smallwebwaf/report`