Trust the RFC 1918 ranges as proxies when TRUSTED_PROXIES is unset (closes #333)
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Unset or empty, TRUSTED_PROXIES now defaults to 10.0.0.0/8,
172.16.0.0/12 and 192.168.0.0/16, so a reverse proxy reaching the app
over a Docker network or a private LAN gets per-client rate-limit
buckets without configuration. A set value replaces the default; an
unparseable one still fails startup.

The startup warning for an empty list goes, with its test hook and
test, since the default is no longer empty. The README's
configuration table, Trusted proxies, upaas and reverse-proxy sections
describe the new default and when to narrow it to the proxy alone.

Model: opus-5-5
This commit is contained in:
2026-09-29 07:29:26 +00:00
parent 4a724130ca
commit fc651abe46
10 changed files with 126 additions and 257 deletions
+67 -58
View File
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ TTY detection, and security headers are always applied.
| `RETENTION_SWEEP_INTERVAL` | How often the retention reaper and archive sweeper run (Go duration, must be positive) | `1h` |
| `SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT` | Idle session timeout (Go duration) | `24h` |
| `RECEIVER_RATE_LIMIT` | Receiver requests/minute per IP per entrypoint (10x that per IP across the route) | `120` |
| `TRUSTED_PROXIES` | CIDRs whose forwarded headers are trusted (unset: all clients behind a proxy share one rate-limit bucket; a correct login password is never throttled either way) | `""` (none) |
| `TRUSTED_PROXIES` | CIDRs whose forwarded headers are trusted. A set value replaces the default. If clients connect directly from private addresses, set it to the proxy's address alone. See [Trusted proxies](#trusted-proxies) | `10.0.0.0/8,172.16.0.0/12,192.168.0.0/16` (RFC 1918) |
| `ALLOWED_EGRESS_CIDRS` | CIDRs that delivery targets may reach despite the SSRF blocklist. Read [Allowing egress to your own network](#allowing-egress-to-your-own-network) before setting it | `""` (none) |
#### Allowing egress to your own network
@@ -372,41 +372,43 @@ unlocked.
`TRUSTED_PROXIES` is a comma-separated list of CIDR blocks (a bare
address such as `192.168.1.7` is accepted and treated as a single
host), for example `192.168.1.7, 2001:db8::5`. It decides whose
`X-Forwarded-For` header the rate limiters believe, so it should name
the addresses of your reverse proxies and nothing else.
`X-Forwarded-For` header the rate limiters believe, so it should cover
the addresses of your reverse proxies.
`X-Forwarded-For` is honoured **only** when the connecting peer is
inside one of these blocks; for every other peer the client identity is
the connection's own address and the header is ignored. The default is
the empty list, which trusts nobody — anything else would let any
client pick its own rate limit bucket, minting a fresh one per request
or draining someone else's. Set it to the address of your reverse
proxy, and to nothing wider. A set but unparseable value aborts
startup.
the connection's own address and the header is ignored. Unset (or
empty), the list is the RFC 1918 private ranges: `10.0.0.0/8`,
`172.16.0.0/12` and `192.168.0.0/16`. That covers a reverse proxy
reaching webhooker over a Docker network or a private LAN without
anything set. A set value replaces the default entirely. A set but
unparseable value aborts startup.
That default is safe against forged headers, but leaving it unset in
production has a cost you must know about. Production runs behind a
TLS-terminating reverse proxy, so with `TRUSTED_PROXIES` unset every
request keys on the proxy's own address and all clients share a single
Trusting those ranges has two consequences:
- Any peer in them chooses its own rate-limit key through
`X-Forwarded-For` (see the requirements below). If your clients
connect to webhooker directly from private addresses, set
`TRUSTED_PROXIES` to the proxy's address alone.
- Clients whose own addresses are private are skipped as trusted hops
when the chain is walked (below), so one that sends no
`X-Forwarded-For` of its own shares the proxy's bucket. Setting the
list to the proxy's address alone gives each its own bucket.
A proxy the list does not cover, such as nginx on the same host
reaching webhooker over loopback, is not trusted: every request through
it keys on the proxy's own address and all clients share a single
bucket per limit. The receiver limits become service-wide ceilings,
and the login endpoint's failure counting collapses onto one key, so a
stranger's wrong passwords throttle every other client's wrong
passwords.
passwords. Set `TRUSTED_PROXIES` to that proxy's address to restore
per-client buckets.
What it cannot do is lock the operator out. The login endpoint
verifies credentials **before** it consults any limit and charges only
failures, so a correct password is never throttled no matter how full
the bucket is. See [Rate Limiting](#rate-limiting).
The remedy is to set `TRUSTED_PROXIES` to your reverse proxy's
address, which restores per-client buckets. webhooker logs a warning
at startup whenever `TRUSTED_PROXIES` is empty, in every environment,
because behind a proxy every client shares one bucket in `dev` and
`prod` alike. The warning is informational when nothing proxies to the
process: with no proxy in front, the peer address is the client's own
and the buckets are already per-client. See
[Rate Limiting](#rate-limiting) for what each limit shares.
`X-Real-IP` and `True-Client-IP` are **never** read, from any peer.
Reverse proxies append to `X-Forwarded-For` but forward other client
headers verbatim, so a single-valued header is client-controlled even
@@ -428,14 +430,14 @@ Two operator requirements follow:
(nginx `$proxy_add_x_forwarded_for`, HAProxy `option forwardfor`,
Caddy and AWS ALB by default), and must append a bare address with
no port.
- List proxy hosts **only**. Any address inside `TRUSTED_PROXIES`
- Keep clients out of the list. Any address inside `TRUSTED_PROXIES`
chooses its own rate-limit key: its `X-Forwarded-For` is walked, so
it can name a different address on every request to get a fresh
bucket each time, or name another client's address to drain that
client's bucket. Never list a block that also covers clients — a
broad `10.0.0.0/8` on a network where clients live in the same range
makes all three limits, including the unauthenticated webhook
receiver, silently bypassable by every client in the block.
client's bucket. A block that also covers clients — the default, on
a network where clients have private addresses — makes all three
limits, including the unauthenticated webhook receiver, silently
bypassable by every client in the block.
#### Sessions
@@ -757,10 +759,14 @@ repository's `Dockerfile` and runs it. The app needs:
- **Environment variables:**
- `WEBHOOKER_ENVIRONMENT=prod`
- `TRUSTED_PROXIES`: your reverse proxy's address on that Docker
network. The `remoteIP` field of the `http request` log line for a
request that came through the proxy shows it; the health check's
own lines show `::1`. See [Trusted proxies](#trusted-proxies).
- `TRUSTED_PROXIES`: normally leave it unset. Docker networks use
private addresses, so the default covers your reverse proxy on
that network. If the network's addresses are outside the RFC 1918
ranges, or clients reach the app from private addresses other
than through the proxy, set it to the proxy's address there. The
`remoteIP` field of the `http request` log line for a request that
came through the proxy shows it; the health check's own lines show
`::1`. See [Trusted proxies](#trusted-proxies).
- Leave `BIND_ADDRESS` and `DATA_DIR` unset: the image sets
`BIND_ADDRESS` to `0.0.0.0`, and `DATA_DIR` defaults to
`/var/lib/webhooker`.
@@ -823,12 +829,15 @@ reports.
behind a proxy means the `X-Forwarded-Proto` header. The block below
sets it; without it every request is read as plaintext and cookies
ship without `Secure`. See [Configuration](#configuration).
3. **Set `TRUSTED_PROXIES` to the proxy's address.** Unset, every rate
limiter keys on the connecting peer, which behind a proxy is the
proxy on every request: all clients collapse into one global bucket
per limit and the receiver's per-IP limits become service-wide
ceilings. See [Trusted proxies](#trusted-proxies). List the proxy
and nothing else.
3. **Make sure `TRUSTED_PROXIES` covers the proxy's address.** Unset,
it covers the RFC 1918 private ranges, so a proxy on a Docker
network or a private LAN is covered and one on loopback is not. For
a proxy it does not cover, every rate limiter keys on the connecting
peer, which is the proxy on every request: all clients collapse into
one global bucket per limit and the receiver's per-IP limits become
service-wide ceilings. See [Trusted proxies](#trusted-proxies). If
clients also connect from private addresses, list the proxy and
nothing else.
4. **Send `Host` as `$http_host`, not `$host`.** `$host` strips the
port. webhooker's Origin/Referer check compares against the host it
was given, so on any port other than 443 `$host` makes every form
@@ -1389,10 +1398,11 @@ It uses:
- **[go-chi/httprate](https://github.com/go-chi/httprate)** for
sliding-window rate limiting of the password-change and webhook
receiver endpoints. The bucket is per client IP only when
`TRUSTED_PROXIES` names the reverse proxy; unset, every client
behind that proxy shares one bucket per limit. The login endpoint
counts failed attempts itself instead, so that a correct password is
never throttled (see [Rate Limiting](#rate-limiting))
`TRUSTED_PROXIES` covers the reverse proxy (by default it covers the
RFC 1918 private ranges); otherwise every client behind that proxy
shares one bucket per limit. The login endpoint counts failed
attempts itself instead, so that a correct password is never
throttled (see [Rate Limiting](#rate-limiting))
- **[Prometheus](https://prometheus.io)** for metrics, served at
`/metrics` behind basic auth
- **[Sentry](https://sentry.io)** for optional error reporting
@@ -2573,30 +2583,30 @@ let one subscriber rotate source addresses and mint a fresh bucket per
request, evading these limits at the network layer without spoofing
anything; the cost is that distinct clients inside one `/64` share a
bucket. IPv4-mapped addresses (`::ffff:1.2.3.4`) key as the IPv4 address
they carry. See [Trusted proxies](#trusted-proxies). Deployed without that
variable set, a client behind a reverse proxy shares one bucket with
every other client behind the same proxy. Set `TRUSTED_PROXIES` to the
proxy's address to get per-client limits back. What the shared bucket
they carry. See [Trusted proxies](#trusted-proxies). When that variable
does not cover the reverse proxy, a client behind it shares one bucket
with every other client behind the same proxy. Set `TRUSTED_PROXIES` to
the proxy's address to get per-client limits back. What the shared bucket
costs is not the same for every limiter, and the two cases pull in
opposite directions:
- For the **receiver** limits it costs throughput, which is the safe
direction to be wrong in: sharing can only make a limit bind sooner,
never let a sender past it. It matters more for the aggregate limit
than for the per-entrypoint one: with `TRUSTED_PROXIES` unset behind
the reverse proxy a production deployment is required to run behind,
every request keys on the proxy, so the aggregate limit becomes a
service-wide ceiling of 1200 requests per minute across all senders
and all entrypoints, where the per-entrypoint limit's capacity still
grows with the number of entrypoints. Any deployment with more than a
handful of busy entrypoints must set `TRUSTED_PROXIES`.
than for the per-entrypoint one: when `TRUSTED_PROXIES` does not
cover the reverse proxy a production deployment is required to run
behind, every request keys on the proxy, so the aggregate limit
becomes a service-wide ceiling of 1200 requests per minute across all
senders and all entrypoints, where the per-entrypoint limit's
capacity still grows with the number of entrypoints. Any deployment
with more than a handful of busy entrypoints must make sure
`TRUSTED_PROXIES` covers its proxy.
- For the **login and password-change** limits it costs precision, not
availability. Login failures from every client land in one counter,
so a stranger's wrong passwords make the operator's own wrong
passwords answer `429` sooner; the operator's _correct_ password is
never affected, because it is never counted. Production deployments
should still set `TRUSTED_PROXIES`; webhooker warns at startup
whenever it is empty, in any environment.
should still make sure `TRUSTED_PROXIES` covers their proxy.
#### The login endpoint
@@ -3057,10 +3067,9 @@ check, see [The login endpoint](#the-login-endpoint).
It runs behind session auth, so only a client already holding a
valid session reaches it, and an operator throttled out of changing
a password can still log in. The bucket is per client IP only when
`TRUSTED_PROXIES` names the reverse proxy; unset, every client
`TRUSTED_PROXIES` covers the reverse proxy; otherwise every client
shares one bucket, which costs precision rather than availability
(see [Rate Limiting](#rate-limiting)). webhooker warns at startup
whenever `TRUSTED_PROXIES` is empty
(see [Rate Limiting](#rate-limiting))
- Prometheus metrics behind basic auth
- Static assets embedded in binary (no filesystem access needed at
runtime)