Correct release-blocking documentation inaccuracies (closes #141)

Four defects found by the integration review, each of which would have
made the README or the release notes untrue at the moment of tagging.

RETENTION_SWEEP_INTERVAL was absent from the README env table while two
other passages referred to it as documented. Enumerated every variable
read by internal/config from the source (12 in total) rather than by
eye; that was the only one missing.

TODO.md omitted five of the units landed in this milestone (#64, #79,
#90, #113, #118), two of them credential-exposure fixes, which are
precisely the entries a reader of the release notes wants to find. The
list is now derived from git log origin/main..origin/next.

The README sold Replay in the present tense as a core capability while
no redelivery code exists anywhere in the tree, and the roadmap entry
for it had been dropped without it being implemented. Every mention of
replay or redelivery in the README is now either marked planned or
already under a Planned heading: the Rationale item, the Use Cases
bullet, the Event model's field description, and the delivery-semantics
passage on target-type edits, which told an operator that a terminally
failed delivery was recoverable by hand when nothing can recover it.
The comment on failUnretryableRetry made the same claim and is
corrected with it. The roadmap entry is back in TODO.md.

The production JS asset shipped a console.log on load. The rest of the
file and every other shipped asset were checked; that was the only one
(alpine.min.js is vendored and untouched).

No behavioural change: the only non-comment, non-documentation edit is
the deleted console.log.

.dockerignore

@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# .ci-fingerprint is deliberately NOT excluded: it is the CI cache barrier
+# that keeps the check stages from replaying a cached pass. See the lint
+# stage of the Dockerfile.
 .git/
 bin/
 *.md

.gitea/workflows/check.yml

@@ -11,5 +11,53 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2 2024-10-23
+        with:
+          # The fingerprint step below needs history to find the last commit
+          # that touched the Docker build context.
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Neutralize superseded run statuses
+        # Gitea cancels the in-flight run when another commit is pushed to the
+        # same branch and records the cancellation as `failure`, so a commit
+        # that was never tested reads red. The cancellation is unconditional
+        # server-side for push events and cannot be disabled from a workflow
+        # file, so the superseding run rewrites those statuses to `skipped`.
+        # Only the exact cancellation status is touched; a real failure is
+        # left alone.
+        env:
+          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          set -eu
+          api="${GITHUB_API_URL}/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}"
+          ctx='check / check (push)'
+          for sha in $(git rev-list --max-count=20 "${GITHUB_SHA}^" || true); do
+            latest="$(curl -sf "${api}/commits/${sha}/status" | jq -r \
+              --arg c "$ctx" \
+              '[.statuses[] | select(.context == $c)][0] // empty
+               | "\(.status)|\(.description)"')" || continue
+            [ "$latest" = 'failure|Has been cancelled' ] || continue
+            curl -sf -X POST "${api}/statuses/${sha}" \
+              -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
+              -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+              -d "$(jq -nc --arg c "$ctx" '{
+                context: $c,
+                state: "skipped",
+                description: "Superseded by a newer commit; never tested"
+              }')" >/dev/null
+            echo "neutralized superseded status on ${sha}"
+          done
+
+      - name: Fingerprint the build context
+        # `.dockerignore` keeps docs out of the build context, so a docs-only
+        # commit legitimately replays the whole image from cache and stays
+        # cheap. Every other commit writes a new fingerprint into the context,
+        # which invalidates the `COPY . .` layer of both check stages: a
+        # commit that was never linted, formatted-checked, tested and built
+        # cannot report success from cache.
+        run: |
+          set -eu
+          fp="$(git log -1 --format=%H -- . ':!*.md' ':!LICENSE' ':!.editorconfig')"
+          printf '%s\n' "${fp:-$GITHUB_SHA}" > .ci-fingerprint
+
       - name: Build Docker image (runs make check)
         run: script/cibuild

.gitignore

@@ -42,3 +42,6 @@ data/
 # Temporary files
 tmp/
 temp/
+
+# CI cache barrier, written into the build context by the check workflow
+.ci-fingerprint 

Dockerfile

@@ -12,7 +12,11 @@ WORKDIR /src
 COPY go.mod go.sum ./
 RUN go mod download
 
-# Copy source code
+# Copy source code. In CI the context also carries .ci-fingerprint, whose
+# value changes with every commit that touches the build context (see
+# .gitea/workflows/check.yml). That invalidates this layer, so the checks
+# below cannot report success by replaying a cached pass. Do not add it to
+# .dockerignore.
 COPY . .
 
 # Run formatting check and linter
@@ -36,7 +40,8 @@ WORKDIR /build
 COPY go.mod go.sum ./
 RUN go mod download
 
-# Copy source code
+# Copy source code, including the .ci-fingerprint cache barrier described in
+# the lint stage above.
 COPY . .
 
 # Run tests and build

README.md

@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ TTY detection, and security headers are always applied.
 | `METRICS_USERNAME`      | Basic auth username for `/metrics`  | `""`     |
 | `METRICS_PASSWORD`      | Basic auth password for `/metrics`  | `""`     |
 | `SENTRY_DSN`            | Sentry error reporting DSN          | `""`     |
+| `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 | `120` |
 | `TRUSTED_PROXIES`       | CIDRs whose forwarded headers are trusted | `""` (none) |
@@ -173,8 +174,12 @@ its value and refuses to start, rather than silently running with a
 substituted default. `PORT=eighty`, `DEBUG=ture`, and
 `RETENTION_SWEEP_INTERVAL=1 hour` all abort startup. `PORT` must
 additionally be a number in the range 1–65535,
-`RECEIVER_RATE_LIMIT` must be at least 1, and every entry in
+`RECEIVER_RATE_LIMIT` must be at least 1,
-`TRUSTED_PROXIES` must be a CIDR block or a bare IP address.
+`RETENTION_SWEEP_INTERVAL` must be greater than zero (it is a ticker
+period, so `0s` or a negative value would crash the reaper after
+startup), and every entry in `TRUSTED_PROXIES` must be a CIDR block or
+a bare IP address. `SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT` is the exception: a
+non-positive value there means idle expiry is disabled, not invalid.
 
 Boolean variables (`DEBUG`, `MAINTENANCE_MODE`) accept exactly the
 spellings Go's `strconv.ParseBool` accepts — `1`, `t`, `T`, `TRUE`,
@@ -260,9 +265,10 @@ webhooker solves this by acting as a durable intermediary:
    targets simultaneously. This enables patterns like forwarding a
    GitHub webhook to both a deployment service and a Slack channel.
 
-5. **Replay** — Stored events can be manually redelivered for debugging
+5. **Replay** (not yet implemented) — Every received event is stored in
-   or testing, without requiring the original sender to fire the webhook
+   full, which is what manual redelivery for debugging or testing will
-   again.
+   be built on. No redelivery exists today, in the web UI or the API;
+   see [TODO.md](TODO.md).
 
 ### Use Cases
 
@@ -272,6 +278,7 @@ webhooker solves this by acting as a durable intermediary:
   size, and delivery performance
 - **Debugging** and introspection of webhook payloads in the web UI
 - **Replay** of webhook events for application testing and development
+  (planned; not yet implemented)
 - **Fan-out** delivery of a single webhook to multiple downstream
   targets
 - **High-availability ingestion** for delivery to less reliable backend
@@ -497,7 +504,7 @@ A programmatic access credential for API authentication.
 #### Event
 
 A captured incoming webhook request. Stores the complete HTTP request
-data for replay and auditing.
+data for auditing and for the planned replay capability.
 
 | Field          | Type   | Description |
 | -------------- | ------ | ----------- |
@@ -779,9 +786,10 @@ unknown) one while one of its deliveries is still `retrying`, both
 recovery paths above terminally mark that delivery `failed` and record a
 `DeliveryResult` naming the current target type as the reason, logging it
 at warn level. The delivery is not re-dispatched under the new type — the
-operator never asked for that delivery — and the event itself remains
+operator never asked for that delivery — and while the event itself
-stored in the per-webhook event database, so it can be redelivered
+remains stored in the per-webhook event database, there is no way to
-manually.
+redeliver it: manual redelivery is planned, not implemented (see
+[TODO.md](TODO.md)).
 
 ### Circuit Breaker (HTTP Targets with Retries)
 
@@ -1104,6 +1112,34 @@ binary is statically linked and runs on Alpine.
 `docker build .` is the CI gate — if it passes, the code is formatted,
 linted, tested, and compiled.
 
+#### CI gate honesty
+
+A layer cache lets `docker build .` exit 0 in seconds with the lint and
+test stages replayed rather than executed, which would make a green
+check meaningless. The `check` workflow therefore writes
+`.ci-fingerprint` into the build context before building. Its value is
+the hash of the last commit that touched the build context, so:
+
+- Any commit that changes code (including a squash merge whose tree
+  matches an already-built branch) gets a new fingerprint, invalidates
+  the `COPY . .` layer of both check stages, and really runs
+  `make fmt-check`, `make lint`, `make test`, and `make build`. A run
+  that reports success ran them.
+- A docs-only commit leaves the fingerprint unchanged — `.dockerignore`
+  excludes `*.md` and `LICENSE` from the context anyway — so the image
+  replays from cache and costs seconds.
+
+The module download layer sits above `COPY . .` and stays cached either
+way.
+
+The workflow's first step covers a second way the gate lied: Gitea
+cancels an in-flight run when a newer commit lands on the same branch
+and records that cancellation as a `failure` status, marking a commit
+red that was never tested. Cancellation is unconditional server-side for
+push events, so the superseding run rewrites the exact
+`Has been cancelled` status to `skipped`. Genuine failures are never
+touched.
+
 ## TODO
 
 See [TODO.md](TODO.md).

TODO.md

@@ -1,35 +1,94 @@
 # Workflow
 
-* branch (from `main`)
+One issue per unit of work, one branch and one PR per issue:
-* do the work in Next Step
+
-* move Next Step to the top of Completed Steps
+* ensure a tracked issue exists with a definition of done
-* move the top item of Future Steps into Next Step
+* branch from `next` (never from `main`)
-* commit (`TODO.md` changes in the same commit as the work)
+* do the work; open a PR based on `next` (never on `main`)
-* merge to `main` if the branch is not protected, otherwise open a PR
+* pass an independent review, then the manager squash-merges into `next`
-* push
+* push; nothing stays local-only
+
+`next` is the branch for the next milestone and must stay green and
+mergeable to `main` without notice. One `next` -> `main` PR accumulates
+the milestone; releases are cut from `main` separately.
+
+Issue branches do NOT touch this file — the manager maintains it on
+`next`. Every branch editing `TODO.md` conflicts with every other
+(#112).
 
 # Status
 
-pre-1.0. No git tags exist. main (4f5ecb1) is a working webhook proxy
+pre-1.0. No git tags exist. `main` (4f5ecb1) is a working webhook proxy
 with auth, CSRF/SSRF protections, login rate limiting, Slack target,
 event retention (#63), the database archiving target (#43), the admin
 password change flow (#65), policy compliance (#6), pinned lint tooling
-(#55), and fail-loud configuration parsing (#80). Note: TODO.md was
+(#55), and fail-loud configuration parsing (#80).
-deliberately deleted from this repo in f9a9569 (2026-03-01, #6); its
+
-content was folded into the README TODO section, which this draft
+`next` (9bfd033) holds the completed 1.0.0 milestone: every issue in it
-reconstructs as of 2026-07-06.
+is closed, and it is verified green by cache-defeated container runs
+rather than by the CI badge, which can pass without executing anything
+(#119). Note: TODO.md was deliberately deleted from this repo in f9a9569
+(2026-03-01, #6); its content was folded into the README TODO section,
+which this draft reconstructs as of 2026-07-06.
 
 # Next Step
 
-Manual event redelivery from the web UI (replay is a core promised
+Tag 1.0.0 from `main` once the milestone PR merges, then repair the CI
-capability in the README rationale).
+gate (#119) before the next cycle's work lands — a gate that can report
+success without running is the one thing every other guarantee here
+rests on.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-08-12 Bound the `X-Forwarded-For` scan's allocation to the hop
+  cap: the reverse walk cuts entries with `strings.LastIndexByte`
+  instead of joining and splitting, so a 1 MB header allocates 16 bytes
+  rather than 1.6 MB per request on the unauthenticated receiver.
+  Semantics proven unchanged by differential testing against the
+  previous implementation (#133)
+- 2026-08-12 Cap the `X-Forwarded-For` hop walk at 64 entries, so an
+  attacker-supplied chain cannot burn unbounded CPU in the rate-limit
+  key function; running off the end falls back to the peer address
+  (#124)
+- 2026-08-12 Gate forwarded-header trust behind a `TRUSTED_PROXIES` CIDR
+  list: all three rate limiters key on the connection's own address
+  unless the direct peer is a configured proxy, in which case
+  `X-Forwarded-For` is walked right to left for the first non-proxy hop.
+  Default trusts nothing, and a set-but-unparseable value aborts
+  startup. Before this, any client could mint a fresh bucket or drain
+  another's by rotating a spoofed header (#88)
 - 2026-08-11 Web UI cleanup: nav terminology unified on Webhooks, the
   Profile settings placeholder removed, a progressive-enhancement copy
   button for the entrypoint URL, and retention form copy that states the
   actual policy (deletion by the reaper, 0 retains forever) (#57)
+- 2026-08-11 Mask the webhook credential in delivery errors and logs:
+  Go embeds the request URL in `*url.Error`, so every transport failure
+  persisted the full Slack webhook URL into the per-webhook event
+  database via `DeliveryResult.Error`, a field a future REST API would
+  have served. `maskURLError` drops path, query and userinfo while
+  preserving the wrapped cause, so `errors.Is`/`As` and `Timeout()`
+  still work and DNS, TLS and timeout failures still read differently
+  (#118)
+- 2026-08-11 Rate-limit the public webhook receiver endpoint
+  (`RECEIVER_RATE_LIMIT`, default 120/min), keyed on client IP plus
+  entrypoint path so one entrypoint cannot exhaust another's budget;
+  over-limit requests get 429 with `Retry-After`. It was the one
+  unauthenticated, internet-facing endpoint with no limit at all (#64)
+- 2026-08-11 Enforce the body size limit before CSRF parses the form:
+  `MaxBodySize` is now first in all four form-parsing route groups, so
+  an oversized request is rejected with 413 instead of being read in
+  full by the CSRF middleware before any cap applied (#90)
+- 2026-08-11 Mask target config on the source detail page, which
+  rendered the stored blob verbatim and so exposed the Slack
+  incoming-webhook URL — a bearer credential that cannot be revoked
+  per-holder. Config reaches the template only as a `TargetView` of
+  labelled fields, and header values are rendered as a count (#113)
+- 2026-08-11 Allow `retention_days` of 0 to mean retain forever, via a
+  sentinel written in `BeforeSave` so the GORM column default cannot
+  win the race. Also bounds the reaper's cutoff arithmetic: day counts
+  above 106751 overflowed `time.Duration` and wrapped the cutoff into
+  the future, where every row matched and the sweep deleted everything
+  (#79)
 - 2026-08-09 Inactivity-based session timeout: sliding idle expiry
   (`SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT`, default `24h`) refreshed on authenticated
   requests, with the 7-day absolute cap kept as an independent
@@ -84,6 +143,9 @@ capability in the README rationale).
 
 # Future Steps
 
+- Manual event redelivery from the web UI — the "Replay" capability the
+  README describes as planned. No redelivery code exists anywhere in the
+  tree; events are stored in full, which is all it would be built on
 - Delivery status and retry management UI
 - Per-webhook rate limiting in the receiver handler (per-webhook config
   plus handler enforcement; global limits must not apply to receiver

internal/config/config.go

@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	SentryDSN       string
 
 	// RetentionSweepInterval is how often the retention reaper runs.
+	// Always positive: it becomes a time.NewTicker period.
 	RetentionSweepInterval time.Duration
 
 	// SessionIdleTimeout is the sliding inactivity window after
@@ -235,6 +236,34 @@ func envDuration(
 	return d, nil
 }
 
+// envPositiveDuration returns the value of the named environment
+// variable parsed as a Go duration that must be greater than zero.
+// Returns defaultValue if not set. A set value that is unparseable or
+// non-positive is a hard error naming the key and the bad value.
+//
+// This is for durations that reach time.NewTicker, which panics on a
+// non-positive period, in a goroutine started after startup has
+// already reported success. It is deliberately not used for durations
+// where non-positive means "disabled" (SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT).
+func envPositiveDuration(
+	key string,
+	defaultValue time.Duration,
+) (time.Duration, error) {
+	d, err := envDuration(key, defaultValue)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+
+	if d <= 0 {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf(
+			"%w: %s must be greater than zero, got %s",
+			ErrNonPositiveValue, key, d,
+		)
+	}
+
+	return d, nil
+}
+
 // parseCIDR parses one trusted-proxy list entry, which may be a
 // CIDR block ("10.0.0.0/8") or a bare address ("10.0.0.1", treated
 // as a single-host block).
@@ -346,7 +375,7 @@ func loadFromEnv() (*Config, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	retentionSweepInterval, err := envDuration(
+	retentionSweepInterval, err := envPositiveDuration(
 		"RETENTION_SWEEP_INTERVAL",
 		defaultRetentionSweepInterval,
 	)
@@ -354,6 +383,8 @@ func loadFromEnv() (*Config, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	// Non-positive is "disabled" here, not invalid, so this stays on
+	// envDuration.
 	sessionIdleTimeout, err := envDuration(
 		"SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT",
 		defaultSessionIdleTimeout,

internal/config/config_test.go

@@ -139,7 +139,11 @@ func TestRetentionSweepInterval(t *testing.T) {
 		set         bool
 		value       string
 		expectError bool
-		expected    time.Duration
+		// sentinel, when set, must be wrapped by the startup
+		// error; every error case must additionally name the
+		// variable in its message.
+		sentinel error
+		expected time.Duration
 	}{
 		{
 			name:     caseUnsetUsesDefault,
@@ -158,6 +162,24 @@ func TestRetentionSweepInterval(t *testing.T) {
 			value:       "not-a-duration",
 			expectError: true,
 		},
+		{
+			// A non-positive period panics the ticker in the
+			// reaper and archive-sweeper goroutines, long after
+			// startup has reported success, so it has to fail
+			// here instead.
+			name:        "zero fails startup",
+			set:         true,
+			value:       "0s",
+			expectError: true,
+			sentinel:    config.ErrNonPositiveValue,
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "negative fails startup",
+			set:         true,
+			value:       "-1h",
+			expectError: true,
+			sentinel:    config.ErrNonPositiveValue,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
@@ -175,7 +197,9 @@ func TestRetentionSweepInterval(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 
 			if tt.expectError {
-				expectStartupError(t)
+				expectStartupErrorFor(
+					t, "RETENTION_SWEEP_INTERVAL", tt.sentinel,
+				)
 			} else {
 				testRetentionSweepIntervalSuccess(t, tt.expected)
 			}
@@ -281,6 +305,22 @@ func TestSessionIdleTimeout(t *testing.T) {
 			value:       "not-a-duration",
 			expectError: true,
 		},
+		{
+			// Non-positive is "idle expiry disabled" for this
+			// variable, not a configuration error: unlike
+			// RETENTION_SWEEP_INTERVAL it never becomes a ticker
+			// period.
+			name:     "zero disables idle expiry",
+			set:      true,
+			value:    "0s",
+			expected: 0,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "negative disables idle expiry",
+			set:      true,
+			value:    "-1h",
+			expected: -time.Hour,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {

internal/delivery/engine.go

@@ -785,9 +785,9 @@ func (e *Engine) sweepSingleRetry(
 // status retrying themselves. Re-dispatching under the new type
 // would be a delivery the operator never asked for, and leaving
 // the row retrying strands it forever, so the delivery is
-// failed with a recorded reason and can be redelivered
+// failed with a recorded reason. The event stays stored, but
-// manually. Logged at warn, not error: this is operator-caused
+// nothing redelivers it today. Logged at warn, not error: this
-// state, not a system fault.
+// is operator-caused state, not a system fault.
 func (e *Engine) failUnretryableRetry(
 	webhookDB *gorm.DB,
 	webhookID string,

internal/middleware/export_test.go

@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ func IPFromHostPort(hp string) string {
 	return ipFromHostPort(hp)
 }
 
+// ClientKeyForTest exposes clientKey for testing.
+func ClientKeyForTest(m *Middleware, r *http.Request) string {
+	return m.clientKey(r)
+}
+
 // IsClientTLS exposes isClientTLS for testing.
 func IsClientTLS(r *http.Request) bool {
 	return isClientTLS(r)

internal/middleware/ratelimit.go

@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@ const (
 	// receiver rate limit. The configured limit is expressed in
 	// requests per minute.
 	receiverRateInterval = 1 * time.Minute
+
+	// maxForwardedHops bounds how many X-Forwarded-For entries the
+	// chain walk examines. Real chains are one to three hops, but a
+	// client can pad the header up to MaxHeaderBytes, so without a
+	// bound every request pays a walk proportional to whatever the
+	// client sent.
+	maxForwardedHops = 64
 )
 
 // normalizeAddr strips the IPv4-in-IPv6 wrapper and any zone from
@@ -70,26 +77,49 @@ func (m *Middleware) isTrustedProxy(addr netip.Addr) bool {
 // a trusted proxy is the client. A hop that cannot be read as a bare
 // address ends the walk: past it the chain is not the shape assumed
 // here, so the caller falls back to the peer address.
+//
+// Only the last maxForwardedHops entries are examined. A longer chain
+// is padding, and running out of hops falls back to the peer address
+// the same way an unreadable hop does.
+//
+// The entries are cut off the right end of each header value in place
+// rather than split out of it: the receiver is unauthenticated and a
+// client can pad the header up to MaxHeaderBytes, so splitting would
+// allocate in proportion to the padding (about 8 MB for a 1 MB
+// header) before the cap could discard any of it. Multiple header
+// values are walked in reverse for the same reason, since joining
+// them copies the whole chain.
 func (m *Middleware) forwardedClientAddr(
 	r *http.Request,
 ) (netip.Addr, bool) {
-	hops := strings.Split(
+	seen := 0
-		strings.Join(r.Header.Values("X-Forwarded-For"), ","), ",",
-	)
 
-	for _, hop := range slices.Backward(hops) {
+	for _, value := range slices.Backward(
-		hop = strings.TrimSpace(hop)
+		r.Header.Values("X-Forwarded-For"),
-		if hop == "" {
+	) {
-			continue
+		for last := false; !last && seen < maxForwardedHops; seen++ {
-		}
+			hop := value
 
-		addr, err := netip.ParseAddr(hop)
+			comma := strings.LastIndexByte(value, ',')
-		if err != nil {
+			if comma < 0 {
-			return netip.Addr{}, false
+				last = true
-		}
+			} else {
+				hop, value = value[comma+1:], value[:comma]
+			}
 
-		if addr = normalizeAddr(addr); !m.isTrustedProxy(addr) {
+			hop = strings.TrimSpace(hop)
-			return addr, true
+			if hop == "" {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			addr, err := netip.ParseAddr(hop)
+			if err != nil {
+				return netip.Addr{}, false
+			}
+
+			if addr = normalizeAddr(addr); !m.isTrustedProxy(addr) {
+				return addr, true
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -113,8 +143,10 @@ func (m *Middleware) clientKey(r *http.Request) string {
 	peer, err := netip.ParseAddr(ipFromHostPort(r.RemoteAddr))
 	if err != nil {
 		// Not an address we can reason about; key on the raw
-		// value rather than collapsing such peers into one
+		// value, the most specific identity left. On a
-		// shared bucket.
+		// Unix-socket listener every peer carries the same
+		// RemoteAddr and so shares one bucket, which is the
+		// fail-closed direction.
 		return r.RemoteAddr
 	}
 

internal/middleware/ratelimit_test.go

@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ import (
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"net/netip"
 	"os"
+	"runtime"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"sneak.berlin/go/webhooker/internal/config"
@@ -568,6 +571,105 @@ func TestRateLimitKey_ChainWalkSkipsClientPrepended(t *testing.T) {
 	)
 }
 
+// TestRateLimitKey_LongChainCapsWalkAndFallsBackToPeer covers the
+// hop-walk cap. A client behind the trusted proxy can pad
+// X-Forwarded-For with tens of thousands of trusted-looking hops,
+// which costs a walk proportional to the padding and, once the walk
+// runs off the left end of the chain, reaches the entry the client
+// put there. Capping the walk stops both: the key falls back to the
+// peer address, so rotating the head of the chain mints no bucket,
+// and the run does not scale with the chain length.
+func TestRateLimitKey_LongChainCapsWalkAndFallsBackToPeer(
+	t *testing.T,
+) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// 50k hops is roughly 0.9 MB, within the default
+	// MaxHeaderBytes.
+	const hops = 50000
+
+	padding := strings.Repeat(", 10.0.0.2", hops-1)
+
+	start := time.Now()
+
+	assertSharedBucket(
+		t, trustedProxies("10.0.0.0/8"), "10.0.0.1:44444",
+		func(i int) map[string]string {
+			return map[string]string{
+				headerXFF: fmt.Sprintf("9.9.9.%d%s", i+1, padding),
+			}
+		},
+		"a padded X-Forwarded-For chain must fall back to the "+
+			"peer address, not reach the client-controlled entry "+
+			"at the head of the chain",
+	)
+
+	assert.Less(
+		t, time.Since(start), 2*time.Second,
+		"the capped walk must not scale with the chain length",
+	)
+}
+
+// TestRateLimitKey_LongChainAllocationIsBounded is the allocation
+// half of the hop cap. Capping the walk still left every request
+// paying for the whole header the client sent, because the chain was
+// split before it was capped: about 8 MB of []string for the 1 MB a
+// default MaxHeaderBytes allows, on the unauthenticated receiver.
+//
+// Bytes are the measurement, not allocation count: strings.Split of a
+// 1 MB chain is a single allocation, so testing.AllocsPerRun scores
+// it as cheap. The test is deliberately sequential — it reads
+// process-wide counters, and Go runs this package's parallel tests
+// only after the sequential ones finish.
+//
+//nolint:paralleltest // reads process-wide allocation counters
+func TestRateLimitKey_LongChainAllocationIsBounded(t *testing.T) {
+	// 100k hops of ", 10.0.0.2" is roughly 1 MB.
+	const (
+		hops            = 100000
+		iterations      = 50
+		maxBytesPerCall = 4096
+	)
+
+	m := rateLimitMiddleware(t, &config.Config{
+		TrustedProxies: trustedProxies("10.0.0.0/8"),
+	})
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequestWithContext(
+		context.Background(), http.MethodPost, loginPath, nil,
+	)
+	req.RemoteAddr = "10.0.0.1:44444"
+	req.Header.Set(
+		headerXFF, "9.9.9.9"+strings.Repeat(", 10.0.0.2", hops),
+	)
+
+	var before, after runtime.MemStats
+
+	var key string
+
+	runtime.ReadMemStats(&before)
+
+	for range iterations {
+		key = middleware.ClientKeyForTest(m, req)
+	}
+
+	runtime.ReadMemStats(&after)
+
+	perCall := (after.TotalAlloc - before.TotalAlloc) / iterations
+
+	assert.Less(
+		t, perCall, uint64(maxBytesPerCall),
+		"a %d-byte X-Forwarded-For must not allocate in proportion "+
+			"to its length, but cost %d bytes per call",
+		len(req.Header.Get(headerXFF)), perCall,
+	)
+
+	assert.Equal(
+		t, "10.0.0.1", key,
+		"the padded chain must still fall back to the peer address",
+	)
+}
+
 // TestReceiverRateLimit_IgnoresForwardedFromUntrustedPeer proves
 // the receiver limiter uses the same gated key function as the
 // POST limiters.

static/js/app.js

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 // Webhooker client-side JavaScript
-console.log("Webhooker loaded");
 
 // Copy-to-clipboard, as progressive enhancement.
 //