PhoenixDDoS

High performance application-layer DDoS protection for Elixir Phoenix.

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Table of contents

Note You are currently on unreleased branch. Latest stable release documentation is here

Features

Usage

phoenix_ddos is a high performance application-layer DDoS protection for Elixir Phoenix.

Installation

  1. Add :phoenix_ddos to your list of dependencies in mix.exs:
def deps do
  [
    {:phoenix_ddos, "~> 1.2"},
    # Needed behind a reverse proxy, to get the correct remote_ip
    {:remote_ip, "~> 1.1"}
  ]
end
  1. Add the PhoenixDDoS plug to your app's Endpoint, after the excellent RemoteIp plug when you run behind a reverse proxy.
defmodule MyApp.Endpoint do
  use Phoenix.Endpoint, otp_app: :my_app

  # put as high in the order as possible
  # only when behind a reverse proxy you control: list its addresses in `proxies:`
  plug RemoteIp, headers: ["x-forwarded-for"], proxies: ["10.0.0.1"]
  plug PhoenixDDoS

  # ...

end

Forwarding headers such as x-forwarded-for must only be read when the app is behind a reverse proxy you control, and the addresses of that proxy must be listed in proxies:. When the app is exposed directly, do not add RemoteIp: conn.remote_ip is used as is.

Sockets

socket declarations (channels, LiveView) are handled by Phoenix before the endpoint plugs, so they are not checked by the PhoenixDDoS plug. Use PhoenixDDoS.check_socket_ip/1 with the client ip.

The client ip is found the same way as for RemoteIp in the endpoint. Behind a reverse proxy, peer_data is the address of the proxy: checking it would jail the proxy, and every user with it. Use peer_data alone only when the app is exposed directly.

# endpoint: websocket: [connect_info: [:peer_data, :x_headers, ...]]
defp client_ip(x_headers, peer_data) do
  # RemoteIp.from/2 returns nil when no forwarding header is present
  RemoteIp.from(x_headers, headers: ["x-forwarded-for"], proxies: ["10.0.0.1"]) ||
    peer_data.address
end

Channels, in the socket's connect/3:

def connect(_params, socket, connect_info) do
  case PhoenixDDoS.check_socket_ip(client_ip(connect_info.x_headers, connect_info.peer_data)) do
    :ok -> {:ok, socket}
    :error -> :error
  end
end

LiveView, in an on_mount hook of the live_session:

def on_mount(:default, _params, _session, socket) do
  with true <- connected?(socket),
       ip = client_ip(get_connect_info(socket, :x_headers) || [], get_connect_info(socket, :peer_data)),
       :error <- PhoenixDDoS.check_socket_ip(ip) do
    # the redirected http request goes through the PhoenixDDoS plug
    {:halt, redirect(socket, to: "/")}
  else
    _ -> {:cont, socket}
  end
end

Configuration

config :phoenix_ddos,
  safelist_ips: ["1.2.3.4", "5.6.7.8"],
  blocklist_ips: ["11.12.13.14"],
  protections: [
    # ip rate limit
    {PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimit, allowed: 500, period: {2, :minutes}},
    {PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimit, allowed: 10_000, period: {1, :hour}},
    # ip rate limit on specific request_path
    {PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimitPerRequestPath,
     request_paths: ["/graphql"], allowed: 20, period: {1, :minute}},
    {PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimitPerRequestPath,
     request_paths: [{:post, "/login"}], allowed: 5, period: {30, :seconds}}
  ]
Type Option Default Description
bool enabled true set false to disable
int jail_time {15, minutes} time an ip is fully blocked if caught by a protection. set nil to disable thus blocking instead
bool raise_on_reject false raise when we reject a connexion instead of returning an http code error
int http_code_on_reject 429 http code returned when we reject a connexion
list protections [] @see Protections examples
list safelist_ips [] bypass all protections ips (exact addresses, no CIDR ranges)
list blocklist_ips [] always blocked ips (exact addresses, no CIDR ranges)
bool on_jail_alert_to_sentry false notify Sentry when an ip get jailed
int ipv6_prefix 64 IPv6 clients are tracked per prefix of this length; list entries cover their whole prefix
int max_entries 1_000_000 maximum entries of the rate-limit store
int max_jail_entries 100_000 maximum entries of the jail and suspicious ips stores; when exceeded, the oldest jail entries are dropped early (released before their jail_time)
int max_jail_alerts_per_minute 10 cap on jail log lines and Sentry alerts per minute

Safelist and blocklist entries are exact addresses. An IPv6 entry covers its whole ipv6_prefix (/64 by default), and an IPv4-mapped IPv6 client matches the IPv4 entries. IPv6 keys as reported by jail telemetry ("2001:db8::/64") are accepted, IPv4 ranges are not. An invalid entry is logged and ignored.

The configuration is per node you run, rate_limits are not shared (yet), but it gives you the best performance in case of an attack.

Examples with protection PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimit

  1. 500 per minute max, if triggered ip will be in jail for 15 minutes
  [{PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimit, allowed: 500, period: {1, :minute}}]
  1. disable jail, ip will be throttle to 500 per minute
  [{PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimit, allowed: 500, period: {1, :minute}, jail_time: nil}]

Examples with protection PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimitPerRequestPath

Paths are matched like the Phoenix router does: a HEAD request counts as GET (and a {:head, path} rule counts GET requests too), and a POST also counts toward PUT/PATCH/DELETE rules on the same path, since Plug.MethodOverride may turn it into one of those.

  1. single route /graphql with a 20 per minute max, if triggered ip will be in jail for 15 minutes
    [{PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimitPerRequestPath,
     request_paths: ["/graphql"], allowed: 20, period: {1, :minute}}]
  1. you can also give a phoenix-like path
    [{PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimitPerRequestPath,
     request_paths: ["/admin/:id/dashboard"], allowed: 20, period: {1, :minute}}]
  1. you can also specify method
    [
      {PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimitPerRequestPath,
     request_paths: [{:post, "/login"}, {:post, "/logout"}], allowed: 5, period: {1, :minute}},
      {PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimitPerRequestPath,
     request_paths: [{:get, "/login"}], allowed: 100, period: {5, :minute}}
    ]
  1. multiple route consuming same quota
    [{PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimitPerRequestPath,
     request_paths: ["/graphql", "/graphiql"], allowed: 20, shared: true, period: {1, :minute}}]
  1. multiple route consuming independent quota
    [{PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimitPerRequestPath,
     request_paths: ["/graphql", "/graphiql"], allowed: 20, period: {1, :minute}}]

is equivalent to:

  [
   {PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimitPerRequestPath,
    request_paths: ["/graphql"], allowed: 20, period: {1, :minute}},
   {PhoenixDDoS.IpRateLimitPerRequestPath,
    request_paths: ["/graphiql"], allowed: 20, period: {1, :minute}}
  ]

Community

Slack: join elixir-lang and join channel #phoenix_ddos

FAQ

Why would I need this compared to a system like cloudflare or a reverse proxy with a fail2ban ?

The best ddos protection is like any protection: you have to have multiple layers of protection, each layer having its own advantage or disadvantage. In that matter, to maximize protection you should use one system per layer.

Also we have to keep in mind that a lot of projects don't have the capability (running in a PaaS like heroku for instance) or the will to have all these systems in place. Since phoenix_ddos is a plug-and-play (pun intended) library with minimum configuration, it is a great value for a minimum of effort.

What is a multi-layer ddos protection and why this is important ?

phoenix_ddos is the application layer, running in the application itself. It advantage is that is knows the inside of the application and its limits and can act on the details, where a cloudflare or a ngnix fail2ban would manage most of the load, but the traffic that still access your application may still kill it, this is then the responsability of phoenix_ddos.

Example of a phoenix application cluster: e.g. 10 pods running each the same phoenix application:

Other layers will protect the entire cluster and phoenix_ddos will protect each phoenix application individually.

Since one phoenix application have its own limits, it is best to have a throttle at this layer.

If the cluster scale up or down (switching to 3 pods or 30 pods), other layers will never adapt their throttle values, but phoenix_ddos will scale its protection gracefully.

Comparaison with an home electrical installation:

In home installation, you have 2 layers of protection doing the exact same thing:

Next in roadmap

Later in roadmap

Contributing

Create issues on github for any bug or issue.

To contribute on the code, please clone and use following tools:

run tests

mix test

run release code validation

mix ci