The Tool Desk
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What you are defending against
Internet-facing servers are routinely contacted by automated clients looking for exposed configuration files, source-control directories, vulnerable plugins, forgotten administration panels and weak login endpoints. A request for /.env, /.git/config, /wp-login.php or an invented path that produces a 404 is not proof of a compromise, but repeated probes consume bandwidth, fill logs and can reveal an application that has not been patched.
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The controls below address different stages of the connection:
- nginx filtering stops requests at the web-server layer.
- nginx rate limiting caps requests per client IP before application code runs.
- fail2ban plus a firewall turns repeated bad behavior into a temporary network-level ban.
- Host-firewall rules keep unrelated ports closed even if a web application is misconfigured.
These measures reduce exposure and noise; they do not replace operating-system updates, dependency patching, secure authentication or backups.
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First, close unnecessary network ports
Filtering HTTP traffic cannot protect a database, game-management panel or development service that is listening on the public interface. Use your distribution’s host firewall to expose only the ports you intentionally operate. The following UFW sequence is a starting point on a server where SSH, HTTP and HTTPS are required:
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status verboseRun the SSH rule before enabling UFW, and confirm that your SSH service really uses the OpenSSH profile or add its actual port. If you connect through a provider console, keep that recovery channel available before changing firewall policy. Do not open a port merely because a package installed a service; remove or bind unused services to localhost instead.
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Block sensitive files and paths in nginx
Return 403 for dotfiles
Dotfiles commonly contain deployment secrets, repository metadata or local configuration. In the server block, reject dotfiles while allowing the ACME challenge directory used by some certificate clients:
location ~ /.(?!well-known) {
return 403;
}This regular-expression location also catches nested paths such as /app/.git/config. If your application deliberately serves another dot-prefixed resource, create a narrower exception and test it explicitly rather than weakening the rule globally.
Protect high-value filenames explicitly
A second rule can make the policy obvious and cover common names even when a later configuration changes the general dotfile rule:
location ~* ^/(?:.git|.env|.htaccess|composer.(?:json|lock)|package-lock.json)(?:/|$) {
return 403;
}Adjust the list to your deployment. Never place secrets in the document root as a substitute for access control. A 403 response still tells a scanner that the web server understood the path, but it prevents nginx from serving the file. If you prefer to reveal less information, return 404 for paths that should appear nonexistent; use one policy consistently so your logs remain easy to interpret.
Handle known probes that should never reach your application
If your site does not use a path such as /wp-login.php, an exact location can terminate the request cheaply:
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location = /wp-login.php {
return 404;
}If you do run the endpoint, do not blanket-block it. Put it behind the stricter login rate limit described below, require the application’s normal authentication controls and monitor failed attempts. The same principle applies to administration URLs for control panels and game services: block paths that are definitely absent, but do not guess at paths your users need.
Drop obvious scanner user agents, with realistic expectations
Many basic probes identify themselves with names such as sqlmap, nikto or nmap. nginx can match those strings in the http context and return its non-standard 444 response, which closes the connection without sending a response body:
map $http_user_agent $known_scanner {
default 0;
~*(sqlmap|nikto|nmap) 1;
}
server {
if ($known_scanner) {
return 444;
}
# your normal listen, server_name and locations follow
}Place the map outside the server block, normally in the main nginx configuration’s http section. Test the complete configuration before reloading:
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sudo systemctl reload nginxUser-agent matching is a low-effort noise filter, not authentication. A scanner can send an ordinary browser string, omit the header or copy the user agent of a legitimate client. Do not use this rule as the only defense, and do not block broad terms such as “bot” that may match search crawlers or accessibility tools you intend to allow. Review access logs after deployment to catch false positives.
Rate-limit requests before application code runs
Create separate zones for ordinary traffic and logins
nginx’s limit_req module tracks a key, commonly the client IP, in shared memory. Define zones in the http context:
limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=general_per_ip:10m rate=5r/s;
limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=login_per_ip:10m rate=1r/s;The first zone permits an average of five requests per second per IP; the second permits one. The 10 MB allocation stores the counters and is not a bandwidth limit. Select rates from your application’s normal traffic, not from a random example. Shared corporate NAT, mobile networks and some game communities can put many real users behind one address, so an aggressive per-IP limit can affect legitimate players.
Apply the general limit to public locations
server {
limit_req zone=general_per_ip burst=20 nodelay;
limit_req_status 429;
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
}
}burst allows a short queue of excess requests; nodelay rejects beyond that burst immediately instead of spacing them out. Remove nodelay if smoothing occasional bursts is more important than immediate rejection. A 429 status is useful to clients and monitoring systems; it also gives fail2ban a consistent log event when nginx records a limit violation.
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Use a stricter rule for authentication
location = /login {
limit_req zone=login_per_ip burst=5 nodelay;
limit_req_status 429;
proxy_pass http://app_backend;
}
location = /wp-login.php {
limit_req zone=login_per_ip burst=3 nodelay;
limit_req_status 429;
try_files $uri =404;
}Replace /login and the upstream with the routes your application actually uses. Protect password-reset, token-issuance and other expensive authentication endpoints as well. Keep the limit at nginx, but enforce account lockout, multi-factor authentication and password hashing in the application; an IP limit cannot stop a distributed password attack.
If nginx sits behind a reverse proxy, every request may appear to come from the proxy unless the real-client-IP configuration is correct. Configure trusted proxy addresses and the appropriate real-IP module before using an IP-based zone. Never trust an arbitrary client-supplied forwarding header, or an attacker could make each request appear to originate from a different address.
Use fail2ban to ban repeat offenders
How the nginx jails work
fail2ban watches log lines, counts matches during a time window and asks a firewall action to block the offending address for a specified period. Useful nginx-oriented jails include:
- Scanner or bot-search jail: catches requests matching common probe patterns.
- Rate-limit jail: watches nginx error-log lines generated when
limit_reqrejects requests. - High-404 or high-403 jail: detects an address generating many nonexistent or forbidden paths in a short period.
Filter filenames and regular expressions vary by fail2ban release and distribution. Inspect the filters installed on your server instead of assuming that a tutorial’s names exist:
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ls /etc/fail2ban/filter.d/nginx*.conf
sudo fail2ban-client statusPoint jails at nginx’s actual log files
nginx normally writes flat files such as /var/log/nginx/access.log and /var/log/nginx/error.log; it does not automatically write these events to the systemd journal. A jail that inherits a systemd backend may therefore see no matches. Set an explicit path and, where needed, use the polling backend:
[nginx-limit-req]
enabled = true
filter = nginx-limit-req
logpath = /var/log/nginx/error.log
backend = polling
maxretry = 10
findtime = 1m
bantime = 1h
The filter name above is an example of the conventional built-in name. Confirm that the corresponding file exists and that its expression matches your nginx error format. For a scanner jail, use the same pattern with the access-log path and a longer ban:
[nginx-botsearch]
enabled = true
filter = nginx-botsearch
logpath = /var/log/nginx/access.log
backend = polling
maxretry = 2
findtime = 10m
bantime = 3d
Short bans suit noisy rate-limit violations; multi-day bans are reasonable for repeated scanner probes when you have verified that legitimate clients are not matching. A long ban is not automatically safer: shared addresses, carrier NAT and compromised hosting ranges can create collateral damage.
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Choose the firewall action that your system supports
The traditional action is iptables-multiport. On systems using nftables, an nftables-multiport action may be the correct choice. Do not copy an action name blindly; check the firewall in use and the action files installed under /etc/fail2ban/action.d/. A jail can specify the action explicitly, for example:
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sudo fail2ban-client -t
sudo systemctl restart fail2ban
sudo fail2ban-client status nginx-botsearchValidate filters against real logs
Before enabling an aggressive jail, run the installed filter against a copy or the current log and inspect the matched lines:
sudo fail2ban-regex /var/log/nginx/access.log /etc/fail2ban/filter.d/nginx-botsearch.conf
sudo fail2ban-regex /var/log/nginx/error.log /etc/fail2ban/filter.d/nginx-limit-req.confPublished defaults differ, and a custom access-log format can prevent a filter from matching. Test both a known malicious-looking line and a normal request. For a high-404 jail, create a filter whose expression matches your exact nginx access format, then test it with fail2ban-regex before setting a low maxretry. A malformed expression can silently produce no bans; an overbroad expression can ban search engines, monitoring systems or players.
Prevent self-inflicted lockouts
Whitelist administration addresses before testing
Add loopback addresses and your fixed administration address to the jail’s ignoreip list. The following uses a documentation address; replace it with the address or VPN range from which you administer the server:
[DEFAULT]
ignoreip = 127.0.0.1/8 ::1 198.51.100.10If your public address changes, a static whitelist can become stale. A private VPN or provider console is safer than repeatedly editing firewall rules over an untrusted connection.
Know how to remove a ban
List active jails and then remove an address from the specific jail:
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sudo fail2ban-client status
sudo fail2ban-client status nginx-botsearch
sudo fail2ban-client set nginx-botsearch unbanip 203.0.113.24The last address is from a documentation-only range. Substitute the real address shown in the jail status output. If the ban was inserted directly by a firewall action, inspect the action’s current rules and remove it through the same firewall backend rather than deleting unrelated rules.
Watch the service after deployment
sudo journalctl -u fail2ban -f
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log /var/log/nginx/error.logLook for failed starts, missing log files, permission errors and a growing count of bans. Rotate logs without breaking the jail’s ability to reopen them, and ensure fail2ban restarts automatically after a reboot.
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| Control | Where it acts | Deployment effort | Spoof resistance | Main false-positive risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dotfile and path rules | nginx request handling | Low | High for exact paths | Blocking a resource your application genuinely serves |
| User-agent rule | nginx request handling | Low | Low; headers are trivial to change | Matching a legitimate tool with an unfortunate user-agent string |
| General rate limit | nginx, before application code | Low to medium | Medium against a single IP; weak against distributed clients | Shared NAT or bursty legitimate traffic |
| Login rate limit | nginx, on authentication routes | Medium | Medium | Users behind one address sharing a login budget |
| fail2ban jail | Firewall after log evidence | Medium to high | Higher than user-agent matching, but IPs can be shared or rotated | Bad regex, proxy addresses or an overly short threshold |
| Host firewall | Network perimeter | Low to medium | High for closed ports | Locking out SSH or a required service |
For most servers, install the host-firewall baseline and nginx path rules first, then add conservative rate limits. Enable fail2ban only after you have confirmed log paths, filter matches and a recovery route.
Troubleshooting common failures
nginx refuses to reload
Run sudo nginx -t and read the file-and-line error. A map directive inside a server block, a misspelled variable or a duplicate zone name is a common cause. Correct the configuration and test again before reloading.
Requests are limited, but fail2ban never bans
Check that nginx writes “limiting requests” messages to the file named by logpath, that the filter file exists, and that the jail is enabled. Run fail2ban-regex against the real file. If the server uses a custom log directory or containerized nginx, point the jail at the mounted file rather than an empty host path.
Every client appears to be one IP
This usually means a reverse proxy or load balancer is in front of nginx. Correct trusted-proxy and real-client-IP settings first. Otherwise, rate limiting and bans can punish the proxy itself and affect every visitor.
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Legitimate visitors receive 403 or 429
Inspect the matching path, user agent and source address. Narrow a regular expression, increase a burst allowance or exempt a verified health-check address. Do not simply disable all protections; change one threshold at a time and observe logs.
A banned address returns after the ban expires
That is expected for rotating scanners. Keep the nginx filters and rate limits in place, choose a ban duration appropriate to the behavior and consider upstream network filtering for sustained distributed abuse. A temporary IP ban cannot remove the underlying vulnerability, so patch the application and dependencies as well.
Quick Recap
A deployment checklist
- Confirm which ports must be public and deny the rest with the host firewall.
- Back up nginx and fail2ban configuration before editing.
- Reject dotfiles and known secret filenames, while preserving only deliberate exceptions.
- Use user-agent blocking only as a noise filter.
- Define separate general and authentication rate-limit zones.
- Verify real client IP handling when a proxy or load balancer is present.
- Whitelist an administration address and confirm an out-of-band recovery path.
- Set explicit nginx access- and error-log paths in fail2ban jails.
- Choose
iptablesor nftables actions to match the distribution’s actual backend. - Run
nginx -t,fail2ban-client -tandfail2ban-regexbefore enabling bans. - Record the exact unban command and test it safely.
- Continue patching the operating system, web server, frameworks, plugins and authentication endpoints.
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