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Christiaan
Christiaan

Reputation: 1081

Nginx location to restrict by IP returning 404

I have a file and a directory, both located inside of document root, that I need to restrict access to based on the requesting IP address. Here is the location configuration I have set up (actual paths and IPs swapped for sample ones):

server {
    server_name example.com;

    location ~* /(file.php|directory) {
        allow 1.1.1.10;
        allow 2.2.2.11;
        deny all;
    }
}

My Nginx instance is behind CloudFlare, so I've set up the following rules inside the http block of my Nginx config:

set_real_ip_from 103.21.244.0/22;
set_real_ip_from 103.22.200.0/22;
set_real_ip_from 103.31.4.0/22;
set_real_ip_from 104.16.0.0/12;
set_real_ip_from 108.162.192.0/18;
set_real_ip_from 131.0.72.0/22;
set_real_ip_from 141.101.64.0/18;
set_real_ip_from 162.158.0.0/15;
set_real_ip_from 172.64.0.0/13;
set_real_ip_from 173.245.48.0/20;
set_real_ip_from 188.114.96.0/20;
set_real_ip_from 190.93.240.0/20;
set_real_ip_from 197.234.240.0/22;
set_real_ip_from 198.41.128.0/17;
set_real_ip_from 199.27.128.0/21;

real_ip_header CF-Connecting-IP;

My access log shows that the IP address is being set properly based on that configuration.

The Nginx instance is being used as a load balancer, handing off requests to a set of Apache servers upstream. That upstream works properly, using the following location configuration:

location / {
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_set_header CF-Connecting-IP $http_cf_connecting_ip;
        proxy_set_header CF-Ipcountry $http_cf_ipcountry;
        proxy_set_header CF-Ray $http_cf_ray;
        proxy_set_header Cf-Visitor $http_cf_visitor;

        proxy_pass http://web;
}

My IP restriction location rule is above the location / rule in the config file.

Here's the issue: whenever I make a request to one of the IP-restricted paths, both from an IP that should be permitted as well as a blocked one, I get a 404 response. The requesting IP does not affect this response.

I am expecting a 403 response when requesting from a blocked IP. I have tested this same location configuration on a different server that handles files directly instead of passing them to an upstream and it works as expected, even behind CloudFlare with the same real IP settings.

What else do I need to do for this restriction to work properly?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 4589

Answers (1)

Richard Smith
Richard Smith

Reputation: 49692

The problem is that you have misunderstood how nginx processes location blocks. See this document for an overview.

You will need to place a proxy_pass directive in every location block that needs to perform that function. The proxy_set_header directives can be inherited from the outer block. For example:

server {
    server_name example.com;

    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    proxy_set_header CF-Connecting-IP $http_cf_connecting_ip;
    proxy_set_header CF-Ipcountry $http_cf_ipcountry;
    proxy_set_header CF-Ray $http_cf_ray;
    proxy_set_header Cf-Visitor $http_cf_visitor;

    location ~* /(file.php|directory) {
        allow 1.1.1.10;
        allow 2.2.2.11;
        deny all;

        proxy_pass http://web;
    }

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://web;
    }
}

Upvotes: 1

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