# This package is distributed under GNU public license. # See file COPYING for details.

Apache::AuthChecker - mod_perl based authentication module used to prevent brute force attacks via HTTP authorization. It remembers IP addresses of any user trying to authenticate for certain period of time. If user runs out limit of failed attempts to authenticate - all his authentication requests will be redirected to some URI (like this: /you_are_blocked.html).

Requirements:

1. Apache 1.3.x (2.x) with mod_perl 1.2x (2.x) enabled
2. IPC::Shareable perl module version 0.60 by BSUGARS. Probably it should work with other versions, but I did not test.

   Installation

-from the directory where this file is located, type:

     perl Makefile.PL
     make && make test && make install

!!! For RedHat users !!!
1. You need httpd-devel rpm package installed. 2. If 'make' fails, try to type:
export LANG=en_US
and restart installation process FROM BEGINNING. There is a known bug in RedHat distributions.

Apache configuration process:

1. Add directives to httpd.conf below directives LoadModule and AddModule: <IfDefine MODPERL2> # PerlModule Apache2 #Uncomment this line if you use mod_perl2 earlier than 2.0.2

   PerlLoadModule Apache::AuthChecker </IfDefine> <IfDefine !MODPERL2>

   PerlModule Apache::AuthChecker </IfDefine> PerlAuthCheckerMaxUsers 1450 PerlSecondsToExpire 3600

Note: parameter PerlAuthCheckerMaxUsers affects amount of shared memory allocated. Rule to estimate: every IP record eats 45 bytes. It means if you set 1000 users - 45Kbytes of shared memory will be allocated. Default setting is 64KByte which gives us about 1450 records. Exact value depends on PerlSecondsToExpire parameter. !!! It does not store ALL logins info, ONLY FAILED ONES BY IP.

I see no need to make it big.
Max limit depends on your OS settings.

PerlSecondsToExpire - how long will we store data about authentication failures.

2. Use .htaccess or <Directory> or <Location> mechanisms with the following directives (default values):

AuthName "My secret area"
PerlAuthenHandler Apache::AuthChecker

    PerlSetVar      AuthUserFile /path/to/my/.htpasswd
    PerlSetVar      MaxFailedAttempts 10
    PerlSetVar      RedirectURI /

require valid-user

Example.

Your old .htaccess file looks like:

AuthName "My secret area"
AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile /path/to/my/.htpasswd
require valid-user

The new one:

AuthName "My secret area"
#AuthType Basic
PerlAuthenHandler Apache::AuthChecker PerlSetVar AuthUserFile /path/to/my/.htpasswd require valid-user

Parameters

AuthUserFile - path to your passwords htpasswd-made file (REQUIRED). MaxFailedAttempts - Maximum attempts we give user to mistype password

                      (OPTIONAL, default - 8).
 RedirectURI        - URI (not URL!) to redirect attacker then he runs out 
                      attempts limit ((OPTIONAL, default - /). 
                      For example: /you_are_blocked.html

Andre Yelistratov
E-mail: andre@sundale.net
ICQ: 9138065