Add LICENSE, README, AGENTS.md, and deployment setup guide
Dual MIT/Apache-2.0 license, public-facing README with quick start and config reference, step-by-step deploy/README.md for Docker and systemd setups, and AGENTS.md for LLM-assisted development.
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README.md
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# reverse-proxy
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A memory-safe reverse proxy built with Rust and axum, designed to replace
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vulnerable nginx installations for TLS-terminated host-based routing.
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## Why
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nginx's C codebase has a long history of memory corruption vulnerabilities, and
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the discovery rate is accelerating. CVE-2026-42945 ("NGINX Rift") is an
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unauthenticated RCE via the `rewrite` module with a public PoC and active
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exploitation — and 6 of 7 recent nginx CVEs are memory corruption bugs that
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Rust eliminates by construction.
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This proxy targets a specific use case: TLS termination, host-based routing,
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and request forwarding to upstream services. It is not a general-purpose web
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server or load balancer.
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## Features
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- **TLS termination** — ACME (Let's Encrypt) with automatic provisioning and
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renewal, or manual certificates
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- **HTTP/2** — ALPN-based protocol detection on the client-facing side; upstream
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connections use HTTP/1.1
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- **Multi-site routing** — host-based routing to multiple upstream services from
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a single process
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- **Multiple listeners** — dedicated-IP (one IP per domain) or shared-IP
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(SAN certificate) deployment models
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- **Rate limiting** — per-IP token bucket with fail2ban-compatible structured
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logging (IPv6 rate limited per /64 prefix)
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- **Proxy headers** — X-Real-IP, X-Forwarded-For (edge proxy model), X-Forwarded-Proto
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- **Hot config reload** — SIGHUP or admin Unix domain socket with success/failure
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feedback
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- **Health check** — localhost-only endpoint on a separate port (default: 9900)
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- **HTTP → HTTPS redirect** — per-listener redirect on port 80
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- **Graceful shutdown** — SIGTERM with in-flight request drain
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- **systemd integration** — `Type=notify` with `sd_notify`
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- **Container-ready** — Docker deployment with health check and fail2ban volume
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mount
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- **Restricted cipher suites** — ECDHE-AES-GCM for TLS 1.2, all TLS 1.3 suites
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(matching nginx scope)
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## Quick Start
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### Build
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```bash
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cargo build --release
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```
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Produces a static binary at `target/release/reverse-proxy`. For a fully static
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binary (no libc dependency), build with the `x86_64-unknown-linux-musl` target.
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### Minimal Config
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Create `/etc/reverse-proxy/config.toml`:
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```toml
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health_check_port = 9900
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[logging]
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level = "info"
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format = "text"
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[rate_limit]
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requests_per_second = 10
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burst = 20
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[body]
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limit_bytes = 104857600
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[[listeners]]
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bind_addr = "0.0.0.0"
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[listeners.tls]
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mode = "acme"
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acme_domains = ["example.com"]
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acme_cache_dir = "/var/lib/reverse-proxy/acme-cache"
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acme_directory = "staging"
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acme_contact = "mailto:admin@example.com"
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[[listeners.sites]]
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host = "example.com"
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upstream = "127.0.0.1:8080"
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```
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> **Note:** `bind_addr = "0.0.0.0"` requires the `--allow-wildcard-bind` flag or
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> `allow_wildcard_bind = true` in config. This is intentional — see
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> [Explicit bind address](#explicit-bind-address).
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### Run
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```bash
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reverse-proxy --config /etc/reverse-proxy/config.toml
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```
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Or with Docker (see [Deployment](#deployment)).
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### Validate Config
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```bash
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reverse-proxy --config /etc/reverse-proxy/config.toml --validate
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```
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## Configuration
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Configuration uses TOML and is split into **static** (requires restart) and
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**dynamic** (hot-reloadable) sections.
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### Static Config (requires restart)
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| Field | Default | Description |
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|-------|---------|-------------|
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| `listeners` | (required) | TLS listener definitions |
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| `allow_wildcard_bind` | `false` | Allow `0.0.0.0` bind addresses |
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| `health_check_port` | `9900` | Local health check port (`0` to disable) |
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| `admin_socket_path` | `/run/reverse-proxy/admin.sock` | Admin Unix socket (empty string to disable) |
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| `shutdown_timeout_secs` | `30` | Graceful shutdown timeout |
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| `logging.level` | `"info"` | Log level |
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| `logging.format` | `"text"` | Log format (`"text"` or `"json"`) |
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| `logging.log_file_path` | (not set) | Path to log file for fail2ban |
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### Dynamic Config (hot-reloadable via SIGHUP or admin socket)
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| Field | Default | Description |
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|-------|---------|-------------|
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| `sites[].host` | (required) | Hostname to match |
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| `sites[].upstream` | (required) | Upstream `host:port` address |
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| `sites[].upstream_scheme` | `"http"` | Upstream protocol (`"http"` or `"https"`) |
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| `sites[].upstream_connect_timeout_secs` | `5` | TCP connect timeout |
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| `sites[].upstream_request_timeout_secs` | `60` | Full request timeout |
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| `rate_limit.requests_per_second` | (required) | Per-IP request rate |
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| `rate_limit.burst` | (required) | Burst capacity |
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| `body.limit_bytes` | (required) | Max request body size |
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### TLS Modes
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**ACME** (automatic Let's Encrypt certificates):
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```toml
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[[listeners]]
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bind_addr = "203.0.113.10"
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[listeners.tls]
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mode = "acme"
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acme_domains = ["git.example.com", "example.com"]
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acme_cache_dir = "/var/lib/reverse-proxy/acme-cache"
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acme_directory = "production"
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acme_contact = "mailto:admin@example.com"
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[[listeners.sites]]
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host = "git.example.com"
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upstream = "gitea:3000"
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[[listeners.sites]]
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host = "example.com"
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upstream = "app:8080"
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```
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**Manual** (bring your own certificates):
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```toml
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[[listeners]]
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bind_addr = "203.0.113.11"
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[listeners.tls]
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mode = "manual"
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cert_path = "/etc/ssl/example.com/fullchain.pem"
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key_path = "/etc/ssl/example.com/privkey.pem"
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[[listeners.sites]]
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host = "example.com"
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upstream = "127.0.0.1:8080"
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```
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### Explicit Bind Address
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By default, `bind_addr` must be an explicit IP address. `0.0.0.0` is rejected
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to prevent accidental exposure. For container deployments where the proxy binds
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inside the container and Docker handles port publishing, enable wildcard binding
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with either:
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- Config: `allow_wildcard_bind = true`
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- CLI: `--allow-wildcard-bind`
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Either source enables it (OR logic, not AND).
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## Deployment
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### Docker
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```yaml
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services:
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reverse-proxy:
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build: .
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container_name: reverse-proxy
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restart: unless-stopped
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ports:
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- "203.0.113.10:80:80"
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- "203.0.113.10:443:443"
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volumes:
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- /etc/reverse-proxy/config.toml:/etc/reverse-proxy/config.toml:ro
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- /var/lib/reverse-proxy/acme-cache:/var/lib/reverse-proxy/acme-cache
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- /var/log/reverse-proxy:/var/log/reverse-proxy
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- /run/reverse-proxy:/run/reverse-proxy
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networks:
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- proxy-net
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healthcheck:
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test: ["CMD", "wget", "-q", "--spider", "http://127.0.0.1:9900/health"]
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interval: 30s
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timeout: 5s
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retries: 3
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```
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Container config must set `allow_wildcard_bind = true` and bind to `0.0.0.0`.
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See [`deploy/docker-compose.yml`](deploy/docker-compose.yml) for a complete
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example including Gitea and PostgreSQL.
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### systemd
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Install the binary and service file:
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```bash
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cp target/release/reverse-proxy /usr/local/bin/
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cp deploy/reverse-proxy.service /etc/systemd/system/
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```
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Create config at `/etc/reverse-proxy/config.toml`, then:
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```bash
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systemctl enable --now reverse-proxy
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```
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See [`deploy/reverse-proxy.service`](deploy/reverse-proxy.service) for the
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unit file with security hardening options.
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### fail2ban
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Install the filter and jail config:
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```bash
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cp deploy/fail2ban/filter.d/reverse-proxy.conf /etc/fail2ban/filter.d/
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cp deploy/fail2ban/jail.d/reverse-proxy.conf /etc/fail2ban/jail.d/
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systemctl restart fail2ban
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```
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The filter matches `RATE_LIMIT` log lines from the proxy's structured log
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output. The jail bans IPs after 10 rate-limited requests within 60 seconds
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(adjust `maxretry` and `findtime` to taste).
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Rate-limited requests produce log lines like:
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```
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RATE_LIMIT client_ip=203.0.113.50 host=git.example.com path=/login status=429
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```
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For Docker deployments, mount the log directory so fail2ban on the host can
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read it:
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```yaml
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volumes:
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- /var/log/reverse-proxy:/var/log/reverse-proxy
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```
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Enable file logging in config:
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```toml
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[logging]
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log_file_path = "/var/log/reverse-proxy/access.log"
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```
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## Admin Socket
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The admin Unix domain socket supports two commands:
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```bash
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# Reload config
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echo "reload" | socat - UNIX-CONNECT:/run/reverse-proxy/admin.sock
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# Check status
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echo "status" | socat - UNIX-CONNECT:/run/reverse-proxy/admin.sock
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```
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Responses are newline-terminated JSON:
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```json
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{"status":"ok"}
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{"status":"ok","uptime_secs":1234,"sites":2}
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{"status":"error","message":"config validation failed: ..."}
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```
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Config can also be reloaded with `kill -SIGHUP $(pidof reverse-proxy)`, but
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SIGHUP provides no feedback on success or failure.
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## Health Check
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```bash
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curl http://127.0.0.1:9900/health
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```
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Returns `200 OK` with an empty body. Bound to localhost only — not exposed on
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public ports.
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## Architecture
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```
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┌────────────────────────────────────┐
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│ reverse-proxy (Rust/axum) │
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config.toml ──────► │ StaticConfig + DynamicConfig │
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│ (ArcSwap for hot-reload) │
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│ │
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│ ┌─ Listener 1 ─────────────────┐ │
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bind_addr:80 ───► │ │ HTTP → 301 redirect │ │
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│ └────────────────────────────────┘ │
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│ │
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bind_addr:443 ───► │ │ TLS listener (tokio-rustls) │ │
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│ │ ├─ ACME or Manual TLS config │ │
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│ │ └─ axum router (per-listener) │ │
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│ │ ├─ Host → global site lookup │ │
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│ │ ├─ Rate limiting, headers │ │
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│ │ └─ Proxy to upstream │ │
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│ └────────────────────────────────┘ │
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│ │
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│ /health → 200 OK (port 9900) │
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│ Admin socket (Unix domain) │
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└────────────────────────────────────┘
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```
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For full architecture documentation, see [`docs/architecture/`](docs/architecture/).
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## Project Structure
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```
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src/
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├── main.rs # Entry point, server startup
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├── cli.rs # CLI argument parsing
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├── lib.rs # Library root
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├── config/
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│ ├── static_config.rs # Immutable startup configuration
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│ ├── dynamic_config.rs# Hot-reloadable runtime configuration
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│ └── validation.rs # Config validation rules
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├── proxy/
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│ ├── handler.rs # Core reverse proxy handler
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│ ├── headers.rs # Proxy header injection
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│ ├── body_limit.rs # Request body size limiting
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│ └── error.rs # Error response types
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├── tls/
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│ ├── acceptor.rs # TLS acceptor setup
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│ ├── acme.rs # ACME certificate provisioning
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│ ├── config.rs # TLS configuration
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│ └── redirect.rs # HTTP → HTTPS redirect
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├── rate_limit/
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│ ├── mod.rs # Rate limiting middleware
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│ └── bucket.rs # Token bucket implementation
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├── admin/
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│ ├── socket.rs # Unix domain socket admin API
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│ └── mod.rs
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├── health.rs # Health check endpoint
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├── logging/
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│ ├── mod.rs # Logging initialization
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│ └── format.rs # Structured log formatting
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├── server.rs # HTTPS listener serving
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├── shutdown.rs # Graceful shutdown handling
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└── utils.rs # Shared utilities
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deploy/
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├── Dockerfile
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├── docker-compose.yml
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├── reverse-proxy.service
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└── fail2ban/
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├── filter.d/reverse-proxy.conf
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└── jail.d/reverse-proxy.conf
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docs/
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├── architecture/ # Full architecture documentation
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│ ├── overview.md
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│ ├── proxy.md
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│ ├── tls.md
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│ ├── config.md
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│ ├── operations.md
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│ └── decisions/ # Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)
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└── research/
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└── threat-landscape.md
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```
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## Why Rust
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6 of 7 recent nginx CVEs are memory corruption bugs (buffer overflows,
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use-after-free, out-of-bounds reads) — the exact class of bugs Rust eliminates
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by construction. Combined with rustls (pure Rust TLS, no OpenSSL dependency),
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this proxy provides a fundamentally safer baseline than nginx.
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Rust does not eliminate logic bugs. Rate limiting, header injection prevention,
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and access control still require careful implementation. But it eliminates the
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entire category of vulnerabilities that make nginx's C codebase a persistent
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attack surface.
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See [`docs/research/threat-landscape.md`](docs/research/threat-landscape.md)
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for the full vulnerability analysis that motivated this project.
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## License
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Licensed under either of
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- Apache License, Version 2.0
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([http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0](http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0))
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- MIT License
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([http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT](http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT))
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at your option.
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Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted
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for inclusion in this project by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall
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be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.
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