fix(auth): stop a caller working through the user code space

A user code is eight characters from a twenty-five character alphabet,
which is a large space but a fixed one, and the endpoint that checked
them had no opinion about how often you asked. That is the guessing
attack RFC 8628 section 5.2 asks implementations to limit, and nothing
here did.

Wrong codes are now counted per caller address over a rolling window,
and the endpoint stops answering once the budget is gone. Getting a code
right is not charged for, so somebody who mistypes once and then succeeds
is not walking towards a lockout. A caller whose address cannot be
established shares one bucket with every other such caller, which makes
stripping the headers that say where you are buy a smaller budget rather
than an unlimited one.

The counter lives in the general-purpose store and is approximate. The
number that decides this is whether somebody is working through the code
space, and a handful either way does not change that answer.
This commit is contained in:
Wanjohi
2026-09-05 09:54:59 +03:00
parent 355d1492d9
commit fc825f5219
2 changed files with 156 additions and 1 deletions

View File

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ const auth = issuer({
subjects,
allow: async () => true,
allowDeviceClient: async (clientID) => clientID !== 'banned',
deviceVerification: { guessLimit: 3, guessWindow: 60 },
providers: {
dummy: {
type: 'dummy',
@@ -266,7 +267,11 @@ describe('approval', () => {
});
test('an unknown user code does not start a provider flow', async () => {
const response = await auth.request(`${ORIGIN}/device?user_code=ZZZZZZZZ`);
// Its own address, so the budget it spends is its own — the shared
// bucket for callers with no address is asserted on further down.
const response = await auth.request(`${ORIGIN}/device?user_code=ZZZZZZZZ`, {
headers: { 'cf-connecting-ip': '198.51.100.9' }
});
expect(response.status).toBe(400);
});
@@ -411,3 +416,73 @@ describe('when both halves move at once', () => {
expect([a, b].filter(Boolean)).toHaveLength(1);
});
});
/**
* Working through the code space, and what stops it.
*
* A user code is eight characters from an alphabet of twenty-five, so guessing
* one is not cheap — but it is a fixed cost, and the endpoint that checks them
* had no opinion about how often you asked. RFC 8628 §5.2 asks for one.
*/
describe('guessing at user codes', () => {
/** A caller with an address of its own, so budgets do not run together. */
function from(address: string) {
return (userCode: string) =>
auth.request(`${ORIGIN}/device?user_code=${encodeURIComponent(userCode)}`, {
headers: { 'cf-connecting-ip': address }
});
}
test('a caller runs out of tries', async () => {
const tries = from('198.51.100.1');
expect((await tries('ZZZZZZZZ')).status).toBe(400);
expect((await tries('ZZZZZZZY')).status).toBe(400);
expect((await tries('ZZZZZZZX')).status).toBe(400);
expect((await tries('ZZZZZZZW')).status).toBe(429);
});
test('one caller running out does not lock out another', async () => {
const noisy = from('198.51.100.2');
for (let i = 0; i < 4; i++) await noisy(`ZZZZZZZ${'ABCD'[i]}`);
expect((await noisy('ZZZZZZZZ')).status).toBe(429);
const grant = await started();
const quiet = await auth.request(
`${ORIGIN}/device?user_code=${encodeURIComponent(grant.user_code)}`,
{ headers: { 'cf-connecting-ip': '198.51.100.3' } }
);
expect(quiet.status).toBe(302);
});
test('getting one right is not charged for', async () => {
const address = '198.51.100.4';
const tries = from(address);
expect((await tries('ZZZZZZZZ')).status).toBe(400);
expect((await tries('ZZZZZZZY')).status).toBe(400);
// Two wrong out of a budget of three. A correct code in between must
// not be what tips the next wrong one over.
const grant = await started();
const right = await auth.request(
`${ORIGIN}/device?user_code=${encodeURIComponent(grant.user_code)}`,
{ headers: { 'cf-connecting-ip': address } }
);
expect(right.status).toBe(302);
expect((await tries('ZZZZZZZX')).status).toBe(400);
expect((await tries('ZZZZZZZW')).status).toBe(429);
});
// A caller who strips the headers that say where they are lands in one
// shared bucket. That is deliberate: it makes hiding cost a smaller budget
// rather than buying an unlimited one.
test('a caller with no address still has a budget', async () => {
for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
expect((await auth.request(`${ORIGIN}/device?user_code=ZZZZZZZ${'ABC'[i]}`)).status).toBe(
400
);
}
expect((await auth.request(`${ORIGIN}/device?user_code=ZZZZZZZD`)).status).toBe(429);
});
});