pike Module

Bogdan-Andrei Iancu

Edited by

Bogdan-Andrei Iancu


Table of Contents
1. User's Guide
1.1. Overview
1.2. Dependencies
1.2.1. OpenSER Modules
1.2.2. External Libraries or Applications
1.3. Exported Parameters
1.3.1. sampling_time_unit (integer)
1.3.2. reqs_density_per_unit (integer)
1.3.3. remove_latency (integer)
1.4. Exported Functions
1.4.1. pike_check_req()
2. Developer's Guide
3. Frequently Asked Questions
List of Examples
1-1. Set sampling_time_unit parameter
1-2. Set reqs_density_per_unit parameter
1-3. Set remove_latency parameter
1-4. pike_check_req usage
2-1. Tree of IP addresses

Chapter 1. User's Guide

1.1. Overview

The module keeps trace of all (or selected ones) incoming request's IP source and blocks the ones that exceeded some limit. Works simultaneous for IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

The module does not implement any actions on blocking - it just simply reports that the there is an high traffic from an IP; what to do, is the administator decision (via scripting).


1.2. Dependencies

1.2.1. OpenSER Modules

The following modules must be loaded before this module:

  • No dependencies on other OpenSER modules.


1.2.2. External Libraries or Applications

The following libraries or applications must be installed before running OpenSER with this module loaded:

  • None.


1.3. Exported Parameters

1.3.1. sampling_time_unit (integer)

Time period used for sampling (or the sampling accuracy ;-) ). The smaller the better, but slower. If you want to detect peeks, use a small one. To limit the access (like total number of requests on a long period of time) to a proxy resource (a gateway for ex), use a bigger value of this parameter.

IMPORTANT: a too small value may lead to performance penalties due timer process overloading.

Default value is 2.

Example 1-1. Set sampling_time_unit parameter

...
modparam("pike", "sampling_time_unit", 10)
...

1.3.2. reqs_density_per_unit (integer)

How many requests should be allowed per sampling_time_unit before blocking all the incoming request from that IP. Practically, the blocking limit is between ( let's have x=reqs_density_per_unit) x and 3*x for IPv4 addresses and between x and 8*x for ipv6 addresses.

Default value is 30.

Example 1-2. Set reqs_density_per_unit parameter

...
modparam("pike", "reqs_density_per_unit", 30)
...

1.3.3. remove_latency (integer)

For how long the IP address will be kept in memory after the last request from that IP address. It's a sort of timeout value.

Default value is 120.

Example 1-3. Set remove_latency parameter

...
modparam("pike", "remove_latency", 130)
...

1.4. Exported Functions

1.4.1. pike_check_req()

Process the source IP of the current request and returns false if the IP was exceeding the blocking limit.

IMPORTANT: in case of internal error, the function returns true to avoid reporting the current processed IP as blocked.

This function can be used from REQUEST_ROUTE.

Example 1-4. pike_check_req usage

...
if (!pike_check_req()) { exit; };
...

Chapter 2. Developer's Guide

One single tree (for both IPv4 and IPv6) is used. Each node contains a byte, the IP addresses stretching from root to the leafs.

Example 2-1. Tree of IP addresses

	   / 193 - 175 - 132 - 164
tree root /                  \ 142
	  \ 195 - 37 - 78 - 163
	   \ 79 - 134

To detect the whole address, step by step, from the root to the leafs, the nodes corresponding to each byte of the ip address are expanded. In order to be expended a node has to be hit for a given number of times (possible by different addresses; in the previous example, the node "37" was expended by the 195.37.78.163 and 195.37.79.134 hits).

For 193.175.132.164 with x= reqs_density_per_unit:

So, to build and block this address were needed 3*x hits. Now, if reqs start coming from 193.175.132.142, the first 3 bytes are already in the tree (they are shared with the previous address), so I will need only x hits (to build node "142" and to make it "RED") to make this address also to be blocked. This is the reason for the variable number of hits necessary to block an IP.

The maximum number of hits to turn an address red are (n is the address's number of bytes):

1 (first byte) + x (second byte) + (x / 2) * (n - 2) (for the rest of the bytes) + (n - 1) (to turn the node to red).

So, for IPv4 (n = 4) will be 3x and for IPv6 (n = 16) will be 9x. The minimum number of hits to turn an address red is x.


Chapter 3. Frequently Asked Questions

3.1. Where can I find more about OpenSER?
3.2. Where can I post a question about this module?
3.3. How can I report a bug?

3.1. Where can I find more about OpenSER?

Take a look at http://openser.org/.

3.2. Where can I post a question about this module?

First at all check if your question was already answered on one of our mailing lists:

E-mails regarding any stable OpenSER release should be sent to and e-mails regarding development versions should be sent to .

If you want to keep the mail private, send it to .

3.3. How can I report a bug?

Please follow the guidelines provided at: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=139143.