If you’ve ever hosted a web app, a personal homelab service, or even a simple dashboard exposed to the internet, you’ve probably felt that lingering anxiety:
“Is someone trying to break into this right now?”
And honestly… they probably are.
From SQL injection and XSS to brute-force login attempts and automated bots scanning for weak points, the modern web is full of constant, noisy, and increasingly sophisticated attacks. A single exposed service — whether it's your NAS, media server, or production API — can quickly become an attacker’s entry point.
This is where a reliable Web Application Firewall (WAF) becomes essential.
Today, let’s take a closer look at SafeLine, a powerful and production-ready open-source WAF that’s easy to deploy, actively maintained, and built to help you secure anything from small personal projects to large-scale services.
What Is SafeLine?
SafeLine is a self-hosted Web Application Firewall designed to protect web applications by analyzing, filtering, and blocking malicious HTTP traffic in real time. Acting as a reverse proxy, it sits in front of your application and intercepts incoming requests before they hit your server.
What SafeLine Protects You From
SafeLine is capable of detecting and blocking a wide range of attacks, including:
- SQL Injection
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
- Code Injection
- Command Injection
- Path Traversal
- Remote Code Execution (RCE)
- XXE, SSRF, LDAP, XPath injections
- Brute-force attacks
- HTTP floods
- Bot abuse
Whether you're defending a public dashboard, a company API, or a homelab service, SafeLine acts like a hardened gateway that filters out malicious traffic while letting legitimate users through.
Production-Ready by Design
SafeLine isn’t just a hobby project — it’s battle-tested.
- 180,000+ installations worldwide
- 1,000,000+ protected sites
- 30+ billion HTTP requests processed per day
Its architecture is built for both reliability and performance, making it suitable for enterprise use while remaining accessible for individuals.
Key Features
1. Attack Blocking
Automatically detects and blocks common web attacks using advanced detection engines and signature-based rules.
2. Rate Limiting (Anti-DoS / Anti-Bruteforce)
Define thresholds to control abusive traffic:
- Too many requests → blocked
- Too many errors → blocked
- Too many attacks → blocked
Great for protecting login pages, APIs, and public endpoints.
3. Anti-Bot Challenges
Challenge suspicious clients while allowing normal users to access without friction. Helps prevent:
- Crawlers
- Attack scripts
- Traffic scrapers
- Automated scanners
4. Access Authentication
Add an authorization layer in front of any service. Options include:
- Password protection
- Two-factor authentication
- Temporary challenges
Perfect for protecting exposed admin panels or sensitive endpoints.
5. Dynamic Protection
SafeLine can dynamically obfuscate HTML and JavaScript responses to make exploitation significantly harder.
6. Blacklist/Whitelist Controls
Allow or block specific:
- IP addresses
- User-Agents
- Countries
- Crawlers
- Custom patterns
Fully customizable.
Installation
SafeLine supports multiple installation methods. Here are the two simplest ways:
Option 1: One-Click Automatic Install
bash -c "$(curl -fsSLk https://waf-ce.chaitin.cn/release/latest/manager.sh)"
This script sets up the entire environment automatically.
Option 2: Docker Installation
If you prefer containerized deployments:
mkdir -p /data/safeline
cd /data/safeline
wget https://waf-ce.chaitin.cn/release/latest/compose.yaml
touch .env
Example .env file:
SAFELINE_DIR=/data/safeline
IMAGE_TAG=latest
MGT_PORT=9443
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=yourpassword
SUBNET_PREFIX=172.22.222
IMAGE_PREFIX=swr.cn-east-3.myhuaweicloud.com/chaitin-safeline
ARCH_SUFFIX=
RELEASE=
REGION=
ARM users should set:
ARCH_SUFFIX=-arm
Then start it:
docker compose up -d
Retrieve initial admin password:
docker exec safeline-mgt resetadmin
Using SafeLine
After installation, open:
https://<your-server-ip>:9443
You'll get a dashboard that lets you:
- Add protected applications
- Configure reverse proxy rules
- Monitor attacks
- View traffic analytics
- Adjust protection policies
Example: Protecting Jellyfin (or any web app)
If your internal service runs at:
App: 192.168.1.50:8096
You can expose it safely through SafeLine, e.g.:
Proxy: 192.168.1.10:3333
Add the application in SafeLine → set upstream target → save → done.
Traffic Monitoring & Analytics
SafeLine includes built-in analytics:
- Request count
- Unique visitors
- Attack attempts
- Blocked requests
- Real-time QPS
- Geographic distribution
Perfect for understanding how your services are being accessed — and attacked.
Advanced Protections
Rate-Limit Enforcement
Protects APIs or login pages from brute-force attempts.
Human Verification
Challenge suspicious clients to prevent bot abuse.
Identity Authentication
Add optional login layers to internal apps.
Custom Rules
Define your own rules for niche scenarios.
SafeLine is a surprisingly powerful open-source WAF that brings enterprise-grade protection to developers, homelab users, and businesses alike.
✔ Robust attack defense
✔ Flexible deployment
✔ Easy configuration
✔ Rich traffic analytics
✔ Strong community support
If you’re exposing any service to the internet — even in your homelab — SafeLine can add a much-needed layer of security and peace of mind.
Give it a try, experiment with the protections, and see how it helps you secure your applications.
GitHub Repository: https://ly.safepoint.cloud/rZGPJRF
Official Website: https://ly.safepoint.cloud/eGtfrcF
Live Demo: https://ly.safepoint.cloud/DQywpL7
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