Automated attacks—such as bot scraping, brute-force logins, and DDoS attempts—pose serious threats to web applications today. Rate limiting is a crucial defense mechanism to combat these attacks.
SafeLine WAF offers advanced rate limiting features that provide precise, flexible, and high-performance protection against bots and other malicious traffic.
In this post, we’ll break down how SafeLine handles rate limiting, and how upcoming features will enhance its capabilities.
How SafeLine Implements Rate Limiting Today
SafeLine’s current rate limiting mechanism is built around IP-based request tracking. For each unique client IP, the system monitors the number of incoming requests in a set time window (usually per second).
Once the requests per second (RPS) exceed the configured threshold, SafeLine takes one or more of the following actions:
- Temporary Blocking: Blocks the offending IP during a cooldown period.
- Bot Challenges: Implements CAPTCHA or JavaScript validation to challenge bots.
- Permanent Blacklisting: Adds malicious or suspicious IPs to a blacklist.
Real-World Example: Brute-Force Protection
Let’s say an attacker is using a brute-force script to attack the /api/login endpoint. SafeLine detects the abnormal number of login attempts from a single IP, blocks further requests, and protects the backend from abuse—even before the login logic is triggered.
Why IP-Based Rate Limiting Is Not Enough
Although IP-based rate limiting works for many cases, it faces significant limitations, especially against:
- Botnets that rotate IPs frequently.
- Proxies and VPN abuse.
- Anonymized traffic from CDNs.
To address these issues, SafeLine is evolving towards more granular and context-aware rate limiting.
Next-Gen Rate Limiting: More Smarter, Flexible Protection
SafeLine’s upcoming rate limiting engine will support more advanced rules and logic to handle a variety of threats:
Context-Aware Policies
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Per-Endpoint Rules: For example, stricter limits on sensitive endpoints like
/login,/signup, and/checkout. - User-Agent Filtering: Automatically applies lower thresholds for suspicious or bot-like headers.
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Custom Matching Logic: Based on:
- Headers
- Cookies
- Query parameters
- URI paths
This will allow SafeLine to apply client-specific or route-specific rate limits, which is especially useful for modern applications with APIs.
Device Fingerprinting (Coming Soon)
To combat IP rotation and anonymity tools, SafeLine will introduce device fingerprinting as part of its rate limiting strategy.
- How It Works: Clients will be identified based on browser behavior, TLS handshakes, and JavaScript context—assigning a unique fingerprint to each client.
- Benefits: Rate limiting decisions will be tied to the fingerprint, not the IP, preventing bots from bypassing defenses via IP rotation. This will reduce false negatives and strengthen security against sophisticated attacks.
Why This Matters for You
SafeLine’s current IP-based rate limiting already delivers strong protection against common automated threats. But as bots evolve, so do the defenses. The next-gen rate limiting engine will provide:
- Custom policies for specific routes
- Smarter filtering using headers, cookies, and URI paths
- Device fingerprinting for enhanced accuracy
These upgrades ensure SafeLine can block even the most advanced bots while improving accuracy and minimizing false positives.
Final Thoughts
Rate limiting is essential for blocking automated threats, but it needs to evolve alongside malicious actors. SafeLine’s advanced, context-aware rate limiting is on the cutting edge, making it one of the most effective defenses against modern bots.
We’re excited about these upcoming features, and if you have feedback or feature requests, we’d love to hear from you!
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