djapi-guard 2.0.0

A security library for Django to control IPs, log requests, and detect penetration attempts.

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djapi-guard is a security library for Django that provides middleware to control IPs, log requests, detect penetration attempts and more. It integrates seamlessly with Django to offer robust protection against various security threats. Powered by guard-core.

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Documentation

Documentation - Full technical documentation and deep dive into its inner workings.

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Features

• IP Whitelisting and Blacklisting: Control access based on IP addresses.
• User Agent Filtering: Block requests from specific user agents.
• Rate Limiting: Limit the number of requests from a single IP.
• Automatic IP Banning: Automatically ban IPs after a certain number of suspicious requests.
• Penetration Attempt Detection: Detect and log potential penetration attempts.
• HTTP Security Headers: Comprehensive security headers management (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, etc.)
• Custom Logging: Log security events to a custom file.
• CORS Configuration: Configure CORS settings for your Django application.
• Cloud Provider IP Blocking: Block requests from cloud provider IPs (AWS, GCP, Azure).
• IP Geolocation: Use a service like IPInfo.io API to determine the country of an IP address.
• Distributed State Management: (Optional) Redis integration for shared security state across instances.
• Flexible Storage: Redis-enabled distributed storage or in-memory storage for single instance deployments.
• Route-Level Security Decorators: Fine-grained security controls per route.
• Behavioral Analysis: Endpoint usage tracking and anomaly detection.
• Time-Based Access Control: Restrict endpoint access to specific time windows.
• Emergency Mode: Block all traffic except whitelisted IPs.

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Installation

To install djapi-guard, use pip:

pip install djapi-guard

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Usage

Basic Setup

To use djapi-guard, you need to add the middleware to your Django project and configure the security settings. Here's a basic example:

settings.py

MIDDLEWARE = [
    # Add DjangoAPI Guard middleware early in the stack
    "djangoapi_guard.middleware.DjangoAPIGuard",
    "django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware",
    "django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware",
    "django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware",
    # ... other middleware
]

# Define your security configuration
GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "ipinfo_token": "your_ipinfo_token_here",  # Optional: IPInfo token required for IP geolocation
    "ipinfo_db_path": "custom/ipinfo.db",  # Optional custom database path
    "whitelist": ["192.168.1.1", "2001:db8::1"],
    "blacklist": ["10.0.0.1", "2001:db8::2"],
    "blocked_countries": ["AR", "IT"],
    "blocked_user_agents": ["curl", "wget"],
    "auto_ban_threshold": 5,
    "auto_ban_duration": 86400,
    "custom_log_file": "security.log",
    "rate_limit": 100,
    "enforce_https": True,
    "enable_cors": True,
    "cors_allow_origins": ["*"],
    "cors_allow_methods": ["GET", "POST"],
    "cors_allow_headers": ["*"],
    "cors_allow_credentials": True,
    "cors_expose_headers": ["X-Custom-Header"],
    "cors_max_age": 600,
    "block_cloud_providers": {"AWS", "GCP", "Azure"},
}

views.py

from django.http import JsonResponse

def read_root(request):
    return JsonResponse({"message": "Hello, World!"})

IP Whitelisting and Blacklisting

You can control access based on IP addresses using the whitelist and blacklist options in the SecurityConfig.

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "whitelist": ["192.168.1.1", "2001:db8::1"],
    "blacklist": ["10.0.0.1", "2001:db8::2"],
}

User Agent Filtering

Block requests from specific user agents by adding patterns to the blocked_user_agents list.

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "blocked_user_agents": ["curl", "wget"],
}

Rate Limiting

Limit the number of requests from a single IP using the rate_limit option.

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "rate_limit": 100,  # Maximum 100 requests per minute
}

Automatic IP Banning

Automatically ban IPs after a certain number of suspicious requests using the auto_ban_threshold and auto_ban_duration options.

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "auto_ban_threshold": 5,  # Ban IP after 5 suspicious requests
    "auto_ban_duration": 86400,  # Ban duration in seconds (1 day)
}

Penetration Attempt Detection

Enable penetration attempt detection using the enable_penetration_detection option.

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "enable_penetration_detection": True,  # True by default
}

Optional: Enable passive mode to log suspicious activity without blocking requests.

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "passive_mode": True,  # False by default
}

Custom Penetration Detection

Detect and log potential penetration attempts using the detect_penetration_attempt function.

from django.http import JsonResponse
from djangoapi_guard.utils import detect_penetration_attempt

def submit_data(request):
    is_suspicious, trigger_info = detect_penetration_attempt(request)
    if is_suspicious:
        return JsonResponse(
            {"error": f"Suspicious activity detected: {trigger_info}"},
            status=400,
        )
    return JsonResponse({"message": "Data submitted successfully"})

Custom Logging

Log security events with console output (always enabled) and optional file logging:

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "custom_log_file": "security.log",  # Optional: adds file logging
    # "custom_log_file": None,  # Default: console output only
}

Note: Console output is always enabled for visibility. File logging is only activated when custom_log_file is provided.

HTTP Security Headers

Configure comprehensive security headers following OWASP best practices:

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "security_headers": {
        "enabled": True,
        "hsts": {
            "max_age": 31536000,  # 1 year
            "include_subdomains": True,
            "preload": False,
        },
        "csp": {
            "default-src": ["'self'"],
            "script-src": ["'self'", "https://trusted.cdn.com"],
            "style-src": ["'self'", "'unsafe-inline'"],
            "img-src": ["'self'", "data:", "https:"],
            "connect-src": ["'self'", "https://api.example.com"],
            "frame-ancestors": ["'none'"],
            "base-uri": ["'self'"],
            "form-action": ["'self'"],
        },
        "frame_options": "DENY",
        "content_type_options": "nosniff",
        "xss_protection": "1; mode=block",
        "referrer_policy": "strict-origin-when-cross-origin",
        "permissions_policy": "geolocation=(), microphone=(), camera=()",
        "custom": {
            "X-Custom-Header": "CustomValue",
        },
    },
}

Key security headers supported:

• Content Security Policy (CSP): Prevent XSS attacks by controlling resource loading
• HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS): Force HTTPS connections
• X-Frame-Options: Prevent clickjacking attacks
• X-Content-Type-Options: Prevent MIME type sniffing
• X-XSS-Protection: Enable browser XSS filtering
• Referrer-Policy: Control referrer information
• Permissions-Policy: Restrict browser features
• Cross-Origin Policies: Control cross-origin resource access and embedding
• Header Injection Prevention: Automatic validation against injection attacks
• CORS Security: Secure wildcard and credentials handling

CORS Configuration

Configure CORS settings for your Django application using the enable_cors and related options.

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "enable_cors": True,
    "cors_allow_origins": ["*"],
    "cors_allow_methods": ["GET", "POST"],
    "cors_allow_headers": ["*"],
    "cors_allow_credentials": True,
    "cors_expose_headers": ["X-Custom-Header"],
    "cors_max_age": 600,
}

Cloud Provider IP Blocking

Block requests from cloud provider IPs (AWS, GCP, Azure) using the block_cloud_providers option.

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "block_cloud_providers": {"AWS", "GCP", "Azure"},
}

IP Geolocation and Country Blocking

If you want to use djapi-guard's built-in country filtering features, you'll need to obtain an IPInfo token:

1. Visit IPInfo's website to create a free account
2. After signing up, you'll receive an API token
3. The free tier includes:
   • Up to 50,000 requests per month
   • Access to IP to Country database
   • Daily database updates
   • IPv4 & IPv6 support

Note: This is only required if you use country filtering (blocked_countries, whitelist_countries). You can also provide your own handler that uses any other service.

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Route-Level Security with Decorators

DjangoAPI Guard provides powerful decorators that allow you to apply security controls to individual views, giving you fine-grained control over your API endpoints.

Basic Decorator Usage

from djangoapi_guard import DjangoAPIGuard, SecurityConfig, SecurityDecorator
from django.http import JsonResponse

# In your settings.py, configure the middleware and security config as shown above.

# Create decorator instance
from django.conf import settings
from djangoapi_guard.models import SecurityConfig as SecurityConfigModel

config = SecurityConfigModel(**settings.GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG)
guard_deco = SecurityDecorator(config)

# Apply decorators to specific views
def public_endpoint(request):
    return JsonResponse({"data": "public"})

@guard_deco.rate_limit(requests=10, window=300)  # 10 requests per 5 minutes
def limited_endpoint(request):
    return JsonResponse({"data": "limited"})

@guard_deco.require_ip(whitelist=["192.168.1.0/24"])
@guard_deco.block_countries(["CN", "RU"])
def restricted_endpoint(request):
    return JsonResponse({"data": "restricted"})

Available Decorators

Access Control

• @guard_deco.require_ip(whitelist=[], blacklist=[]) - IP address filtering
• @guard_deco.block_countries(["CN", "RU"]) - Block specific countries
• @guard_deco.allow_countries(["US", "CA"]) - Allow only specific countries
• @guard_deco.block_clouds(["AWS", "GCP"]) - Block cloud provider IPs

Rate Limiting

• @guard_deco.rate_limit(requests=10, window=60) - Basic rate limiting
• @guard_deco.geo_rate_limit(limits={"US": 100, "default": 50}) - Geographic rate limiting

Authentication & Headers

• @guard_deco.require_https() - Force HTTPS
• @guard_deco.require_auth(type="bearer") - Require authentication
• @guard_deco.api_key_auth(header_name="X-API-Key") - API key authentication
• @guard_deco.require_headers({"X-Custom": "required"}) - Require specific headers

Content Filtering

• @guard_deco.block_user_agents(["curl", "wget"]) - Block user agent patterns
• @guard_deco.content_type_filter(["application/json"]) - Filter content types
• @guard_deco.max_request_size(1048576) - Limit request size (1MB)
• @guard_deco.require_referrer(["myapp.com"]) - Require specific referrers

Behavioral Analysis

• @guard_deco.usage_monitor(max_calls=50, window=3600, action="ban") - Monitor endpoint usage
• @guard_deco.return_monitor("rare_item", max_occurrences=3, window=86400, action="alert") - Monitor return patterns
• @guard_deco.suspicious_frequency(max_frequency=0.1, window=300, action="log") - Detect suspicious frequency

Advanced Controls

• @guard_deco.time_window("09:00", "17:00", "UTC") - Time-based access control
• @guard_deco.honeypot_detection(trap_fields=["hidden_field"]) - Detect bots using honeypot fields
• @guard_deco.bypass(checks=["rate_limit"]) - Bypass specific security checks

Complex Route Protection

Combine multiple decorators for comprehensive protection:

from django.http import JsonResponse

@guard_deco.require_https()                        # Security requirement
@guard_deco.require_auth(type="bearer")            # Authentication
@guard_deco.require_ip(whitelist=["10.0.0.0/8"])   # Access control
@guard_deco.rate_limit(requests=5, window=3600)    # Rate limiting
@guard_deco.suspicious_detection(enabled=True)     # Monitoring
def admin_endpoint(request):
    return JsonResponse({"status": "admin action"})

@guard_deco.usage_monitor(max_calls=50, window=3600, action="ban")
@guard_deco.return_monitor("rare_item", max_occurrences=3, window=86400, action="ban")
@guard_deco.block_countries(["CN", "RU", "KP"])
def rewards_endpoint(request):
    # This endpoint is protected against:
    # - Excessive usage (>50 calls/hour results in ban)
    # - Suspicious return patterns (>3 rare items/day results in ban)
    # - Geographic restrictions
    return JsonResponse({"reward": "rare_item", "value": 1000})

Decorator Configuration Priority

Security settings are applied in the following priority order:

1. Decorator Settings (highest priority)
2. Global Middleware Settings
3. Default Settings (lowest priority)

This allows views to override global settings while maintaining sensible defaults.

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Advanced Usage

Secure Proxy Configuration

Configure trusted proxies to securely handle X-Forwarded-For headers:

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "trusted_proxies": ["10.0.0.1", "192.168.1.0/24"],  # List of trusted proxy IPs or CIDR ranges
    "trusted_proxy_depth": 1,                           # How many proxies to expect in chain
    "trust_x_forwarded_proto": True,                    # Whether to trust X-Forwarded-Proto for HTTPS detection (default: True)
}

When trusted_proxies is configured, DjangoAPI Guard will:

1. Only trust X-Forwarded-For headers from these IPs
2. Extract the appropriate client IP based on proxy depth
3. Prevent IP spoofing attacks through header manipulation

Custom Geolocation Handler

The library implements a handler that uses IPInfo's IP to Country database, which provides:

• Full accuracy IP to country mapping
• Daily updates
• Support for both IPv4 and IPv6
• Country and continent information
• ASN details

To use the geolocation feature with this handler:

from djangoapi_guard.protocols.geo_ip_protocol import GeoIPHandler

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "geo_ip_handler": GeoIPHandler,
    "blocked_countries": ["AR", "IT"],   # Block specific countries using ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes
    "whitelist_countries": ["US", "CA"],  # Optional: Only allow specific countries
}

The database is automatically downloaded and cached locally when the middleware starts, if required, and it's updated daily to ensure accuracy.

You can also use a service other than IPInfo, as long as you implement the same protocol:

# Implement the required methods of djangoapi_guard.protocols.geo_ip_protocol.GeoIPHandler protocol

class GeoIPHandler:
    """
    Your custom class.
    """

    @property
    def is_initialized(self) -> bool:
        # your implementation
        ...

    def initialize(self) -> None:
        # your implementation
        ...

    def initialize_redis(self, redis_handler: "RedisManager") -> None:
        # your implementation
        ...

    def get_country(self, ip: str) -> str | None:
        # your implementation
        ...


GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "geo_ip_handler": GeoIPHandler,
    "blocked_countries": ["AR", "IT"],  # Block specific countries using ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes
    "whitelist_countries": ["US", "CA"],  # Optional: Only allow specific countries
}

Custom Request Check

You can define a custom function to perform additional checks on the request using the custom_request_check option.

from django.http import HttpResponse
from typing import Optional

def custom_check(req) -> Optional[HttpResponse]:
    if "X-Custom-Header" not in req.headers:
        return HttpResponse("Missing custom header", status=400)
    return None

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "custom_request_check": custom_check,
}

Custom Response Modifier

You can define a custom function to modify the response before it's sent using the custom_response_modifier option.

from django.http import HttpResponse, JsonResponse

def custom_modifier(response: HttpResponse) -> HttpResponse:
    # Add custom headers
    response["X-Custom-Header"] = "CustomValue"

    # Convert text responses to JSON responses
    if response.status_code >= 400 and response.get("Content-Type") != "application/json":
        try:
            content = response.content.decode("utf-8")
            json_response = JsonResponse({"detail": content})
            json_response.status_code = response.status_code
            return json_response
        except Exception:
            pass

    return response

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "custom_response_modifier": custom_modifier,
}

The example above shows how to:

1. Add custom headers to all responses
2. Convert plain text error responses to JSON format with a "detail" field

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Redis Configuration

Enable distributed state management across multiple instances:

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "enable_redis": True,
    "redis_url": "redis://prod-redis:6379/1",
    "redis_prefix": "myapp:security:",
}

The Redis integration provides:

• Atomic increment operations for rate limiting
• Distributed IP ban tracking
• Cloud provider IP range caching
• Pattern storage for penetration detection

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Emergency Mode

Block all incoming traffic except from explicitly whitelisted IPs. Useful during active attacks or maintenance windows:

GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG = {
    "emergency_mode": True,
    "emergency_whitelist": ["10.0.0.1", "192.168.1.0/24"],
}

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Behavioral Analysis

DjangoAPI Guard includes a behavioral analysis engine for detecting anomalous usage patterns. This works both at the global level and per-view via decorators:

from djangoapi_guard import SecurityConfig, BehaviorRule
from django.http import JsonResponse

# Global behavioral rules can be defined in config

# Per-view behavioral monitoring via decorators
@guard_deco.usage_monitor(max_calls=50, window=3600, action="ban")
@guard_deco.return_monitor("rare_item", max_occurrences=3, window=86400, action="ban")
def rewards_endpoint(request):
    return JsonResponse({"reward": "rare_item", "value": 1000})

Behavioral actions include:

• "log" - Log the anomaly
• "alert" - Generate an alert event
• "ban" - Automatically ban the offending IP

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Detailed Configuration Options

SecurityConfig

The SecurityConfig class defines the structure for security configuration, including IP whitelists and blacklists, blocked countries, blocked user agents, rate limiting, automatic IP banning, HTTPS enforcement, custom hooks, CORS settings, and blocking of cloud provider IPs.

Attributes

• geo_ip_handler: GeoIPHandler - Protocol that allows for IP geolocation functionality.
• enable_redis: bool - Enable Redis for distributed state (default: True). When disabled, uses in-memory storage.
• redis_url: str | None - Redis connection URL (default: "redis://localhost:6379").
• redis_prefix: str - Prefix for Redis keys (default: "djangoapi_guard:").
• trusted_proxies: list[str] | None - List of trusted proxy IPs or CIDR ranges.
• trusted_proxy_depth: int - How many proxies to expect in chain.
• trust_x_forwarded_proto: bool - Whether to trust X-Forwarded-Proto for HTTPS detection.
• whitelist: list[str] | None - A list of IP addresses or ranges that are always allowed. If set to None, no whitelist is applied.
• blacklist: list[str] - A list of IP addresses or ranges that are always blocked.
• blocked_countries: list[str] - A list of country codes whose IP addresses should be blocked.
• blocked_user_agents: list[str] - A list of user agent strings or patterns that should be blocked.
• auto_ban_threshold: int - The threshold for auto-banning an IP address after a certain number of requests.
• auto_ban_duration: int - The duration in seconds for which an IP address should be banned after reaching the auto-ban threshold.
• custom_log_file: str | None - Optional path to a log file. When provided, enables file logging in addition to console output (which is always enabled). Default: None (console only).
• custom_error_responses: dict[int, str] - A dictionary of custom error responses for specific HTTP status codes.
• rate_limit: int - The maximum number of requests allowed per minute from a single IP.
• rate_limit_window: int - The time window in seconds for rate limiting (default: 60).
• enforce_https: bool - Whether to enforce HTTPS connections. If True, all HTTP requests will be redirected to HTTPS.
• custom_request_check: Callable[[HttpRequest], HttpResponse | None] | None - A custom synchronous function to perform additional checks on the request. If it returns an HttpResponse, that response will be sent instead of continuing the middleware chain.
• custom_response_modifier: Callable[[HttpResponse], HttpResponse] | None - A custom synchronous function to modify the response before it's sent.
• enable_cors: bool - Whether to enable CORS.
• cors_allow_origins: list[str] - A list of origins that are allowed to access the API.
• cors_allow_methods: list[str] - A list of methods that are allowed to access the API.
• cors_allow_headers: list[str] - A list of headers that are allowed in CORS requests.
• cors_allow_credentials: bool - Whether to allow credentials in CORS requests.
• cors_expose_headers: list[str] - A list of headers that are exposed in CORS responses.
• cors_max_age: int - The maximum age in seconds that the results of a preflight request can be cached.
• block_cloud_providers: set[str] - Case-sensitive cloud provider names to block. Valid values: 'AWS', 'GCP', 'Azure'. Invalid entries are silently ignored.
• passive_mode: bool - When enabled, logs suspicious activity without blocking requests (default: False).
• enable_ip_banning: bool - Enable or disable IP banning functionality (default: True).
• enable_rate_limiting: bool - Enable or disable rate limiting (default: True).
• enable_penetration_detection: bool - Enable or disable penetration attempt detection (default: True).
• emergency_mode: bool - Block all traffic except whitelisted IPs (default: False).
• emergency_whitelist: list[str] - IPs allowed during emergency mode.
• exclude_paths: list[str] - Paths excluded from security checks (default: ["/docs", "/redoc", "/openapi.json", "/openapi.yaml", "/favicon.ico", "/static"]).
• security_headers: dict[str, Any] | None - Security headers configuration following OWASP best practices.
• endpoint_rate_limits: dict[str, tuple[int, int]] - Per-endpoint rate limits as {endpoint: (limit, window)}.
• log_suspicious_level: Literal["INFO","DEBUG","WARNING","ERROR","CRITICAL"] | None - Log level for suspicious activity (default: "WARNING").
• log_request_level: Literal["INFO","DEBUG","WARNING","ERROR","CRITICAL"] | None - Log level for request logging (default: None).

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Detection Engine

DjangoAPI Guard includes a comprehensive detection engine for identifying penetration attempts. It uses pattern matching, semantic analysis, and anomaly detection to catch a wide range of attack vectors.

Attack Categories Detected

Category	Examples
XSS	Script tags, event handlers, JavaScript protocol, cookie manipulation
SQL Injection	UNION queries, logic-based (OR/AND), time-based (SLEEP/BENCHMARK), file ops
Command Injection	Shell commands, command substitution/chaining, PHP functions
Path Traversal	../ sequences, /etc/passwd, /proc/self/environ, Windows system files
File Inclusion	php://, data://, file://, zip://, expect:// protocols
LDAP Injection	Wildcard patterns, attribute matching, logic ops
XML Injection	XXE, CDATA sections, XML declarations
SSRF	localhost, 127.0.0.1, 169.254.*, private ranges
Code Injection	Python eval/exec/__import__, obfuscation, high-entropy payloads

Detection Configuration

Config Field	Default	Range	Purpose
detection_compiler_timeout	2.0	0.1-10.0	Pattern compilation timeout (seconds)
detection_max_content_length	10000	1000-100000	Max content length to analyze
detection_preserve_attack_patterns	True	-	Preserve attack signatures during preprocessing
detection_semantic_threshold	0.7	0.0-1.0	Semantic analysis confidence threshold
detection_anomaly_threshold	3.0	1.0-10.0	Anomaly detection threshold (std devs)
detection_slow_pattern_threshold	0.1	0.01-1.0	Slow pattern detection threshold (seconds)
detection_monitor_history_size	1000	100-10000	Performance monitor history size
detection_max_tracked_patterns	1000	100-5000	Max tracked patterns

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Key Differences from FlaskAPI Guard

DjangoAPI Guard is a direct port of FlaskAPI Guard to the Django ecosystem. The security logic is identical, but adapted for Django's middleware model:

Aspect	FlaskAPI Guard	DjangoAPI Guard
Entry point	FlaskAPIGuard (Flask extension)	DjangoAPIGuard (Django middleware)
Hook mechanism	before_request / after_request	__call__ / process_request / process_response
Configuration	FlaskAPIGuard(app, config=config)	MIDDLEWARE setting + GUARD_SECURITY_CONFIG
Server model	WSGI (gunicorn, waitress)	WSGI (gunicorn, uwsgi, daphne)
Package name	flaskapi_guard	djangoapi_guard
Request state	flask.g	request attributes
Request object	flask.request (Werkzeug)	django.http.HttpRequest
Response object	flask.Response (Werkzeug)	django.http.HttpResponse
IP extraction	request.remote_addr / request.access_route	request.META["REMOTE_ADDR"] / X-Forwarded-For
Custom callables	def check(request) -> Response | None	def check(request) -> HttpResponse | None

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

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Author

Renzo Franceschini - [e-mail] .

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Acknowledgements

• Django
• FlaskAPI Guard
• FastAPI Guard
• IPInfo
• cachetools
• Redis
• gunicorn
• Pydantic