Mitigate DNS amplification attack surface

`metrics.status.sslip.io` is a vector for a DNS amplification attack; we
mitigate it by latching a 1/4 second throttle on each query after a
certain amount of queries.

That endpoint is a 4x amplifier: 100byte request with a 400 byte reply.

bosh-release/src/sslip.io-dns-server/integration_test.go

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"os/exec"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
+	"xip/xip"
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
@@ -297,5 +298,27 @@ var _ = Describe("sslip.io-dns-server", func() {
 				})
 			})
 		})
+		When(`a TXT record for an "metrics.status.sslip.io" domain is repeatedly queries`, func() {
+			It("rate-limits the queries after some amount requests", func() {
+				// typically ~9 milliseconds / query, ~125 queries / sec on 4-core Xeon
+				var start, stop time.Time
+				throttled := false
+				// add an extra ten to the loop to really make sure we've exhausted the buffered channel
+				for i := 0; i < xip.MetricsBufferSize+10; i += 1 {
+					start = time.Now()
+					digArgs = "@localhost metrics.status.sslip.io txt"
+					digCmd = exec.Command("dig", strings.Split(digArgs, " ")...)
+					_, err := digCmd.Output()
+					Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+					stop = time.Now()
+					// we currently buffer at 250 milliseconds, so for our test we use a smidgen less because jitter
+					if stop.Sub(start) > 240*time.Millisecond {
+						throttled = true
+						break
+					}
+				}
+				Expect(throttled).To(BeTrue())
+			})
+		})
 	})
 })

bosh-release/src/sslip.io-dns-server/main.go

@@ -81,6 +81,31 @@ func main() {
 
 func readFrom(conn *net.UDPConn, wg *sync.WaitGroup, etcdCli xip.V3client, xipMetrics *xip.Metrics) {
 	defer wg.Done()
+	// We want to make sure that our DNS server isn't used in a DNS amplification attack.
+	// The endpoint we're worried about is metrics.status.sslip.io, whose reply is
+	// ~400 bytes with a query of ~100 bytes (4x amplification). We accomplish this by
+	// using channels with a quarter-second delay. Max throughput 1.2 kBytes/sec.
+	//
+	// We want to balance this delay against our desire to run tests quickly, so we buffer
+	// the channel with enough room to accommodate our tests.
+	//
+	// We realize that, if we're listening on several network interfaces, we're throttling
+	// _per interface_, not from a global standpoint, but we didn't want to clutter
+	// main() more than necessary.
+	//
+	// We also want to have fun playing with channels
+	dnsAmplificationAttackDelay := make(chan struct{}, xip.MetricsBufferSize)
+	go func() {
+		// fill up the channel's buffer so that our tests aren't slowed down (~85 tests)
+		for i := 0; i < xip.MetricsBufferSize; i += 1 {
+			dnsAmplificationAttackDelay <- struct{}{}
+		}
+		// now put on the brakes for users trying to leverage our server in a DNS amplification attack
+		for {
+			dnsAmplificationAttackDelay <- struct{}{}
+			time.Sleep(250 * time.Millisecond)
+		}
+	}()
 	for {
 		query := make([]byte, 512)
 		_, addr, err := conn.ReadFromUDP(query)
@@ -89,7 +114,12 @@ func readFrom(conn *net.UDPConn, wg *sync.WaitGroup, etcdCli xip.V3client, xipMe
 			continue
 		}
 		go func() {
-			xipServer := xip.Xip{SrcAddr: addr.IP, Etcd: etcdCli, Metrics: xipMetrics}
+			xipServer := xip.Xip{
+				SrcAddr:                     addr.IP,
+				Etcd:                        etcdCli,
+				Metrics:                     xipMetrics,
+				DnsAmplificationAttackDelay: dnsAmplificationAttackDelay,
+			}
 			response, logMessage, err := xipServer.QueryResponse(query)
 			if err != nil {
 				log.Println(err.Error())

bosh-release/src/sslip.io-dns-server/xip/xip.go

@@ -32,9 +32,10 @@ type V3client interface {
 // through the call hierarchy
 // (the source address for `ip.sslip.io`, and the etcd client for `k-v.io`)
 type Xip struct {
-	SrcAddr net.IP
-	Etcd    V3client
-	Metrics *Metrics
+	SrcAddr                     net.IP
+	Etcd                        V3client
+	DnsAmplificationAttackDelay chan struct{}
+	Metrics                     *Metrics
 }
 
 type Metrics struct {
@@ -109,6 +110,8 @@ var (
 	VersionDate     = "0001/01/01-99:99:99-0800"
 	VersionGitHash  = "cafexxx"
 
+	MetricsBufferSize = 100
+
 	TxtKvCustomizations = KvCustomizations{}
 	Customizations      = DomainCustomizations{
 		"sslip.io.": {
@@ -793,6 +796,7 @@ func ipSslipIo(x Xip) ([]dnsmessage.TXTResource, error) {
 
 // when TXT for "metrics.sslip.io" is queried, return the cumulative metrics
 func metricsSslipIo(x Xip) (txtResources []dnsmessage.TXTResource, err error) {
+	<-x.DnsAmplificationAttackDelay
 	var metrics []string
 	uptime := time.Since(x.Metrics.Start)
 	metrics = append(metrics, fmt.Sprintf("uptime (seconds): %.0f", uptime.Seconds()))