mod_proxyfixup

I recently tried mod_proxyfixup, an Apache module aimed at removing evidence of proxy requests. The module serves to eliminate any indications that a request has been proxied. This feature comes in handy mostly when utilizing mod_proxy to redirect requests, particularly from one virtual server to another or from a gateway machine to a backend server. Without mod_proxyfixup, the forwarded requests will include the address of the proxy server as the client address, as well as the name of the proxy server as the target of the request. Not only does this make client IP address-based authentication impossible, but it could also compromise certain CGI scripts that depend on building URLs to themselves from CGI environment variables. Moreover, all log files will contain the IP address of the proxy server.

I appreciate that mod_proxyfixup is tailored for Apache 1.3. Overall, mod_proxyfixup is an excellent tool offering the much-needed anonymity in proxy requests, and I would recommend it to any Apache user looking to improve their authentication procedures and avoid breaking scripts.