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🛡️ Make security by default great again !

BunkerWeb

BunkerWeb is a next-generation and open-source Web Application Firewall (WAF).

Being a full-featured web server (based on NGINX under the hood), it will protect your web services to make them "secure by default". BunkerWeb integrates seamlessly into your existing environments (Linux, Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes, …) and is fully configurable (don't panic, there is an awesome web UI if you don't like the CLI) to meet your own use-cases . In other words, cybersecurity is no more a hassle.

BunkerWeb contains primary security features as part of the core but can be easily extended with additional ones thanks to a plugin system.

Why BunkerWeb ?

• Easy integration into existing environments : Seamlessly integrate BunkerWeb into various environments such as Linux, Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes and more. Enjoy a smooth transition and hassle-free implementation.
• Highly customizable : Tailor BunkerWeb to your specific requirements with ease. Enable, disable, and configure features effortlessly, allowing you to customize the security settings according to your unique use case.
• Secure by default : BunkerWeb provides out-of-the-box, hassle-free minimal security for your web services. Experience peace of mind and enhanced protection right from the start.
• Awesome web UI : Take control of BunkerWeb more efficiently with the exceptional web user interface (UI). Navigate settings and configurations effortlessly through a user-friendly graphical interface, eliminating the need for the command-line interface (CLI).
• Plugin system : Extend the capabilities of BunkerWeb to meet your own use cases. Seamlessly integrate additional security measures and customize the functionality of BunkerWeb according to your specific requirements.
• Free as in "freedom" : BunkerWeb is licensed under the free AGPLv3 license, embracing the principles of freedom and openness. Enjoy the freedom to use, modify, and distribute the software, backed by a supportive community.
• Professional services : Get technical support, tailored consulting and custom development directly from the maintainers of BunkerWeb. Visit the Bunker Panel for more information.

Security features

A non-exhaustive list of security features :

• HTTPS support with transparent Let's Encrypt automation
• State-of-the-art web security : HTTP security headers, prevent leaks, TLS hardening, ...
• Integrated ModSecurity WAF with the OWASP Core Rule Set
• Automatic ban of strange behaviors based on HTTP status code
• Apply connections and requests limit for clients
• Block bots by asking them to solve a challenge (e.g. : cookie, javascript, captcha, hCaptcha or reCAPTCHA)
• Block known bad IPs with external blacklists and DNSBL
• And much more ...

Learn more about the core security features in the security tuning section of the documentation.

Demo

A demo website protected with BunkerWeb is available at demo.bunkerweb.io. Feel free to visit it and perform some security tests.

BunkerWeb Cloud

Don't want to self-host and manage your own BunkerWeb instance(s) ? You might be interested into BunkerWeb Cloud, our fully managed SaaS offer for BunkerWeb.

Try our BunkerWeb Cloud beta offer for free and get access to :

• Fully managed BunkerWeb instance hosted in our cloud
• All BunkerWeb features including PRO ones
• Monitoring platform including dashboards and alerts
• Technical support to assist you in the configuration

You will find more information about BunkerWeb Cloud in the FAQ page of the BunkerWeb panel.

PRO version

When using BunkerWeb you have the choice of the version you want to use : open-source or PRO.

Whether it's enhanced security, an enriched user experience, or technical supervision, the BunkerWeb PRO version will allow you to fully benefit from BunkerWeb and respond to your professional needs.

Be it in the documentation or the user interface, the PRO features are annotated with a crown <img src="https://docs.bunkerweb.io/1.5.12/assets/img/pro-icon.svg" alt="crow pro icon" height="24px" width="24px"> to distinguish them from those integrated into the open-source version.

You can upgrade from the open-source version to the PRO one easily and at any time you want. The process is pretty straightforward :

• Claim your free trial on the BunkerWeb panel
• Once connected to the client area, copy your PRO license key
• Paste your private key into BunkerWeb using the web UI or specific setting

Do not hesitate to visit the BunkerWeb panel or contact us if you have any question regarding the PRO version.

Professional services

Get the most of BunkerWeb by getting professional services directly from the maintainers of the project. From technical support to tailored consulting and development, we are here to assist you in the security of your web services.

You will find more information by visiting the BunkerWeb Panel, our dedicated platform for professional services.

Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any question, we will be more than happy to respond to your needs.

Ecosystem, community and resources

Official websites, tools and resources about BunkerWeb :

• Website : get more information, news and articles about BunkerWeb
• Panel : dedicated platform to order and manage professional services (e.g. technical support) around BunkerWeb
• Documentation : technical documentation of the BunkerWeb solution
• Demo : demonstration website of BunkerWeb, don't hesitate to attempt attacks to test the robustness of the solution
• Configurator : user-friendly tool to help you configure BunkerWeb
• Threatmap : live cyber attack blocked by BunkerWeb instances all around the world

Community and social networks :

• Discord
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Reddit

Concepts

You will find more information about the key concepts of BunkerWeb in the documentation.

Integrations

The first concept is the integration of BunkerWeb into the target environment. We prefer to use the word "integration" instead of "installation" because one of the goals of BunkerWeb is to integrate seamlessly into existing environments.

The following integrations are officially supported :

• Docker
• Linux
• Docker autoconf
• Kubernetes
• Swarm
• Microsoft Azure

Settings

Once BunkerWeb is integrated into your environment, you will need to configure it to serve and protect your web applications.

The configuration of BunkerWeb is done by using what we call the "settings" or "variables". Each setting is identified by a name such as AUTO_LETS_ENCRYPT or USE_ANTIBOT. You can assign values to the settings to configure BunkerWeb.

Here is a dummy example of a BunkerWeb configuration :

SERVER_NAME=www.example.com
AUTO_LETS_ENCRYPT=yes
USE_ANTIBOT=captcha
REFERRER_POLICY=no-referrer
USE_MODSECURITY=no
USE_GZIP=yes
USE_BROTLI=no

You will find an easy to use settings generator at config.bunkerweb.io.

Multisite mode

The multisite mode is a crucial concept to understand when using BunkerWeb. Because the goal is to protect web applications, we intrinsically inherit the concept of "virtual host" or "vhost" (more info here) which makes it possible to serve multiple web applications from a single (or a cluster of) instance.

By default, the multisite mode of BunkerWeb is disabled which means that only one web application will be served and all the settings will be applied to it. The typical use case is when you have a single application to protect : you don't have to worry about the multisite and the default behavior should be the right one for you.

When multisite mode is enabled, BunkerWeb will serve and protect multiple web applications. Each web application is identified by a unique server name and have its own set of settings. The typical use case is when you have multiple applications to protect and you want to use a single (or a cluster depending of the integration) instance of BunkerWeb.

Custom configurations

Because meeting all the use cases only using the settings is not an option (even with external plugins), you can use custom configurations to solve your specific challenges.

Under the hood, BunkerWeb uses the notorious NGINX web server, that's why you can leverage its configuration system for your specific needs. Custom NGINX configurations can be included in different contexts like HTTP or server (all servers and/or specific server block).

Another core component of BunkerWeb is the ModSecurity Web Application Firewall : you can also use custom configurations to fix some false positives or add custom rules for example.

Database

State of the current configuration of BunkerWeb is stored in a backend database which contains the following data :

• Settings defined for all the services
• Custom configurations
• BunkerWeb instances
• Metadata about jobs execution
• Cached files

The following backend database are supported : SQLite, MariaDB, MySQL and PostgreSQL

Scheduler

To make things automagically work together, a dedicated service called the scheduler is in charge of :

• Storing the settings and custom configurations inside the database
• Executing various tasks (called jobs)
• Generating a configuration which is understood by BunkerWeb
• Being the intermediary for other services (like web UI or autoconf)

In other words, the scheduler is the brain of BunkerWeb.

Setup

BunkerWeb Cloud

BunkerWeb Cloud is the easiest way to get started with BunkerWeb. It offers you a fully managed BunkerWeb service with no hassle. Think of a like a BunkerWeb-as-a-Service !

You will find more information about BunkerWeb Cloud beta here and you can apply for free in the BunkerWeb panel.

Docker

We provide ready to use prebuilt images for x64, x86, armv7 and arm64 platforms on Docker Hub.

Docker integration key concepts are :

• Environment variables to configure BunkerWeb
• Scheduler container to store configuration and execute jobs
• Networks to expose ports for clients and connect to upstream web services

You will find more information in the Docker integration section of the documentation.

Docker autoconf

The downside of using environment variables is that the container needs to be recreated each time there is an update which is not very convenient. To counter that issue, you can use another image called autoconf which will listen for Docker events and automatically reconfigure BunkerWeb in real-time without recreating the container.

Instead of defining environment variables for the BunkerWeb container, you simply add labels to your web applications containers and the autoconf will "automagically" take care of the rest.

You will find more information in the Docker autoconf section of the documentation.

Swarm

To automatically configure BunkerWeb instances, a special service, called autoconf will listen for Docker Swarm events like service creation or deletion and automatically configure the BunkerWeb instances in real-time without downtime.

Like the Docker autoconf integration, configuration for web services is defined using labels starting with the special bunkerweb. prefix.

You will find more information in the Swarm section of the documentation.

Kubernetes

The autoconf acts as an Ingress controller and will configure the BunkerWeb instances according to the Ingress resources. It also monitors other Kubernetes objects like ConfigMap for custom configurations.

You will find more information in the Kubernetes section of the documentation.

Linux

List of supported Linux distros :

• Debian 12 "Bookworm"
• Ubuntu 22.04 "Noble"
• Ubuntu 24.04 "Jammy"
• Fedora 40
• RHEL 8.9
• RHEL 9.4

You will find more information in the Linux section of the documentation.

Microsoft Azure

BunkerWeb is referenced in the Azure Marketplace and an ARM template is available in the misc folder.

You will find more information in the Microsoft Azure section of the documentation.

Quickstart guide

Once you have setup BunkerWeb with the integration of your choice, you can follow the quickstart guide that will cover the following common use cases :

• Protecting a single HTTP application
• Protecting multiple HTTP application
• Retrieving the real IP of clients when operating behind a load balancer
• Adding custom configurations
• Protecting generic TCP/UDP applications
• In combination with PHP

Security tuning

BunkerWeb offers many security features that you can configure with settings. Even if the default values of settings ensure a minimal "security by default", we strongly recommend you to tune them. By doing so you will be able to ensure a security level of your choice but also manage false positives.

You will find more information in the security tuning section of the documentation.

Settings

To help you tuning BunkerWeb we have made an easy to use settings generator tool available at config.bunkerweb.io.

As a general rule when multisite mode is enabled, if you want to apply settings with multisite context to a specific server you will need to add the primary (first) server name as a prefix like www.example.com_USE_ANTIBOT=captcha or myapp.example.com_USE_GZIP=yes for example.

When settings are considered as "multiple", it means that you can have multiple groups of settings for the same feature by adding numbers as suffix like REVERSE_PROXY_URL_1=/subdir, REVERSE_PROXY_HOST_1=http://myhost1, REVERSE_PROXY_URL_2=/anotherdir, REVERSE_PROXY_HOST_2=http://myhost2, ... for example.

Check the settings section of the documentation to get the full list.

Web UI

The "Web UI" is a web application that helps you manage your BunkerWeb instance using a user-friendly interface instead of the command-line one.

• Start, stop, restart and reload your BunkerWeb instance
• Add, edit and delete settings for your web applications
• Add, edit and delete custom configurations for NGINX and ModSecurity
• Install and uninstall external plugins
• Explore the cached files
• Monitor jobs execution
• View the logs and search pattern

You will find more information in the Web UI section of the documentation.

Plugins

BunkerWeb comes with a plugin system to make it possible to easily add new features. Once a plugin is installed, you can manage it using additional settings defined by the plugin.

Here is the list of "official" plugins that we maintain (see the bunkerweb-plugins repository for more information) :

You will find more information in the plugins section of the documentation.

Support

Professional

Get technical support directly from the BunkerWeb maintainers. You will find more information by visiting the BunkerWeb Panel, our dedicated platform for professional services.

Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any question, we will be more than happy to respond to your needs.

Community

To get free community support you can use the following media :

• The #help channel of BunkerWeb in the Discord server
• The help category of GitHub discussions
• The /r/BunkerWeb subreddit
• The Server Fault and Super User forums

Please don't use GitHub issues to ask for help, use it only for bug reports and feature requests.

License

This project is licensed under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) version 3.

Contribute

If you would like to contribute to the plugins you can read the contributing guidelines to get started.

Security policy

We take security bugs as serious issues and encourage responsible disclosure, see our security policy for more information.

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