How to Configure ModEvasive with Apache on Ubuntu Linux

Synopsis

Mod_evasive is an Apache module that can be used to protect against various kinds of attacks on the Apache web server including DDoS, DoS and brute force. Mod_evasive provide evasive action in the event of attacks and reports malicious activity via email and syslog. It works by inspecting incoming traffic to an apache web server using a dynamic hash table of IP addresses and URLs, then blocks traffic from IP addresses that exceed a predetermined threshold.

Here, we will going to explain how to install and use mod_evasive to protect apache web server.

System Requirements

Newly deployed Ubuntu 16.04 server.
Apache2 web server setup and configured.
A static IP address 192.168.1.10 is configured on your server.

Update the System

Before starting, it is recommended to update your system with the latest stable version with the following command:

 apt-get update -y 
 apt-get upgrade -y

Once your system is up-to-date, you can proceed to install mod_evasive.

Install mod_evasive

By default, mod_evasive is available in Ubuntu 16.04 package repository. You can easily install it with the following command:

 apt-get install libapache2-mod-evasive

Once mod_evasive is installed, you can verify it with the following command:

 apachectl -M | grep evasive

If everything is ok, you should see the following output:

 evasive20_module (shared)

Configure mod_evasive

Mod_evasive default configuration file is located at /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/evasive.conf. By default, mod_evasive configuration options are disable. You can enable it by editing evasive.conf file, then customize it as per your requirements.

 nano /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/evasive.conf

Change the file as shown below:

 <IfModule mod_evasive20.c> 
     DOSHashTableSize 3097 
     DOSPageCount 2 
     DOSSiteCount 50 
     DOSPageInterval 1 
     DOSSiteInterval 1 
     DOSBlockingPeriod 10 
     DOSEmailNotify [email protected] 
     DOSSystemCommand "su - someuser -c '/sbin/... %s ...'" 
     DOSLogDir "/var/log/mod_evasive" 
 </IfModule>

Save and close the file, then create a log directory for mod_evasive.

 mkdir /var/log/mod_evasive 
 chown -R www-data:www-data /var/log/mod_evasive

Finally, restart Apache service:

 systemctl restart apache2

The above settings are fully customizable and should be configured based on your server’s capabilities and expected traffic flows.as follows:

Explanation of each perameter is as follows:

DOSHashTableSize : Specifies how mod_evasive keeps track of who’s accessing what. Increasing the number improves performance, but also consumes more memory.
DOSPageCount : Specifies threshold for the number of requests for the same page per page interval.
DOSSiteCount : Specifies threshold for the total number of requests for any object by the same client on the same listener per site interval.
DOSPageInterval : The interval used in the page count threshold.
DOSSiteInterval : The interval used in the site count threshold.
DOSBlockingPeriod : Specifies the amount of time (in seconds) that an IP is blocked.
DOSEmailNotify : Specifies the notification email address if IP address becomes blacklisted.
DOSLogDir : Specifies the log directory.

Test mod_evasive

Once everything is configured properly, lets test to see whether the module is working correctly.

Here, we will use test.pl script written by mod_evasive developers to test mod_evasive.
This is a perl script located at /usr/share/doc/libapache2-mod-evasive/examples/test.pl.

Run the script with the following command:

 perl /usr/share/doc/libapache2-mod-evasive/examples/test.pl

If everything is fine, you should see the following output:

 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden 
 HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden

You can also check the mail log by running the following command:

 tail -f /var/mail/www-data

You should see that 127.0.0.1 is blacklist by mod_evasive:

 Message-Id: <E1cwkeH-0000WE-EQ@master> 
 From: www-data <www-data@node1>
 
 To: [email protected] 
 Subject: HTTP BLACKLIST 127.0.0.1
 
 mod_evasive HTTP Blacklisted 127.0.0.1
 
 --1491635945-eximdsn-1804289383--