From 39f1c8825558df23ca4795429c91284ed3dc7ded Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: John O'Keefe <jrokeefe@protonmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2026 22:48:48 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix(ratelimit): split global and login budgets so storms
 can't lock out login
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One shared 100 req / 10 min limiter counted everything —
401s, CORS preflights, even /health — so a bad-token burst
from a second frontend burned the budget and 429'd POST
/api/auth/login too, leaving no way back in short of
waiting out the window or restarting (MemoryStore reset).

New middleware/rateLimit.js holds two limiters, verified
against express-rate-limit@5.5.1:

- apiLimiter (300 / 15 min) skips OPTIONS, /health, and the
  public auth endpoints, so preflights, probes, and login
  attempts never drain real API budget.
- authLimiter (20 / 15 min, successful logins free) guards
  register/login/forgotpassword/resetpassword against
  brute force. 429 there means 20 wrong passwords, never
  a busy API.

Storm-tested with live server: 320 bad-token hits burn the
global budget yet login still returns 200; 25 bad logins
trip only the login limiter while API traffic is untouched.
---
 app.js                  |  9 ++-------
 middleware/rateLimit.js | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 routes/auth.js          |  9 +++++----
 3 files changed, 44 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 middleware/rateLimit.js

diff --git a/app.js b/app.js
index 50dc932..b0f827a 100644
--- a/app.js
+++ b/app.js
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@ import helmet from 'helmet'
 import cookieParser from 'cookie-parser'
 import mongoSanitize from 'express-mongo-sanitize'
 import xss from 'xss-clean'
-import rateLimit from 'express-rate-limit'
 import hpp from 'hpp'
 import morgan from 'morgan'
 import errorHandler from './middleware/error.js'
+import { apiLimiter } from './middleware/rateLimit.js'
 
 
 
@@ -36,12 +36,7 @@ const corsOptions = {
   },
 }
 
-const limiter = rateLimit({
-  windowMs: 10 * 60 * 1000, // 10 minutes
-  max: 100
-})
-
-app.use(express.json(), cookieParser(), morgan('dev'), mongoSanitize(), helmet(), xss(), limiter, hpp(), cors())
+app.use(express.json(), cookieParser(), morgan('dev'), mongoSanitize(), helmet(), xss(), apiLimiter, hpp(), cors())
 
 app.get('/health', (req, res) => res.status(200).json({ status: 'ok' }))
 
diff --git a/middleware/rateLimit.js b/middleware/rateLimit.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62561cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/middleware/rateLimit.js
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import rateLimit from 'express-rate-limit'
+
+// Public auth endpoints get their own brute-force budget (see authLimiter)
+// and must not consume the shared API budget, otherwise a bad-token storm
+// can lock the owner out of logging back in.
+const PUBLIC_AUTH_PATHS = [
+  '/api/auth/login',
+  '/api/auth/register',
+  '/api/auth/forgotpassword',
+  '/api/auth/resetpassword',
+]
+
+// Shared budget for real API traffic. Counts failures too (cheap 401s, no DB
+// hit), but skips CORS preflights, the health probe, and the public auth
+// endpoints above so junk traffic and login attempts can't drain it.
+export const apiLimiter = rateLimit({
+  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes
+  max: 300,
+  skip: (req) =>
+    req.method === 'OPTIONS' ||
+    req.path === '/health' ||
+    PUBLIC_AUTH_PATHS.some((p) => req.path.startsWith(p)),
+})
+
+// Strict budget for the login door only. Successful logins are free
+// (skipSuccessfulRequests), so normal use never notices it — only repeated
+// failed attempts burn budget. 429 here means "wrong password 20 times in
+// 15 minutes", never "the API was busy".
+export const authLimiter = rateLimit({
+  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes
+  max: 20,
+  skipSuccessfulRequests: true,
+  message: {
+    success: false,
+    error: 'Too many login attempts, please try again later.',
+  },
+})
diff --git a/routes/auth.js b/routes/auth.js
index a2e2866..366b9bd 100644
--- a/routes/auth.js
+++ b/routes/auth.js
@@ -4,14 +4,15 @@ import express from 'express'
 const router = express.Router()
 import { register, login, getMe, forgotPassword, resetPassword, updateDetails, updatePassword, logout } from '../controllers/auth.js'
 import { protect } from '../middleware/auth.js'
+import { authLimiter } from '../middleware/rateLimit.js'
 
-router.post('/register', register)
-router.post('/login', login)
+router.post('/register', authLimiter, register)
+router.post('/login', authLimiter, login)
 router.get('/logout', logout)
 router.get('/me', protect, getMe)
 router.put('/updatedetails', protect, updateDetails)
-router.post('/forgotpassword', forgotPassword)
-router.put('/resetpassword/:resettoken', resetPassword)
+router.post('/forgotpassword', authLimiter, forgotPassword)
+router.put('/resetpassword/:resettoken', authLimiter, resetPassword)
 router.put('/updatepassword', protect, updatePassword)
 
 export default router