Save initial signup information for users to aid in spam prevention (#31852)

This will allow instance admins to view signup pattern patterns for
public instances. It is modelled after discourse, mastodon, and
MediaWiki's approaches.

Note: This has privacy implications, but as the above-stated open-source
projects take this approach, especially MediaWiki, which I have no doubt
looked into this thoroughly, it is likely okay for us, too. However, I
would be appreciative of any feedback on how this could be improved.

---------

Co-authored-by: Giteabot <teabot@gitea.io>

cmd/admin_user_create.go

@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ func runCreateUser(c *cli.Context) error {
 		IsRestricted: restricted,
 	}
 
-	if err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, u, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
+	if err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, u, &user_model.Meta{}, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("CreateUser: %w", err)
 	}
 

custom/conf/app.example.ini

@@ -507,6 +507,9 @@ INTERNAL_TOKEN =
 ;; stemming from cached/logged plain-text API tokens.
 ;; In future releases, this will become the default behavior
 ;DISABLE_QUERY_AUTH_TOKEN = false
+;;
+;; On user registration, record the IP address and user agent of the user to help identify potential abuse.
+;; RECORD_USER_SIGNUP_METADATA = false
 
 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

models/user/setting_keys.go

@@ -14,4 +14,8 @@ const (
 	UserActivityPubPrivPem = "activitypub.priv_pem"
 	// UserActivityPubPubPem is user's public key
 	UserActivityPubPubPem = "activitypub.pub_pem"
+	// SignupIP is the IP address that the user signed up with
+	SignupIP = "signup.ip"
+	// SignupUserAgent is the user agent that the user signed up with
+	SignupUserAgent = "signup.user_agent"
 )

models/user/user.go

@@ -150,6 +150,14 @@ type User struct {
 	KeepActivityPrivate bool   `xorm:"NOT NULL DEFAULT false"`
 }
 
+// Meta defines the meta information of a user, to be stored in the K/V table
+type Meta struct {
+	// Store the initial registration of the user, to aid in spam prevention
+	// Ensure that one IP isn't creating many accounts (following mediawiki approach)
+	InitialIP        string
+	InitialUserAgent string
+}
+
 func init() {
 	db.RegisterModel(new(User))
 }
@@ -615,17 +623,17 @@ type CreateUserOverwriteOptions struct {
 }
 
 // CreateUser creates record of a new user.
-func CreateUser(ctx context.Context, u *User, overwriteDefault ...*CreateUserOverwriteOptions) (err error) {
-	return createUser(ctx, u, false, overwriteDefault...)
+func CreateUser(ctx context.Context, u *User, meta *Meta, overwriteDefault ...*CreateUserOverwriteOptions) (err error) {
+	return createUser(ctx, u, meta, false, overwriteDefault...)
 }
 
 // AdminCreateUser is used by admins to manually create users
-func AdminCreateUser(ctx context.Context, u *User, overwriteDefault ...*CreateUserOverwriteOptions) (err error) {
-	return createUser(ctx, u, true, overwriteDefault...)
+func AdminCreateUser(ctx context.Context, u *User, meta *Meta, overwriteDefault ...*CreateUserOverwriteOptions) (err error) {
+	return createUser(ctx, u, meta, true, overwriteDefault...)
 }
 
 // createUser creates record of a new user.
-func createUser(ctx context.Context, u *User, createdByAdmin bool, overwriteDefault ...*CreateUserOverwriteOptions) (err error) {
+func createUser(ctx context.Context, u *User, meta *Meta, createdByAdmin bool, overwriteDefault ...*CreateUserOverwriteOptions) (err error) {
 	if err = IsUsableUsername(u.Name); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -745,6 +753,22 @@ func createUser(ctx context.Context, u *User, createdByAdmin bool, overwriteDefa
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if setting.RecordUserSignupMetadata {
+		// insert initial IP and UserAgent
+		if err = SetUserSetting(ctx, u.ID, SignupIP, meta.InitialIP); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		// trim user agent string to a reasonable length, if necessary
+		userAgent := strings.TrimSpace(meta.InitialUserAgent)
+		if len(userAgent) > 255 {
+			userAgent = userAgent[:255]
+		}
+		if err = SetUserSetting(ctx, u.ID, SignupUserAgent, userAgent); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	// insert email address
 	if err := db.Insert(ctx, &EmailAddress{
 		UID:         u.ID,

models/user/user_test.go

@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ func TestCreateUserInvalidEmail(t *testing.T) {
 		MustChangePassword: false,
 	}
 
-	err := user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, user)
+	err := user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, user, &user_model.Meta{})
 	assert.Error(t, err)
 	assert.True(t, user_model.IsErrEmailCharIsNotSupported(err))
 }
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ func TestCreateUserEmailAlreadyUsed(t *testing.T) {
 	user.Name = "testuser"
 	user.LowerName = strings.ToLower(user.Name)
 	user.ID = 0
-	err := user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, user)
+	err := user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, user, &user_model.Meta{})
 	assert.Error(t, err)
 	assert.True(t, user_model.IsErrEmailAlreadyUsed(err))
 }
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ func TestCreateUserCustomTimestamps(t *testing.T) {
 	user.ID = 0
 	user.Email = "unique@example.com"
 	user.CreatedUnix = creationTimestamp
-	err := user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, user)
+	err := user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, user, &user_model.Meta{})
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 
 	fetched, err := user_model.GetUserByID(context.Background(), user.ID)
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ func TestCreateUserWithoutCustomTimestamps(t *testing.T) {
 	user.Email = "unique@example.com"
 	user.CreatedUnix = 0
 	user.UpdatedUnix = 0
-	err := user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, user)
+	err := user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, user, &user_model.Meta{})
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 
 	timestampEnd := time.Now().Unix()

modules/setting/security.go

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ var (
 	DisableQueryAuthToken              bool
 	CSRFCookieName                     = "_csrf"
 	CSRFCookieHTTPOnly                 = true
+	RecordUserSignupMetadata           = false
 )
 
 // loadSecret load the secret from ini by uriKey or verbatimKey, only one of them could be set
@@ -164,6 +165,8 @@ func loadSecurityFrom(rootCfg ConfigProvider) {
 	// TODO: default value should be true in future releases
 	DisableQueryAuthToken = sec.Key("DISABLE_QUERY_AUTH_TOKEN").MustBool(false)
 
+	RecordUserSignupMetadata = sec.Key("RECORD_USER_SIGNUP_METADATA").MustBool(false)
+
 	// warn if the setting is set to false explicitly
 	if sectionHasDisableQueryAuthToken && !DisableQueryAuthToken {
 		log.Warn("Enabling Query API Auth tokens is not recommended. DISABLE_QUERY_AUTH_TOKEN will default to true in gitea 1.23 and will be removed in gitea 1.24.")

routers/api/v1/admin/user.go

@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ func CreateUser(ctx *context.APIContext) {
 		u.UpdatedUnix = u.CreatedUnix
 	}
 
-	if err := user_model.AdminCreateUser(ctx, u, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
+	if err := user_model.AdminCreateUser(ctx, u, &user_model.Meta{}, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
 		if user_model.IsErrUserAlreadyExist(err) ||
 			user_model.IsErrEmailAlreadyUsed(err) ||
 			db.IsErrNameReserved(err) ||

routers/install/install.go

@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ func SubmitInstall(ctx *context.Context) {
 			IsActive:     optional.Some(true),
 		}
 
-		if err = user_model.CreateUser(ctx, u, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
+		if err = user_model.CreateUser(ctx, u, &user_model.Meta{}, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
 			if !user_model.IsErrUserAlreadyExist(err) {
 				setting.InstallLock = false
 				ctx.Data["Err_AdminName"] = true

routers/web/admin/users.go

@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ func NewUserPost(ctx *context.Context) {
 		u.MustChangePassword = form.MustChangePassword
 	}
 
-	if err := user_model.AdminCreateUser(ctx, u, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
+	if err := user_model.AdminCreateUser(ctx, u, &user_model.Meta{}, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
 		switch {
 		case user_model.IsErrUserAlreadyExist(err):
 			ctx.Data["Err_UserName"] = true

routers/web/auth/auth.go

@@ -541,7 +541,11 @@ func createAndHandleCreatedUser(ctx *context.Context, tpl base.TplName, form any
 // createUserInContext creates a user and handles errors within a given context.
 // Optionally a template can be specified.
 func createUserInContext(ctx *context.Context, tpl base.TplName, form any, u *user_model.User, overwrites *user_model.CreateUserOverwriteOptions, gothUser *goth.User, allowLink bool) (ok bool) {
-	if err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, u, overwrites); err != nil {
+	meta := &user_model.Meta{
+		InitialIP:        ctx.RemoteAddr(),
+		InitialUserAgent: ctx.Req.UserAgent(),
+	}
+	if err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, u, meta, overwrites); err != nil {
 		if allowLink && (user_model.IsErrUserAlreadyExist(err) || user_model.IsErrEmailAlreadyUsed(err)) {
 			if setting.OAuth2Client.AccountLinking == setting.OAuth2AccountLinkingAuto {
 				var user *user_model.User

services/auth/reverseproxy.go

@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ func (r *ReverseProxy) newUser(req *http.Request) *user_model.User {
 		IsActive: optional.Some(true),
 	}
 
-	if err := user_model.CreateUser(req.Context(), user, &overwriteDefault); err != nil {
+	if err := user_model.CreateUser(req.Context(), user, &user_model.Meta{}, &overwriteDefault); err != nil {
 		// FIXME: should I create a system notice?
 		log.Error("CreateUser: %v", err)
 		return nil

services/auth/source/ldap/source_authenticate.go

@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func (source *Source) Authenticate(ctx context.Context, user *user_model.User, u
 			IsActive:     optional.Some(true),
 		}
 
-		err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, user, overwriteDefault)
+		err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, user, &user_model.Meta{}, overwriteDefault)
 		if err != nil {
 			return user, err
 		}

services/auth/source/ldap/source_sync.go

@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ func (source *Source) Sync(ctx context.Context, updateExisting bool) error {
 				IsActive:     optional.Some(true),
 			}
 
-			err = user_model.CreateUser(ctx, usr, overwriteDefault)
+			err = user_model.CreateUser(ctx, usr, &user_model.Meta{}, overwriteDefault)
 			if err != nil {
 				log.Error("SyncExternalUsers[%s]: Error creating user %s: %v", source.authSource.Name, su.Username, err)
 			}

services/auth/source/oauth2/source_sync_test.go

@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func TestSource(t *testing.T) {
 		Email:       "external@example.com",
 	}
 
-	err := user_model.CreateUser(context.Background(), user, &user_model.CreateUserOverwriteOptions{})
+	err := user_model.CreateUser(context.Background(), user, &user_model.Meta{}, &user_model.CreateUserOverwriteOptions{})
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 
 	e := &user_model.ExternalLoginUser{

services/auth/source/pam/source_authenticate.go

@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func (source *Source) Authenticate(ctx context.Context, user *user_model.User, u
 		IsActive: optional.Some(true),
 	}
 
-	if err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, user, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
+	if err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, user, &user_model.Meta{}, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
 		return user, err
 	}
 

services/auth/source/smtp/source_authenticate.go

@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ func (source *Source) Authenticate(ctx context.Context, user *user_model.User, u
 		IsActive: optional.Some(true),
 	}
 
-	if err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, user, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
+	if err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, user, &user_model.Meta{}, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
 		return user, err
 	}
 

services/auth/sspi.go

@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ func (s *SSPI) newUser(ctx context.Context, username string, cfg *sspi.Source) (
 		KeepEmailPrivate:             optional.Some(true),
 		EmailNotificationsPreference: &emailNotificationPreference,
 	}
-	if err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, user, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
+	if err := user_model.CreateUser(ctx, user, &user_model.Meta{}, overwriteDefault); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 

services/user/user_test.go

@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func TestCreateUser(t *testing.T) {
 		MustChangePassword: false,
 	}
 
-	assert.NoError(t, user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, user))
+	assert.NoError(t, user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, user, &user_model.Meta{}))
 
 	assert.NoError(t, DeleteUser(db.DefaultContext, user, false))
 }
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ func TestCreateUser_Issue5882(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, v := range tt {
 		setting.Admin.DisableRegularOrgCreation = v.disableOrgCreation
 
-		assert.NoError(t, user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, v.user))
+		assert.NoError(t, user_model.CreateUser(db.DefaultContext, v.user, &user_model.Meta{}))
 
 		u, err := user_model.GetUserByEmail(db.DefaultContext, v.user.Email)
 		assert.NoError(t, err)