Prepare for 2.3.0

ChangeLog

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-vNEXT:
+v2.3.0:
 	Added `max_connections` setting to `listen` and
 	`protocol` configuration; see the
 	[guide](doc/max_connections.md) for more
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ vNEXT:
 
 	accept() is now disabled for some time when ulimit -n is reached.
 
-	Support proxyprotocol on incoming connections.
+	Support proxyprotocol on incoming connections. See
+	the [guide](doc/proxyprotocol.md) for information.
 
 	Fix proxyprotocol target field (Thanks to Github user 404-Not-Found)
 

doc/podman.md

@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ olegstepura](https://github.com/yrutschle/sslh/issues/448)
       # ... (make sure to mount config as you like)
     command: --transparent -F/etc/sslh/sslh.cfg # parameter --transparent here is needed to trigger configure_iptables in init script
    state: started
+   # ⚠️ Important: Never add a `network:` here, otherwise this setup will NOT work.
+   # Adding a network disconnects the sslh container from the pod's shared localhost.
 
 - name: "Create the caddy container"
   containers.podman.podman_container:
@@ -95,26 +97,60 @@ protocols:
 );
 ```
 
-I omitted caddy configs here as it's not important. Some unrelated container configs were also dropped.
+I omitted Caddy configs here since they're irrelevant, and some unrelated container configs were also dropped for clarity.
-In the example above `sslh`, `caddy` and `ssh-proxy` are 3 containers in the same pod, all listening on `localhost`. SSLH has to listen on `444` because caddy already listens on `443` and it's more complex to reconfigure caddy port because of let's encrypt (caddy itself "thinks" it is bound to your host interface).
 
-Scheme of port mapping is (all containers share same `localhost`):
+In the example above, `sslh`, `caddy`, and `ssh-proxy` are **three containers inside the same Podman pod**, all sharing the same **pod-local `localhost`**.  
+
+`sslh` listens on port **444** instead of **443**, because `caddy` already binds to port `443`, and reconfiguring Caddy is more complex due to its Let's Encrypt integration (Caddy itself "thinks" it’s bound to your host interface).  
+
+#### Port mapping scheme  
+All containers **share the same `localhost`** inside the pod:  
 ```
 host 443 → pod 444 (sslh) → pod 443 (caddy)
 ```
-- podman connects host `443` port to pod's `444` port
-- `sslh` listens `444` on `localhost`, reroutes tls to `caddy` on `localhost:443`
-- `caddy` listens `443` on `localhost` (reverse-proxies to other apps on private network)
-Reverse-proxied services get correct IP in `X-Forwarded-For` header.
 
-Takeaways:
-- `net.ipv4.conf.default.route_localnet` is setup only in container, not on host, which is nice.
-- same with iptables and route rules applied by `init` script in sslh container
-- `sslh` proxy to other services in the private network will not work (because transparent mode is enabled) even if that other service does not need real IP
-	- with transparent mode all services that `sslh` will connect to should be attached to this pod making it listen on `localhost` of the pod
-	- ports of containers should not clash
-	- ports should be published on pod level, not on containers
-	- containers should not be configured to connect to custom networks
-- because of the above proxying ssh to host will also not work out of the box, `sslh` should connect to `localhost` and not to a random IP. While adding another proxy as a container to the same pod sounds like an overkill I don't see any other solution, so `socat` is used as an additional proxy.
-- `reverse_proxy` by caddy to other containers in the same custom network (as pod is attached to) works (e.g. caddy can connect to other IPs from custom network). `socat` can also connect to host and/or other containers in custom network.
 
+- **Podman** maps the host’s `443` → pod’s `444`.  
+- **SSHL** listens on `localhost:444` inside the pod and forwards TLS traffic to `caddy` on `localhost:443`.  
+- **Caddy** listens on `localhost:443` and reverse-proxies to other services in the private network.  
+
+This ensures that **reverse-proxied services** receive the correct client IP in the `X-Forwarded-For` header.
+
+---
+
+### Important note  
+
+⚠️ Do **not** set a `network:` parameter for the `sslh` container when it belongs to a Podman pod.  
+Setting a custom network **forces Podman to detach the container from the pod’s shared network namespace** and creates a **separate `localhost`** for that container, breaking transparent routing.
+
+For example:  
+
+```yaml
+command: --transparent -F/etc/sslh/sslh.cfg # parameter --transparent here is needed to trigger configure_iptables in init script
+state: started
+# ⚠️ Never add a `network:` here!
+# Adding a network disconnects the sslh container from the pod's shared localhost,
+# causing transparent routing to fail.
+```
+
+### Key takeaways  
+
+- `net.ipv4.conf.default.route_localnet` and iptables rules are applied **inside the `sslh` container only**, not on the host.  
+- The `sslh` **init** script manages all required `iptables` and routing rules inside of the container.  
+- **Transparent mode restrictions**:
+    - Any service `sslh` proxies traffic to **must** be inside the same pod and bound to its **pod-local `localhost`**.
+    - Container ports must not conflict within the pod.
+    - Ports should be published **at the pod level**, **not per-container**.
+    - Containers inside this pod **must not** be attached to any custom networks.
+- Because of transparent routing, `sslh` cannot directly proxy SSH to the host IP.  
+  A workaround is to run a lightweight **socat** container in the same pod:  
+  `TCP-LISTEN:222 → TCP:host.containers.internal:22`
+- Caddy’s `reverse_proxy` **to other containers** in the **custom network attached to the pod** still works properly.
+- `socat` can also connect to both the **host** and **other containers** inside the custom network without issues.
+
+### Tested setup
+
+- Confirmed working on **Debian Trixie**  
+- Using **Podman 5.4.2**  
+- Pinned `podman` and related dependencies (`conmon`, `slirp4netns`, `aardvark-dns`, etc.) from **Debian testing**,  
+  since **stable** often ships outdated versions that can break this setup.

echosrv-conf.c

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* Generated by conf2struct (https://www.rutschle.net/tech/conf2struct/README)
- * on Fri Aug 29 20:43:29 2025. 
+ * on Wed Sep 10 15:49:49 2025. 
 
 # conf2struct: generate libconf parsers that read to structs
 # Copyright (C) 2018-2024  Yves Rutschle

echosrv-conf.h

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* Generated by conf2struct (https://www.rutschle.net/tech/conf2struct/README)
- * on Fri Aug 29 20:43:29 2025. 
+ * on Wed Sep 10 15:49:49 2025. 
 
 # conf2struct: generate libconf parsers that read to structs
 # Copyright (C) 2018-2024  Yves Rutschle

example.cfg

@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ syslog_facility: "auth";
 # is_unix: listen in the UNIX socket domain (default is TCP)
 # keepalive: set TCP_KEEPALIVE
 # max_connections: drop incoming connections after this count
+# proxyprotocol: [true|false]: this endpoint expects
+#   proxyprotocol headers on incoming connections. Refer to
+#   doc/proxyprotocol.md
 listen:
 (
     { host: "thelonious"; port: "443"; max_connections: 5; },

hash.c

@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ static int distance(int current_index, hash* h, hash_item item)
         return current_index - wanted_index + h->hash_size;
 }
 
+int hash_insertable(hash* h)
+{
+    return (h->item_cnt < h->hash_size);
+}
 
 int hash_insert(hash* h, hash_item new)
 {

hash.h

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ typedef int (*hash_cmp_item_fn)(hash_item item1, hash_item item2);
 
 hash* hash_init(int hash_size, hash_make_key_fn make_key, hash_cmp_item_fn cmp_item);
 
+int hash_insertable(hash* h); /* Is it possible to insert: any space left? */
 int hash_insert(hash* h, hash_item new);
 int hash_remove(hash* h, hash_item item);
 

probe.c

@@ -162,8 +162,6 @@ static int is_openvpn_protocol (const char*p,ssize_t len, struct sslhcfg_protoco
         if (len < 1)
             return PROBE_NEXT;
 
-        printf("opcode: %d\n", (p[0] & OVPN_OPCODE_MASK) >> 3);
-
         if ((p[0] & OVPN_OPCODE_MASK) != OVPN_CONTROL_HARD_RESET_CLIENT_V1 &&
             (p[0] & OVPN_OPCODE_MASK) != OVPN_CONTROL_HARD_RESET_CLIENT_V2 &&
             (p[0] & OVPN_OPCODE_MASK) != OVPN_CONTROL_HARD_RESET_CLIENT_V3

processes.c

@@ -46,9 +46,9 @@ int tidy_connection(struct connection *cnx, struct loop_info* fd_info)
             watchers_del_read(fd_info->watchers, cnx->q[i].fd);
             watchers_del_write(fd_info->watchers, cnx->q[i].fd);
             close(cnx->q[i].fd);
-            if (cnx->q[i].deferred_data)
-                free(cnx->q[i].deferred_data);
         }
+        if (cnx->q[i].begin_deferred_data)
+            free(cnx->q[i].begin_deferred_data);
     }
 
     if (cnx->type == SOCK_DGRAM)
@@ -152,6 +152,13 @@ void decrease_forked_connection(struct loop_info* loop, pid_t pid) {
 
 typedef struct pid2proto* hash_item;
 #include "hash.h"
+
+int has_space_to_fork(struct loop_info* fd_info)
+{
+    return hash_insertable(fd_info->pid2proto);
+}
+
+
 void remember_child_data(struct loop_info* fd_info,
                          struct connection* cnx, pid_t pid)
 {
@@ -160,7 +167,10 @@ void remember_child_data(struct loop_info* fd_info,
     pid2proto->proto = cnx->proto;
     pid2proto->endpoint = cnx->endpoint;
     if (hash_insert(fd_info->pid2proto, pid2proto)) {
-        /* TODO something if it fails */
+        print_message(msg_int_error, "hash_insert for pid %d failed\n", pid);
+        /* This should not happen as called is supposed to check that space is
+         * available in the hash */
+        exit(1);
     }
 }
 
@@ -168,8 +178,11 @@ static int max_forking_connections(void)
 {
     int max_cnx = 0;
     for (int i = 0; i < cfg.protocols_len; i++) {
-        if (cfg.protocols[i].fork)
+        if (cfg.protocols[i].fork) {
+            if (cfg.protocols[i].max_connections_is_present)
                 max_cnx += cfg.protocols[i].max_connections;
+            else max_cnx += 512; /* A magic number that's hopefully high enough */
+        }
     }
     return max_cnx;
 }

processes.h

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ void loop_init(struct loop_info* loop, int num_addr_listen);
 void remember_child_data(struct loop_info* fd_info, 
                          struct connection* cnx, pid_t pid);
 void decrease_forked_connection(struct loop_info* loop, pid_t pid);
+int has_space_to_fork(struct loop_info* loop);
 
 /* These must be declared in the loop handler, sslh-ev or sslh-select */
 void watchers_add_read(watchers* w, int fd);

sslh-conf.c

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* Generated by conf2struct (https://www.rutschle.net/tech/conf2struct/README)
- * on Fri Aug 29 20:43:29 2025. 
+ * on Wed Sep 10 15:49:49 2025. 
 
 # conf2struct: generate libconf parsers that read to structs
 # Copyright (C) 2018-2024  Yves Rutschle

sslh-conf.h

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* Generated by conf2struct (https://www.rutschle.net/tech/conf2struct/README)
- * on Fri Aug 29 20:43:29 2025. 
+ * on Wed Sep 10 15:49:49 2025. 
 
 # conf2struct: generate libconf parsers that read to structs
 # Copyright (C) 2018-2024  Yves Rutschle

sslh-select.c

@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ static void sigchld_process(struct loop_info* loop)
         received_sigchld = 0;
         do {
             chld = waitpid(-1, NULL, WNOHANG);
+            if ((chld == -1) && (errno == ECHILD)) return;
             CHECK_RES_RETURN(chld, "waitpid", );
             if (chld) {
                 decrease_forked_connection(loop, chld);
@@ -221,8 +222,9 @@ void main_loop(struct listen_endpoint listen_sockets[], int num_addr_listen)
                                           fd_info.watchers->max_fd, fd_info.num_probing);
         res = select(fd_info.watchers->max_fd, &readfds, &writefds,
                      NULL, fd_info.num_probing ? &tv : NULL);
-        if (res < 0)
+        if ((res == -1) && ((errno != EAGAIN) && (errno != EINTR)))
-            perror("select");
+            print_message(msg_system_error, "%s:%d:%d:%s\n", 
+                          __FILE__, __LINE__, errno, strerror(errno));  \
 
         /* Check main socket for new connections */
         for (i = 0; i < num_addr_listen; i++) {

tcp-listener.c

@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ struct connection* accept_new_connection(struct listen_endpoint* endpoint, struc
     print_message(msg_fd, "accepting from %d\n", listen_socket);
 
     in_socket = accept(listen_socket, 0, 0);
+    if ((in_socket == -1) && (errno == EAGAIN)) return NULL;   /* Do not log if we're just retring next iteration */
     CHECK_RES_RETURN(in_socket, "accept", NULL);
 
     res = set_nonblock(in_socket);
@@ -298,6 +299,12 @@ static void connect_proxy(struct connection *cnx)
 /* Forks a shoveler process for one protocol */
 void fork_shoveling_process(struct loop_info* fd_info, struct connection* cnx) {
     pid_t pid;
+
+    if (!has_space_to_fork(fd_info)) {
+        print_message(msg_connections_error, "forking for %s: out of hash space\n", cnx->proto->name);
+        return;
+    }
+
     switch (pid = fork()) {
     case 0:  /* child */
         /* TODO: close all file descriptors except 2 */
@@ -311,11 +318,6 @@ void fork_shoveling_process(struct loop_info* fd_info, struct connection* cnx) {
              watcher_sigchld(fd_info, cnx, pid);
              break;
     }
-    /* Free file descriptor (used only in child), but do not reduce connection
-     * counts */
-    cnx->proto = NULL;
-    cnx->endpoint = NULL;
-    tidy_connection(cnx, fd_info);
 }
 
 /* Process read activity on a socket in probe state 
@@ -349,6 +351,11 @@ void probing_read_process(struct connection* cnx,
         tidy_connection(cnx, fd_info);
     } else if (cnx->proto->fork) {
         fork_shoveling_process(fd_info, cnx);
+        /* Free file descriptor (used only in child), but do not reduce connection
+         * counts */
+        cnx->proto = NULL;
+        cnx->endpoint = NULL;
+        tidy_connection(cnx, fd_info);
     } else {
         connect_queue(cnx, fd_info);
     }

version.h

@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef VERSION_H 
-#define VERSION_H 
-
-#define VERSION "v2.2.4-52-geea50a9-dirty"
-#endif