Laravel Proxy
A Laravel package for configuring trusted proxies to ensure correct URL generation, redirects, and sessions behind load balancers.
What is Laravel Proxy?
Laravel Trusted Proxy is a PHP package that configures Laravel applications to correctly interpret HTTP requests when behind reverse proxies like load balancers or CDNs. It solves the problem of applications misidentifying client details (e.g., using proxy IPs instead of real client IPs) by properly trusting and reading X-Forwarded headers. This ensures accurate URL generation, redirects, sessions, and logging in production setups.
Laravel developers deploying applications behind load balancers, reverse proxies, or caching services (e.g., AWS ELB/ALB, Nginx, CloudFlare) who need correct client information handling.
Developers choose this package because it provides a simple, standardized way to configure trusted proxies in Laravel, eliminating common issues with URL generation and session handling in proxied environments. Its integration with Laravel's request handling and Symfony HTTP components offers reliability and security by allowing precise control over which proxies are trusted.
Overview
Laravel Proxy Package for handling sessions when behind load balancers or other intermediaries.
Use Cases
Best For
- Laravel applications deployed behind AWS Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) or Application Load Balancer (ALB)
- Ensuring correct HTTPS URL generation when load balancers terminate SSL and forward HTTP to backend servers
- Maintaining accurate client IP addresses for logging and session management in proxied setups
- Configuring trusted proxies for applications using CDNs like CloudFlare or caching layers like Varnish
- Handling X-Forwarded headers securely to prevent spoofing in production environments
- Simplifying proxy configuration for Laravel apps without manual Symfony HTTP kernel adjustments
Not Ideal For
- Laravel 9.x and newer applications where built-in proxy handling is available and this package is deprecated
- Projects not deployed behind any reverse proxy or load balancer, as it adds unnecessary configuration complexity
- Applications requiring custom or non-standard proxy header handling beyond X-Forwarded headers, such as proprietary CDN setups
Pros & Cons
Pros
Simplifies setting trusted proxy IPs in Laravel, avoiding manual adjustments to Symfony HTTP classes as described in the README, making it accessible for common deployment scenarios.
Ensures correct URL generation, redirects, and session handling by reading X-Forwarded headers from trusted proxies, critical for load-balanced setups like AWS ELB where SSL termination occurs.
Allows trust configuration for specific proxies, reducing the risk of header spoofing compared to trusting all proxies indiscriminately, as highlighted in the security awareness feature.
Supports common proxies like Nginx, HAProxy, AWS ELB/ALB, and CloudFlare, with a wiki listing IP addresses for popular services, making it versatile for production environments.
Cons
Not needed for Laravel 9.x and above, as built-in functionality exists; using it can lead to conflicts or redundancy, and the README explicitly advises against it for Laravel 9.x.
For services like AWS ELB with unknown IPs, you must trust all proxies, which the README notes increases vulnerability to spoofed headers, a significant trade-off in security.
Specifically tailored for Laravel, so it's useless for applications built on other PHP frameworks or custom codebases, limiting its utility in mixed-technology stacks.
Frequently Asked Questions
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