gitlab-org--gitlab-foss/doc/security/rate_limits.md

---
stage: Manage
group: Authentication and Authorization
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
type: reference, howto
---

# Rate limits **(FREE SELF)**

NOTE:
For GitLab.com, please see
[GitLab.com-specific rate limits](../user/gitlab_com/index.md#gitlabcom-specific-rate-limits).

Rate limiting is a common technique used to improve the security and durability
of a web application.

For example, a simple script can make thousands of web requests per second. The requests could be:

- Malicious.
- Apathetic.
- Just a bug.

Your application and infrastructure may not be able to cope with the load. For more details, see
[Denial-of-service attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack).
Most cases can be mitigated by limiting the rate of requests from a single IP address.

Most [brute-force attacks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brute-force_attack) are
similarly mitigated by a rate limit.

## Configurable limits

You can set these rate limits in the Admin Area of your instance:

- [Import/Export rate limits](../user/admin_area/settings/import_export_rate_limits.md)
- [Issues rate limits](../user/admin_area/settings/rate_limit_on_issues_creation.md)
- [Notes rate limits](../user/admin_area/settings/rate_limit_on_notes_creation.md)
- [Protected paths](../user/admin_area/settings/protected_paths.md)
- [Raw endpoints rate limits](../user/admin_area/settings/rate_limits_on_raw_endpoints.md)
- [User and IP rate limits](../user/admin_area/settings/user_and_ip_rate_limits.md)
- [Package registry rate limits](../user/admin_area/settings/package_registry_rate_limits.md)
- [Git LFS rate limits](../user/admin_area/settings/git_lfs_rate_limits.md)
- [Files API rate limits](../user/admin_area/settings/files_api_rate_limits.md)
- [Deprecated API rate limits](../user/admin_area/settings/deprecated_api_rate_limits.md)
- [GitLab Pages rate limits](../administration/pages/index.md#rate-limits)

You can set these rate limits using the Rails console:

- [Webhook rate limit](../administration/instance_limits.md#webhook-rate-limit)

## Failed authentication ban for Git and container registry

GitLab returns HTTP status code `403` for 1 hour, if 30 failed authentication requests were received
in a 3-minute period from a single IP address. This applies only to combined:

- Git requests.
- Container registry (`/jwt/auth`) requests.

This limit:

- Is reset by requests that authenticate successfully. For example, 29 failed authentication
  requests followed by 1 successful request, followed by 29 more failed authentication requests
  would not trigger a ban.
- Does not apply to JWT requests authenticated by `gitlab-ci-token`.
- Is disabled by default.

No response headers are provided.

For configuration information, see
[Omnibus GitLab configuration options](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/configuration.html#configure-a-failed-authentication-ban).

## Non-configurable limits

### Git operations using SSH

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/78373) in GitLab 14.7.
> - [Enabled on GitLab.com and self-managed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/79419) in GitLab 14.8.

GitLab rate limits Git operations using SSH by user account and project. If a request from a user for a Git operation
on a project exceeds the rate limit, GitLab drops further connection requests from that user for the project.

The rate limit applies at the Git command ([plumbing](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Plumbing-and-Porcelain)) level.
Each command has a rate limit of 600 per minute. For example:

- `git push` has a rate limit of 600 per minute.
- `git pull` has its own rate limit of 600 per minute.

Because the same commands are shared by `git-upload-pack`, `git pull`, and `git clone`, they share a rate limit.

The requests/minute threshold for this rate limit is not configurable. Self-managed customers can disable this
rate limit by [disabling the feature flag](../administration/feature_flags.md#enable-or-disable-the-feature)
with `Feature.disable(:rate_limit_gitlab_shell)`.

### Repository archives

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/25750) in GitLab 12.9.

A rate limit for [downloading repository archives](../api/repositories.md#get-file-archive) is
available. The limit applies to the project and to the user initiating the download either through
the UI or the API.

The **rate limit** is 5 requests per minute per user.

### Webhook Testing

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/commit/35bc85c3ca093fee58d60dacdc9ed1fd9a15adec) in GitLab 13.4.

There is a rate limit for [testing webhooks](../user/project/integrations/webhooks.md#test-a-webhook), which prevents abuse of the webhook functionality.

The **rate limit** is 5 requests per minute per user.

### Users sign up

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/339151) in GitLab 14.7.

There is a rate limit per IP address on the `/users/sign_up` endpoint. This is to mitigate attempts to misuse the endpoint. For example, to mass
discover usernames or email addresses in use.

The **rate limit** is 20 calls per minute per IP address.

### Update username

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/339152) in GitLab 14.7.

There is a rate limit on how frequently a username can be changed. This is enforced to mitigate misuse of the feature. For example, to mass discover
which usernames are in use.

The **rate limit** is 10 calls per minute per signed-in user.

### Username exists

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/29040) in GitLab 14.7.

There is a rate limit for the internal endpoint `/users/:username/exists`, used upon sign up to check if a chosen username has already been taken.
This is to mitigate the risk of misuses, such as mass discovery of usernames in use.

The **rate limit** is 20 calls per minute per IP address.

## Troubleshooting

### Rack Attack is denylisting the load balancer

Rack Attack may block your load balancer if all traffic appears to come from
the load balancer. In that case, you must:

1. [Configure `nginx[real_ip_trusted_addresses]`](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/nginx.html#configuring-gitlab-trusted_proxies-and-the-nginx-real_ip-module).
   This keeps users' IPs from being listed as the load balancer IPs.
1. Allowlist the load balancer's IP addresses.
1. Reconfigure GitLab:

   ```shell
   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   ```

### Remove blocked IPs from Rack Attack with Redis

To remove a blocked IP:

1. Find the IPs that have been blocked in the production log:

   ```shell
   grep "Rack_Attack" /var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/auth.log
   ```

1. Since the denylist is stored in Redis, you must open up `redis-cli`:

   ```shell
   /opt/gitlab/embedded/bin/redis-cli -s /var/opt/gitlab/redis/redis.socket
   ```

1. You can remove the block using the following syntax, replacing `<ip>` with
   the actual IP that is denylisted:

   ```plaintext
   del cache:gitlab:rack::attack:allow2ban:ban:<ip>
   ```

1. Confirm that the key with the IP no longer shows up:

   ```plaintext
   keys *rack::attack*
   ```

  By default, the [`keys` command is disabled](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/redis.html#renamed-commands).

1. Optionally, add [the IP to the allowlist](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/configuration.html#configuring-rack-attack)
   to prevent it being denylisted again.