What is the most accurate way to retrieve a user&#

Question

I know there are a plethora of $_SERVER variables headers available for IP address retrieval. I was wondering if there is a general consensus as to how to most accurately retrieve a user's real IP address (well knowing no method is perfect) using said variables?

I spent some time trying to find an in depth solution and came up with the following code based on a number of sources. I would love it if somebody could please poke holes in the answer or shed some light on something perhaps more accurate.

edit includes optimizations from @Alix

 /**
  * Retrieves the best guess of the client's actual IP address.
  * Takes into account numerous HTTP proxy headers due to variations
  * in how different ISPs handle IP addresses in headers between hops.
  */
 public function get_ip_address() {
  // Check for shared internet/ISP IP
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP']) && $this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP']))
   return $_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'];

  // Check for IPs passing through proxies
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'])) {
   // Check if multiple IP addresses exist in var
    $iplist = explode(',', $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']);
    foreach ($iplist as $ip) {
     if ($this->validate_ip($ip))
      return $ip;
    }
   }
  }
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED']) && $this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED']))
   return $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED'];
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP']) && $this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP']))
   return $_SERVER['HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP'];
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR']) && $this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR']))
   return $_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR'];
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED']) && $this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED']))
   return $_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED'];

  // Return unreliable IP address since all else failed
  return $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
 }

 /**
  * Ensures an IP address is both a valid IP address and does not fall within
  * a private network range.
  *
  * @access public
  * @param string $ip
  */
 public function validate_ip($ip) {
     if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, 
                         FILTER_FLAG_IPV4 | 
                         FILTER_FLAG_IPV6 |
                         FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE | 
                         FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE) === false)
         return false;
     self::$ip = $ip;
     return true;
 }

Words of Warning (update)

REMOTE_ADDR still represents the most reliable source of an IP address. The other $_SERVER variables mentioned here can be spoofed by a remote client very easily. The purpose of this solution is to attempt to determine the IP address of a client sitting behind a proxy. For your general purposes, you might consider using this in combination with the IP address returned directly from $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] and storing both.

For 99.9% of users this solution will suit your needs perfectly. It will not protect you from the 0.1% of malicious users looking to abuse your system by injecting their own request headers. If relying on IP addresses for something mission critical, resort to REMOTE_ADDR and don't bother catering to those behind a proxy.

Answer 1

My answer is basically just a polished, fully-validated, and fully-packaged, version of @AlixAxel's answer:

<?php

/* Get the 'best known' client IP. */

if (!function_exists('getClientIP'))
    {
        function getClientIP()
            {
                if (isset($_SERVER["HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP"])) 
                    {
                        $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] = $_SERVER["HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP"];
                    };

                foreach (array('HTTP_CLIENT_IP', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED', 'HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP', 'HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR', 'HTTP_FORWARDED', 'REMOTE_ADDR') as $key)
                    {
                        if (array_key_exists($key, $_SERVER)) 
                            {
                                foreach (explode(',', $_SERVER[$key]) as $ip)
                                    {
                                        $ip = trim($ip);

                                        if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE | FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE) !== false)
                                            {
                                                return $ip;
                                            };
                                    };
                            };
                    };

                return false;
            };
    };

$best_known_ip = getClientIP();

if(!empty($best_known_ip))
    {
        $ip = $clients_ip = $client_ip = $client_IP = $best_known_ip;
    }
else
    {
        $ip = $clients_ip = $client_ip = $client_IP = $best_known_ip = '';
    };

?>

Changes:

• It simplifies the function name (with 'camelCase' formatting style).

• It includes a check to make sure the function isn't already declared in another part of your code.

• It takes into account 'CloudFlare' compatibility.

• It initializes multiple "IP-related" variable names to the returned value, of the 'getClientIP' function.

• It ensures that if the function doesn't return a valid IP address, all the variables are set to a empty string, instead of null.

• It's only (45) lines of code.

Answer 2

Here's a modified version if you use CloudFlare caching layer Services

function getIP()
{
    $fields = array('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR',
                    'REMOTE_ADDR',
                    'HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP',
                    'HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP');

    foreach($fields as $f)
    {
        $tries = $_SERVER[$f];
        if (empty($tries))
            continue;
        $tries = explode(',',$tries);
        foreach($tries as $try)
        {
            $r = filter_var($try,
                            FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_IPV4 |
                            FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE |
                            FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE);

            if ($r !== false)
            {
                return $try;
            }
        }
    }
    return false;
}

Answer 3

Just a VB.NET version of the answer:

Private Function GetRequestIpAddress() As IPAddress
    Dim serverVariables = HttpContext.Current.Request.ServerVariables
    Dim headersKeysToCheck = {"HTTP_CLIENT_IP", _
                              "HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR", _
                              "HTTP_X_FORWARDED", _
                              "HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP", _
                              "HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR", _
                              "HTTP_FORWARDED", _
                              "REMOTE_ADDR"}
    For Each thisHeaderKey In headersKeysToCheck
        Dim thisValue = serverVariables.Item(thisHeaderKey)
        If thisValue IsNot Nothing Then
            Dim validAddress As IPAddress = Nothing
            If IPAddress.TryParse(thisValue, validAddress) Then
                Return validAddress
            End If
        End If
    Next
    Return Nothing
End Function

Answer 4

The biggest question is for what purpose?

Your code is nearly as comprehensive as it could be - but I see that if you spot what looks like a proxy added header, you use that INSTEAD of the CLIENT_IP, however if you want this information for audit purposes then be warned - its very easy to fake.

Certainly you should never use IP addresses for any sort of authentication - even these can be spoofed.

You could get a better measurement of the client ip address by pushing out a flash or java applet which connects back to the server via a non-http port (which would therefore reveal transparent proxies or cases where the proxy-injected headers are false - but bear in mind that, where the client can ONLY connect via a web proxy or the outgoing port is blocked, there will be no connection from the applet.

C.

Answer 5

Thanks for this, very useful.

It would help though if the code were syntactically correct. As it is there's a { too many around line 20. Which I'm afraid means nobody actually tried this out.

I may be crazy, but after trying it on a few valid and invalid addresses, the only version of validate_ip() that worked was this:

    public function validate_ip($ip)
    {
        if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE) === false)
            return false;
        if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE) === false)
            return false;
        if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_IPV4) === false && filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_IPV6) === false)
            return false;

        return true;
    }

Answer 6

Here is a shorter, cleaner way to get the IP address:

function get_ip_address(){
    foreach (array('HTTP_CLIENT_IP', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED', 'HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP', 'HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR', 'HTTP_FORWARDED', 'REMOTE_ADDR') as $key){
        if (array_key_exists($key, $_SERVER) === true){
            foreach (explode(',', $_SERVER[$key]) as $ip){
                $ip = trim($ip); // just to be safe

                if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE | FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE) !== false){
                    return $ip;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

I hope it helps!

---

Your code seems to be pretty complete already, I cannot see any possible bugs in it (aside from the usual IP caveats), I would change the validate_ip() function to rely on the filter extension though:

public function validate_ip($ip)
{
    if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE | FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE) === false)
    {
        return false;
    }

    self::$ip = sprintf('%u', ip2long($ip)); // you seem to want this

    return true;
}

Also your HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR snippet can be simplified from this:

// check for IPs passing through proxies
if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']))
{
    // check if multiple ips exist in var
    if (strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'], ',') !== false)
    {
        $iplist = explode(',', $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']);

        foreach ($iplist as $ip)
        {
            if ($this->validate_ip($ip))
                return $ip;
        }
    }

    else
    {
        if ($this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']))
            return $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'];
    }
}

To this:

// check for IPs passing through proxies
if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']))
{
    $iplist = explode(',', $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']);

    foreach ($iplist as $ip)
    {
        if ($this->validate_ip($ip))
            return $ip;
    }
}

You may also want to validate IPv6 addresses.