fix(antispam): harden spam guard with signed form tokens and proxy-safe IP extraction

- Rate limit now uses the last X-Forwarded-For hop (appended by Traefik)
  instead of the client-controlled first hop, which bots rotated freely
- Time-trap anchored to server time via HMAC-signed form token
  (FORM_TOKEN_SECRET) instead of client-supplied form_loaded_at
- Fix RequestQuoteForm regression: FormData was built from scratch without
  honeypot/token hidden inputs and inputs lacked name attributes, so every
  legitimate quote request was silently blocked as spam

.env.example

@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ GATEKEEPER_PASSWORD=klz2026
 # Required for the Payload CMS AI Chat Agent
 MISTRAL_API_KEY=
 
+# Secret used to sign contact-form anti-spam tokens (server-anchored time-trap)
+FORM_TOKEN_SECRET=
+
 # ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 # Payload Infrastructure (Dockerized)
 # ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

app/actions/contact.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,16 @@ import { sendEmail } from '@/lib/mail/mailer';
 import { render, ContactFormNotification, ConfirmationMessage } from '@mintel/mail';
 import React from 'react';
 import { getServerAppServices } from '@/lib/services/create-services.server';
+import { createFormToken } from '@/lib/antispam/form-token';
+import { parseClientIp } from '@/lib/antispam/client-ip';
+
+/**
+ * Issues a server-signed form token used by the anti-spam guard to prove the
+ * submission originates from a real page load (server-anchored time-trap).
+ */
+export async function issueFormTokenAction(): Promise<string> {
+  return createFormToken(Date.now());
+}
 
 export async function sendContactFormAction(formData: FormData) {
   const services = getServerAppServices();
@@ -25,13 +35,13 @@ export async function sendContactFormAction(formData: FormData) {
   // Track attempt
   services.analytics.track('contact-form-attempt');
 
-  // Anti-spam guard: honeypot, time-trap, email validation, link limit, IP rate limit
+  // Anti-spam guard: honeypot, signed form token (server-anchored time-trap), email validation, link limit, IP rate limit
   const { checkContactSubmission } = await import('@/lib/antispam/contact-guard');
   const verdict = checkContactSubmission({
     honeypot: (formData.get('company_website') as string) || null,
-    formLoadedAt: Number(formData.get('form_loaded_at')) || null,
+    formToken: (formData.get('form_token') as string) || null,
     now: Date.now(),
-    ip: requestHeaders.get('x-forwarded-for')?.split(',')[0]?.trim() || null,
+    ip: parseClientIp(requestHeaders.get('x-forwarded-for')),
     email: (formData.get('email') as string) || null,
     message: (formData.get('message') as string) || null,
   });

components/ContactForm.tsx

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import React, { useState } from 'react';
 import { useTranslations } from 'next-intl';
 import { Button, Heading, Card, Input, Textarea, Label } from '@/components/ui';
-import { sendContactFormAction } from '@/app/actions/contact';
+import { sendContactFormAction, issueFormTokenAction } from '@/app/actions/contact';
 import { useAnalytics } from '@/components/analytics/useAnalytics';
 import { AnalyticsEvents } from '@/components/analytics/analytics-events';
 
@@ -12,7 +12,18 @@ export default function ContactForm() {
   const { trackEvent } = useAnalytics();
   const [status, setStatus] = useState<'idle' | 'submitting' | 'success' | 'error'>('idle');
   const [hasStarted, setHasStarted] = useState(false);
-  const [formLoadedAt] = useState(() => Date.now());
+  const [formToken, setFormToken] = useState<string | null>(null);
+
+  // Server-signed anti-spam token: proves the submission comes from a real page load
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    let cancelled = false;
+    issueFormTokenAction().then((token) => {
+      if (!cancelled) setFormToken(token);
+    });
+    return () => {
+      cancelled = true;
+    };
+  }, []);
 
   const handleFocus = (fieldId: string) => {
     // Initial form start
@@ -153,8 +164,8 @@ export default function ContactForm() {
           style={{ display: 'none' }}
           aria-hidden="true"
         />
-        {/* Anti-spam time-trap: server rejects submissions faster than a human could fill the form */}
+        {/* Anti-spam time-trap anchor: server-signed token issued at page load */}
-        <input type="hidden" name="form_loaded_at" value={formLoadedAt} />
+        <input type="hidden" name="form_token" value={formToken ?? ''} />
         <div className="space-y-1 md:space-y-2">
           <Label htmlFor="contact-name">{t('form.name')}</Label>
           <Input

components/RequestQuoteForm.tsx

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import React, { useState } from 'react';
 import { useTranslations } from 'next-intl';
 import { Input, Textarea, Button } from '@/components/ui';
-import { sendContactFormAction } from '@/app/actions/contact';
+import { sendContactFormAction, issueFormTokenAction } from '@/app/actions/contact';
 import { useAnalytics } from '@/components/analytics/useAnalytics';
 import { AnalyticsEvents } from '@/components/analytics/analytics-events';
 
@@ -18,7 +18,18 @@ export default function RequestQuoteForm({ productName }: RequestQuoteFormProps)
   const [request, setRequest] = useState('');
   const [status, setStatus] = useState<'idle' | 'submitting' | 'success' | 'error'>('idle');
   const [hasStarted, setHasStarted] = useState(false);
-  const [formLoadedAt] = useState(() => Date.now());
+  const [formToken, setFormToken] = useState<string | null>(null);
+
+  // Server-signed anti-spam token: proves the submission comes from a real page load
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    let cancelled = false;
+    issueFormTokenAction().then((token) => {
+      if (!cancelled) setFormToken(token);
+    });
+    return () => {
+      cancelled = true;
+    };
+  }, []);
 
   const handleFocus = (fieldId: string) => {
     // Initial form start
@@ -39,14 +50,13 @@ export default function RequestQuoteForm({ productName }: RequestQuoteFormProps)
     });
   };
 
-  const handleSubmit = async (e: React.FormEvent) => {
+  const handleSubmit = async (e: React.FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) => {
     e.preventDefault();
     setStatus('submitting');
 
-    const formData = new FormData();
+    // Build from the real form element so honeypot + form_token hidden inputs are included
+    const formData = new FormData(e.currentTarget);
     formData.append('name', 'Product Inquiry'); // Default name for product inquiries
-    formData.append('email', email);
-    formData.append('message', request);
     formData.append('productName', productName);
 
     try {
@@ -175,8 +185,8 @@ export default function RequestQuoteForm({ productName }: RequestQuoteFormProps)
         style={{ display: 'none' }}
           aria-hidden="true"
         />
-        {/* Anti-spam time-trap: server rejects submissions faster than a human could fill the form */}
+        {/* Anti-spam time-trap anchor: server-signed token issued at page load */}
-        <input type="hidden" name="form_loaded_at" value={formLoadedAt} />
+        <input type="hidden" name="form_token" value={formToken ?? ''} />
 
       <div className="space-y-2 !mt-0">
         <div className="space-y-1 !mt-0">
@@ -186,6 +196,7 @@ export default function RequestQuoteForm({ productName }: RequestQuoteFormProps)
           <Input
             type="email"
             id={emailId}
+            name="email"
             required
             value={email}
             onChange={(e) => setEmail(e.target.value)}
@@ -201,6 +212,7 @@ export default function RequestQuoteForm({ productName }: RequestQuoteFormProps)
           </label>
           <Textarea
             id={requestId}
+            name="message"
             required
             rows={3}
             value={request}

components/forms/ContactForm.tsx

@@ -3,11 +3,22 @@
 import * as React from 'react';
 import { m } from 'framer-motion';
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/Button';
-import { sendContactFormAction } from '@/app/actions/contact';
+import { sendContactFormAction, issueFormTokenAction } from '@/app/actions/contact';
 
 export function ContactForm() {
   const [status, setStatus] = React.useState<'idle' | 'loading' | 'success' | 'error'>('idle');
-  const [formLoadedAt] = React.useState(() => Date.now());
+  const [formToken, setFormToken] = React.useState<string | null>(null);
+
+  // Server-signed anti-spam token: proves the submission comes from a real page load
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    let cancelled = false;
+    issueFormTokenAction().then((token) => {
+      if (!cancelled) setFormToken(token);
+    });
+    return () => {
+      cancelled = true;
+    };
+  }, []);
 
   const handleSubmit = async (e: React.FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) => {
     e.preventDefault();
@@ -133,7 +144,7 @@ export function ContactForm() {
           </div>
 
           <input type="text" name="company_website" style={{ display: 'none' }} tabIndex={-1} autoComplete="off" />
-          <input type="hidden" name="form_loaded_at" value={formLoadedAt} />
+          <input type="hidden" name="form_token" value={formToken ?? ''} />
 
           <Button 
             type="submit" 

lib/antispam/client-ip.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/**
+ * Extracts the client IP from the X-Forwarded-For header.
+ *
+ * Our edge proxy (Traefik) APPENDS the real peer IP to any client-supplied
+ * chain, so the LAST hop is the only trustworthy entry. The first hop is
+ * attacker-controlled: reading it lets bots rotate fake IPs per request and
+ * defeat IP-based rate limiting entirely.
+ */
+export function parseClientIp(xForwardedFor: string | null | undefined): string | null {
+  if (!xForwardedFor) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  const hops = xForwardedFor
+    .split(',')
+    .map((hop) => hop.trim())
+    .filter(Boolean);
+  return hops.length > 0 ? hops[hops.length - 1] : null;
+}

lib/antispam/contact-guard.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
  * Pure, dependency-free, in-memory rate limiting (sufficient for a single app instance).
  */
 
+import { verifyFormToken } from './form-token';
+
 export const MIN_FILL_TIME_MS = 3_000;
 export const RATE_LIMIT_MAX_SUBMISSIONS = 3;
 export const RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS = 10 * 60 * 1_000;
@@ -11,11 +13,18 @@ export const MAX_MESSAGE_LINKS = 5;
 const EMAIL_PATTERN = /^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]{2,}$/;
 const LINK_PATTERN = /(https?:\/\/|www\.)\S+/gi;
 
-export type SpamReason = 'honeypot' | 'too_fast' | 'invalid_email' | 'too_many_links' | 'rate_limited';
+export type SpamReason =
+  | 'honeypot'
+  | 'invalid_token'
+  | 'expired_token'
+  | 'too_fast'
+  | 'invalid_email'
+  | 'too_many_links'
+  | 'rate_limited';
 
 export interface ContactSubmissionInput {
   honeypot: string | null;
-  formLoadedAt: number | null;
+  formToken: string | null;
   now: number;
   ip: string | null;
   email: string | null;
@@ -51,11 +60,17 @@ export function checkContactSubmission(input: ContactSubmissionInput): ContactSu
     return { allowed: false, reason: 'honeypot' };
   }
 
-  if (
+  // Server-signed token: rejects direct POSTs that never loaded the form and
-    input.formLoadedAt === null ||
+  // anchors the time-trap to server-verified issuance time.
-    !Number.isFinite(input.formLoadedAt) ||
+  const token = verifyFormToken(input.formToken, input.now);
-    input.now - input.formLoadedAt < MIN_FILL_TIME_MS
+  if (!token.ok) {
-  ) {
+    return {
+      allowed: false,
+      reason: token.reason === 'expired' ? 'expired_token' : 'invalid_token',
+    };
+  }
+
+  if (input.now - token.issuedAt! < MIN_FILL_TIME_MS) {
     return { allowed: false, reason: 'too_fast' };
   }
 

lib/antispam/form-token.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { createHmac, timingSafeEqual } from 'node:crypto';
+
+/**
+ * Server-signed form token: proves a submission originates from a real page
+ * load and anchors the time-trap to SERVER time instead of a client-supplied
+ * timestamp (which bots can forge arbitrarily).
+ *
+ * Token format: `<issuedAtMs>.<hmac-sha256(issuedAt, secret)>` (base64url).
+ */
+
+export const MAX_FORM_AGE_MS = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
+
+export type FormTokenFailureReason = 'malformed' | 'forged' | 'expired';
+
+export interface FormTokenVerification {
+  ok: boolean;
+  issuedAt?: number;
+  reason?: FormTokenFailureReason;
+}
+
+export function getFormTokenSecret(): string {
+  return process.env.FORM_TOKEN_SECRET || 'insecure-dev-form-token-secret';
+}
+
+function sign(issuedAt: number, secret: string): string {
+  return createHmac('sha256', secret).update(String(issuedAt)).digest('base64url');
+}
+
+export function createFormToken(now: number, secret: string = getFormTokenSecret()): string {
+  return `${now}.${sign(now, secret)}`;
+}
+
+export function verifyFormToken(
+  token: string | null,
+  now: number,
+  secret: string = getFormTokenSecret(),
+): FormTokenVerification {
+  if (!token) {
+    return { ok: false, reason: 'malformed' };
+  }
+
+  const parts = token.split('.');
+  if (parts.length !== 2) {
+    return { ok: false, reason: 'malformed' };
+  }
+
+  const issuedAt = Number(parts[0]);
+  if (!Number.isFinite(issuedAt) || issuedAt <= 0) {
+    return { ok: false, reason: 'malformed' };
+  }
+
+  const expected = Buffer.from(sign(issuedAt, secret));
+  const provided = Buffer.from(parts[1]);
+  if (expected.length !== provided.length || !timingSafeEqual(expected, provided)) {
+    return { ok: false, reason: 'forged' };
+  }
+
+  const age = now - issuedAt;
+  if (age < 0 || age > MAX_FORM_AGE_MS) {
+    return { ok: false, reason: 'expired' };
+  }
+
+  return { ok: true, issuedAt };
+}

tests/contact-antispam.test.ts

@@ -1,62 +1,105 @@
 import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
 import { checkContactSubmission, resetRateLimiter } from '@/lib/antispam/contact-guard';
+import { parseClientIp } from '@/lib/antispam/client-ip';
+import { createFormToken } from '@/lib/antispam/form-token';
 
-const validInput = {
+process.env.FORM_TOKEN_SECRET = 'test-secret';
+
+const NOW = 1_000_000_000_000;
+const TOKEN_SECRET = 'test-secret';
+
+const validInput = () => ({
   honeypot: '',
-  formLoadedAt: Date.now() - 10_000,
+  formToken: createFormToken(NOW - 10_000, TOKEN_SECRET),
-  now: Date.now(),
+  now: NOW,
   ip: '1.2.3.4',
   email: 'customer@example.com',
   message: 'I would like a quote for 50 cables.',
-};
+});
+
+describe('client IP extraction from X-Forwarded-For', () => {
+  it('uses the last hop appended by our own proxy, not the client-controlled first hop', () => {
+    expect(parseClientIp('203.0.113.7, 198.51.100.2')).toBe('198.51.100.2');
+  });
+
+  it('handles a single hop', () => {
+    expect(parseClientIp('203.0.113.7')).toBe('203.0.113.7');
+  });
+
+  it('returns null for missing or empty headers', () => {
+    expect(parseClientIp(null)).toBeNull();
+    expect(parseClientIp('')).toBeNull();
+    expect(parseClientIp('  ')).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
 
 describe('contact form anti-spam guard', () => {
   beforeEach(() => resetRateLimiter());
 
   it('allows a legitimate submission', () => {
-    const result = checkContactSubmission(validInput);
+    const result = checkContactSubmission(validInput());
     expect(result.allowed).toBe(true);
   });
 
   it('blocks submissions where the honeypot field is filled', () => {
-    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput, honeypot: 'http://spam.example' });
+    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput(), honeypot: 'http://spam.example' });
     expect(result.allowed).toBe(false);
     expect(result.reason).toBe('honeypot');
   });
 
+  it('blocks submissions without a form token (direct POST without loading the form)', () => {
+    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput(), formToken: null });
+    expect(result.allowed).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.reason).toBe('invalid_token');
+  });
+
+  it('blocks submissions with a forged form token', () => {
+    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput(), formToken: '1234567890.forged' });
+    expect(result.allowed).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.reason).toBe('invalid_token');
+  });
+
   it('blocks submissions sent faster than a human could fill the form', () => {
-    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput, formLoadedAt: validInput.now - 1_000 });
+    const freshToken = createFormToken(NOW - 1_000, TOKEN_SECRET);
+    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput(), formToken: freshToken });
     expect(result.allowed).toBe(false);
     expect(result.reason).toBe('too_fast');
   });
 
+  it('blocks submissions with a stale token (page loaded more than a day ago)', () => {
+    const staleToken = createFormToken(NOW - 25 * 60 * 60 * 1000, TOKEN_SECRET);
+    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput(), formToken: staleToken });
+    expect(result.allowed).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.reason).toBe('expired_token');
+  });
+
   it('blocks submissions with an invalid email address', () => {
-    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput, email: 'not-an-email' });
+    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput(), email: 'not-an-email' });
     expect(result.allowed).toBe(false);
     expect(result.reason).toBe('invalid_email');
   });
 
   it('blocks messages containing more than 5 links (typical SEO spam)', () => {
     const spammy = Array.from({ length: 6 }, (_, i) => `https://spam${i}.example`).join(' ');
-    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput, message: spammy });
+    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput(), message: spammy });
     expect(result.allowed).toBe(false);
     expect(result.reason).toBe('too_many_links');
   });
 
   it('rate-limits an IP after 3 submissions within 10 minutes', () => {
     for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
-      expect(checkContactSubmission(validInput).allowed).toBe(true);
+      expect(checkContactSubmission(validInput()).allowed).toBe(true);
     }
-    const result = checkContactSubmission(validInput);
+    const result = checkContactSubmission(validInput());
     expect(result.allowed).toBe(false);
     expect(result.reason).toBe('rate_limited');
   });
 
   it('does not rate-limit different IPs independently', () => {
     for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
-      checkContactSubmission(validInput);
+      checkContactSubmission(validInput());
     }
-    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput, ip: '5.6.7.8' });
+    const result = checkContactSubmission({ ...validInput(), ip: '5.6.7.8' });
     expect(result.allowed).toBe(true);
   });
 });

tests/form-token.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import {
+  createFormToken,
+  verifyFormToken,
+  MAX_FORM_AGE_MS,
+} from '@/lib/antispam/form-token';
+
+const SECRET = 'test-secret';
+const NOW = 1_000_000_000_000;
+
+describe('signed form token', () => {
+  it('issues a token that verifies with its issuance timestamp', () => {
+    const token = createFormToken(NOW, SECRET);
+    const result = verifyFormToken(token, NOW + 10_000, SECRET);
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.issuedAt).toBe(NOW);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects a token that was tampered with', () => {
+    const token = createFormToken(NOW, SECRET);
+    const [issuedAt, signature] = token.split('.');
+    const tampered = `${issuedAt}.${signature.slice(0, -2)}xx`;
+    const result = verifyFormToken(tampered, NOW + 10_000, SECRET);
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects a token forged with a different secret', () => {
+    const token = createFormToken(NOW, 'attacker-secret');
+    const result = verifyFormToken(token, NOW + 10_000, SECRET);
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects a token with a manipulated issuance timestamp', () => {
+    const token = createFormToken(NOW, SECRET);
+    const [, signature] = token.split('.');
+    const forged = `${NOW - 60_000}.${signature}`;
+    const result = verifyFormToken(forged, NOW, SECRET);
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects malformed tokens', () => {
+    expect(verifyFormToken('', NOW, SECRET).ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(verifyFormToken('garbage', NOW, SECRET).ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(verifyFormToken('123.456.789', NOW, SECRET).ok).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects tokens older than the maximum form age', () => {
+    const token = createFormToken(NOW, SECRET);
+    const result = verifyFormToken(token, NOW + MAX_FORM_AGE_MS + 1, SECRET);
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.reason).toBe('expired');
+  });
+});