Misconfigured f-API can create infinite request loop

[surchs]

If I

• deploy a f-API and
• accidentally set https://neurobagel.org/config/#local_nb_nodesjson to my own f-API address

Then: I can create an infinite loop because once I send a query to my f-API, it will then send a query of its own to any APIs listed in local_nb_nodes.json - including itself. Because the f-API endpoints are so similar to the n-API endpoints, this will actually be a valid query request, thus starting another federated query and so on.

We should:

• [ ] Confirm that this happens every time I set my own f-API in the local_nb_nodes.json and then write a test to make sure we prevent a loop from happening in this case
• [ ] Add some basic check that lets and f-API realize when it is talking to itself

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[alyssadai]

After further investigation into this issue, I think this will actually require more effort to resolve than it's probably worth.

The problem is that the only port exposed to the f-API is NB_API_PORT, which is the port used by the service inside the container. To catch when local_nb_nodes.json has been misconfigured to point at the f-API, the service would need to know about NB_API_PORT_HOST, which is not an environment variable inside the container - it's only used by the docker-compose.yml file itself.

To catch misconfigurations, we would probably need to expose NB_API_PORT_HOST as an environment variable to the f-API container, and then also ensure that the f-API reads it in - all just for the purposes of emitting a warning message.

Instead, maybe we could try to prevent these issues by updating our docs with a warning about the ports.

[surchs]

We can also attach some unique identifier for the node making the request as part of the request. Then the solution would be more generic:

• I received a request from a node with my own identifier -> I must be talking to myself. Better stop
• I received a query request that includes a node identifier (that is also in my local_nodes list) -> there is a loop here. Better stop

But I agree with you @alyssadai, that's more involved and not for now. Maybe a good time to look at this again would be when we address auth - because each node will have a unique client_id as part of that, and we could reuse the client_id for this purpose.

[alyssadai]

Thanks @surchs.

To clarify, the ideal solution would be generic enough to detect a request coming from any f-API, regardless of whether or not the f-API is part of the same stack as the recipient f-API, to avoid unpredictable behaviours.

That said, I guess the infinite request loop would only happen if an f-API is actually pointing to itself.