BungeeCord installations are insecure by default, and require additional firewall rules to be configured (using iptables or otherwise) to prevent malicious users from bypassing the proxy and connecting using any uuid/username they choose.
This is a well-known issue, and over the years many (even large) servers have been successfully targeted using this attack.
The conventional solution recommended by the BungeeCord author is to configure a firewall rule using iptables or ufw to prevent outside connections to the backend servers.
However, there are two main problems with this:
Server admins install BungeeGuard (just an ordinary plugin!) on their proxies and backend servers.
It's really that simple.
Installation is very straightforward.
If you have access to the underlying system and are able to setup firewall rules using iptables (or otherwise), I strongly recommend you do so. Then, install BungeeGuard as well.
See INSTALLATION.md for a detailed install guide.
BungeeGuard is licensed and made available under the permissive MIT license. Please see LICENSE.txt for more information.
Details about vulnerability reporting & security disclosures can be found in SECURITY.md.