I would use the argument ip
and a rewrite to remove the iframe
location
server {
listen 8085;
location /iframe {
rewrite ^/iframe(.*)$ /$1 break;
proxy_pass http://$arg_ip;
}
}
server {
listen 8080;
location / { return 200 "$host$uri"; }
}
Security Notice
I just have a feeling you should whilelist the upstream servers accepted as arguments. If not this will be a wildcard proxy to every single http-server reachable in the network. This is a easy to use SSRF attack vector. So please add some extra layer of security.
SSRF Explained:
Let's say we use this configuration without any further security. Given the folowing NGINX config:
server {
listen 8085;
location /iframe {
rewrite ^/iframe(.*)$ /$1 break;
proxy_pass http://$arg_ip;
}
}
# Server for iframe service
server {
listen 8080;
root /usr/share/nginx/;
location / { return 200 "$host$uri\n"; }
}
# Private Server Section here!
server {
listen 8086;
allow 127.0.0.1;
deny all;
.....
location / {
index welcome.html;
}
}
Trying to reach the secret server directly
curl -v EXTERNALIP:8086
will fail with HTTP 403.
The NGINX will just allow connections form localhost/127.0.0.1 as defined in the allow/deny
directives.
But lets try the iframe with the ip
argument.
$# curl localhost:8085/iframe?ip=127.0.0.1:8086
Welcome to our very secure server! Internals only!
It prints the content of the secret server. Whitlisting a proxy-pass like this is never a good idea regardless its working or not.