WooCommerce: Rate Limits & Coupon Protection

WooCommerce Protection is a Security Ninja module that shields your WooCommerce store from attacks and abuse. It adds rate limiting, coupon brute force protection, and integrates with your existing firewall for country-based blocking – all with minimal setup and low performance impact.

Key Protections

  • Rate Limiting: Prevents rapid-fire checkout, add-to-cart, and order attempts from bots or abusers.
  • Coupon Abuse: Blocks automated coupon code guessing and brute force attacks.
  • Bot Activity: Detects and blocks suspicious automated behavior.
  • Geographic Blocking: Uses your firewall’s country blocking for WooCommerce login and registration forms.
WooCommerce Protection settings
Settings are located under the WooCommerce tab

Firewall Integration

  • Country Blocking: Leverages your existing firewall country blocking settings. When “Apply country blocking to login forms only” is enabled, it also covers WooCommerce login and registration forms.
  • Event Logging: All blocked attempts are logged for review and analysis.

Rate Limiting Protection

  • Checkout: Default: 3 attempts per 5 minutes. Exceeding this redirects to cart with an error message.
  • Add to Cart: Default: 10 actions per minute. Exceeding this removes the item and shows an error.
  • Order Placement: Default: 2 orders per 10 minutes. Exceeding this blocks order completion and shows an error.
Coupon code abuse protection
Anti-coupon code abuse settings

Coupon Brute Force Protection

  • Multi-Method Coverage: Works with forms, AJAX, and WooCommerce blocks.
  • Automatic Banning: 5 failed attempts per 5 minutes triggers a 15-minute ban for that IP.
  • Smart Reset: Counter resets when a valid coupon is applied.
  • User Experience: Clear ban messages with countdown; normal use resumes automatically after ban.

Coupon application protection

Configuration

All settings are in Security Ninja → Firewall → WooCommerce. Adjust limits and ban durations to fit your store’s needs.

Example Use Cases

Automated Checkout Attack

A bot tries to rapidly submit checkout forms to exploit your payment system.

  • After 3 failed attempts in 5 minutes, the bot is blocked from further checkouts for 5 minutes.
  • The event is logged in Security Ninja Events Logger.
  • Legitimate customers are not affected.

Coupon Code Guessing

An attacker uses automated tools to guess valid coupon codes by trying many combinations.

  • System tracks failed coupon attempts per IP.
  • After 5 failed attempts in 5 minutes, the IP is banned from using coupons for 15 minutes.
  • Valid coupon use resets the counter; user-friendly ban messages show remaining time.
  • All attempts are logged for analysis.

Troubleshooting & Logs

  • All protection events are logged in Security Ninja → Events. Search for “woo_” to see WooCommerce-related events.
  • If legitimate users are blocked, review your rate limits and event logs, and adjust settings as needed.

Performance & Integration

  • Lightweight: Only loads when WooCommerce is active; uses efficient storage and caching.
  • Seamless Integration: Works with all other Security Ninja features, including firewall and event logging.

WooCommerce Protection gives your store essential, flexible security – without sacrificing user experience or performance.

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