SaltSecurityCollectorExtension 1.2.5

Salt Security Traffic Collector for Azure App Services

An ASP.NET Core middleware extension that automatically captures HTTP request/response traffic from Azure App Services and transmits it to Salt Security API for real-time security analysis and threat detection.

Features

✅ Zero Latency Impact - Fire-and-forget async pattern with <1ms overhead ✅ Auto-Activation - Uses IHostingStartup, no code changes required ✅ Production Ready - Circuit breaker pattern with graceful degradation ✅ High Performance - Lock-free queue with concurrent background workers ✅ Multi-Framework - Supports .NET 6.0, 8.0, and 9.0

Quick Start

Installation

Install as Azure Site Extension or add to your ASP.NET Core project:

dotnet add package SaltSecurityCollectorExtension

Configuration

Add to your appsettings.json:

{
  "SaltSecurity": {
    "Uuid": "your-unique-identifier",
    "ApiEndpoint": {
      "BaseUrl": "https://your-salt-api.com",
      "token": "your-token"
    },
    "Labels": {
      "env": "production",
      "region": "us-east-1"
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables (Azure App Service)

Configure via Azure Portal Application Settings:

SaltSecurity__Uuid = "your-uuid"
SaltSecurity__ApiEndpoint__BaseUrl = "https://api.example.com"
SaltSecurity__Token= token

Automatic Activation

The middleware activates automatically via IHostingStartup when the assembly is loaded. No code changes needed!

For Azure Site Extensions, the XDT transform automatically configures the hosting startup assembly.

How It Works

1. Middleware intercepts HTTP requests/responses with minimal overhead
2. Fire-and-forget enqueue to high-performance async queue (<0.1ms)
3. Background workers process queue and send to Salt Security API
4. Circuit breaker protects against API failures (graceful degradation)
5. Zero impact on your application's response time or reliability

Architecture

HTTP Request → Middleware (capture) → Async Queue → Background Workers → Salt API
                     ↓
              Response (unaffected)

Configuration Options

Performance

• Latency: <1ms added to request/response pipeline
• Throughput: ~5,000 requests/second (with 5 workers)
• Memory: ~Queue size × Average payload size (configurable limits)
• CPU: Minimal impact from async background processing

Security

• Sensitive headers automatically redacted (Authorization, Cookie, API keys)
• Configurable body size limits prevent memory exhaustion
• Basic authentication over HTTPS
• Secure credential storage via Azure Key Vault recommended

Troubleshooting

Middleware Not Activating

Enable Startup Tracing for detailed debugging:

{
  "SaltSecurity": {
    "EnableStartupTracing": true
  }
}

This will log:

• [SALT-TRACE] IHostingStartup.Configure() called - Confirms hosting startup is loading
• [SALT-TRACE] Services registered successfully - Confirms DI registration
• [SALT-TRACE] Adding SaltSecurityTrafficCollectorMiddleware to pipeline - Confirms middleware registration
• [SALT-TRACE] Middleware instance constructed - Confirms middleware instantiation with configuration

Then check:

1. Verify SaltSecurity section exists in appsettings.json
2. Check required fields: Uuid, BaseUrl, Username, Password
3. Review application logs for [SALT-TRACE] entries
4. Ensure extension is installed in Azure Site Extensions

High Memory Usage

1. Reduce MaxQueueSize (10000 → 5000)
2. Reduce MaxRequestBodySize and MaxResponseBodySize
3. Increase MaxConcurrentWorkers to drain queue faster

Circuit Breaker Opening

1. Check network connectivity to Salt Security API
2. Verify API credentials are correct
3. Review Salt API logs for authentication errors
4. Increase TimeoutSeconds if API is slow

Logging

Configure logging level in appsettings.json:

{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "SaltSecurityCollectorExtension": "Information"
    }
  }
}

Levels: Trace (dev), Debug (dev), Information (prod), Warning (prod), Error (always)

Requirements

• .NET 6.0, 8.0, or 9.0
• ASP.NET Core application
• Azure App Service (for site extension) or any hosting environment

Documentation

📖 Full Documentation 🔧 Configuration Reference 📊 Architecture Deep Dive

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Documentation: Salt Security Docs
• Email: support@saltsecurity.com

License

Copyright © 2025 Salt Security, Inc. All rights reserved.

This software is proprietary and confidential. Unauthorized copying, modification, distribution, or use of this software, via any medium, is strictly prohibited without express written permission from Salt Security, Inc.

See LICENSE file for details.

Version

Current version: 1.1.1

See Release Notes for version history.