Technical summary
How does REST Progressive Enforcement: Rate-limit-at work in Aegisify WAF, and what should administrators verify? protects API traffic by inspecting routes, bodies, authentication requirements, identities, schemas, rate behavior, and protocol-specific abuse signals. This article is grounded in the supplied Aegisify WAF 1.20.13 plugin package. It documents current behavior and defaults rather than relying on older FAQ wording.
Where administrators configure or verify it
Primary wp-admin path: wp-admin → Aegisify WAF → API Shield. Exact controls can be distributed across the related tab/page when the feature is composed of multiple engines.
Current 1.20.13 defaults and related controls
The table below lists settings in the supplied current source that are directly related to this topic. The current default/bound/status shown is code-derived. Where the product does not define a named Medium preset, the shipped default is documented as the baseline operating point rather than inventing a value.
| Setting | Current default / bound / status | Why this default | How to tune safely |
|---|---|---|---|
ddos.groups.rest.rate_limit |
220 | The shipped value of 220 is the current baseline threshold or capacity. It is intentionally finite so the control can provide useful protection or bounded resource use without starting at an extreme. | For abuse/rate thresholds, a lower number is generally more aggressive and can stop attacks sooner but may affect legitimate bursts; a higher number is more tolerant but allows more activity before intervention. Change incrementally and validate against logs. |
wp_protect.thresholds_rest.rate_limit_at |
0 | Disabled in the shipped baseline because enabling it can change live request handling, indexing behavior, automation, enforcement, or integration traffic and should be reviewed for the specific site first. | OFF leaves the behavior inactive. Turn it ON only after checking prerequisites and expected traffic/content because this setting can introduce enforcement, automation, indexing, outbound integration, or additional processing depending on the feature. |
api_security.identity_rate_limit |
0 | Disabled in the shipped baseline because enabling it can change live request handling, indexing behavior, automation, enforcement, or integration traffic and should be reviewed for the specific site first. | OFF leaves the behavior inactive. Turn it ON only after checking prerequisites and expected traffic/content because this setting can introduce enforcement, automation, indexing, outbound integration, or additional processing depending on the feature. |
api_security.identity_rate_basis |
adaptive | “adaptive” is the shipped baseline and is the closest current code-defined baseline/medium operating point. Use stricter behavior only after reviewing site-specific evidence. | Treat the shipped value as the baseline/medium operating point. A stricter profile generally increases sensitivity and may increase false positives or workload; a more permissive profile generally reduces intervention but can allow more unwanted activity. |
api_security.identity_rate_window |
60 | The shipped value of 60 is the current timing baseline used to balance responsiveness, user impact, and processing overhead. | For abuse/rate thresholds, a lower number is generally more aggressive and can stop attacks sooner but may affect legitimate bursts; a higher number is more tolerant but allows more activity before intervention. Change incrementally and validate against logs. |
ddos.emergency_minimums.rate_limit |
5 | The shipped value of 5 is the current baseline threshold or capacity. It is intentionally finite so the control can provide useful protection or bounded resource use without starting at an extreme. | For abuse/rate thresholds, a lower number is generally more aggressive and can stop attacks sooner but may affect legitimate bursts; a higher number is more tolerant but allows more activity before intervention. Change incrementally and validate against logs. |
ddos.groups.admin_ajax.rate_limit |
180 | The shipped value of 180 is the current baseline threshold or capacity. It is intentionally finite so the control can provide useful protection or bounded resource use without starting at an extreme. | For abuse/rate thresholds, a lower number is generally more aggressive and can stop attacks sooner but may affect legitimate bursts; a higher number is more tolerant but allows more activity before intervention. Change incrementally and validate against logs. |
ddos.groups.cache_bypass.rate_limit |
60 | The shipped value of 60 is the current baseline threshold or capacity. It is intentionally finite so the control can provide useful protection or bounded resource use without starting at an extreme. | For abuse/rate thresholds, a lower number is generally more aggressive and can stop attacks sooner but may affect legitimate bursts; a higher number is more tolerant but allows more activity before intervention. Change incrementally and validate against logs. |
Adjustment strategy
Change one control at a time, save it through the product UI, reproduce the legitimate and malicious/test flow, and review the product log/status surface. For enforcement controls, use Monitor/Observe first when normal behavior is uncertain; move to Block only after the signal is reliable. For thresholds, do not jump directly from the default to an extreme unless an active incident requires emergency containment and a recovery path exists.
Operational guidance
On a production WordPress site, a sudden block spike after a plugin/API deployment should first be investigated in WAF logs. Narrow the issue to the exact route, rule family, client identity, or payload characteristic. Prefer a precise exclusion/allowlist or threshold adjustment over disabling broad protection.
Technical keywords
Aegisify WAF, 1.20.13, abuse, api, ddos, endpoint, enforcement, limit, max, maximum, progressive, rate, rest, route, threshold, groups
Source baseline
Verified package: Aegisify WAF 1.20.13. Primary source files: includes/class-aegiswaf-storage.php; includes/class-aegiswaf-ai-security.php; includes/class-aegiswaf-api-security.php; includes/class-aegiswaf-managed-rules.php; includes/ddos/class-aegiswaf-ddos-storage.php; includes/admin/pages/class-aegiswaf-page-waf-rules.php; includes/admin/pages/class-aegiswaf-page-logs.php; includes/admin/pages/class-aegiswaf-page-access.php. If a future plugin version changes these settings, support should re-read the installed version rather than carry these defaults forward automatically.