Question

I know there are a plethora of $_SERVER variables headers available for IP address retrieval. I was wondering if there is a general consensus as to how to most accurately retrieve a user’s real IP address (well knowing no method is perfect) using said variables?

I spent some time trying to find an in depth solution and came up with the following code based on a number of sources. I would love it if somebody could please poke holes in the answer or shed some light on something perhaps more accurate.

edit includes optimizations from @Alix

 /**
  * Retrieves the best guess of the client's actual IP address.
  * Takes into account numerous HTTP proxy headers due to variations
  * in how different ISPs handle IP addresses in headers between hops.
  */
 public function get_ip_address() {
  // Check for shared internet/ISP IP
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP']) && $this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP']))
   return $_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'];

  // Check for IPs passing through proxies
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'])) {
   // Check if multiple IP addresses exist in var
    $iplist = explode(',', $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']);
    foreach ($iplist as $ip) {
     if ($this->validate_ip($ip))
      return $ip;
    }
   }
  }
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED']) && $this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED']))
   return $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED'];
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP']) && $this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP']))
   return $_SERVER['HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP'];
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR']) && $this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR']))
   return $_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR'];
  if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED']) && $this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED']))
   return $_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED'];

  // Return unreliable IP address since all else failed
  return $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
 }

 /**
  * Ensures an IP address is both a valid IP address and does not fall within
  * a private network range.
  *
  * @access public
  * @param string $ip
  */
 public function validate_ip($ip) {
     if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, 
                         FILTER_FLAG_IPV4 | 
                         FILTER_FLAG_IPV6 |
                         FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE | 
                         FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE) === false)
         return false;
     self::$ip = $ip;
     return true;
 }

Words of Warning (update)

REMOTE_ADDR still represents the most reliable source of an IP address. The other $_SERVER variables mentioned here can be spoofed by a remote client very easily. The purpose of this solution is to attempt to determine the IP address of a client sitting behind a proxy. For your general purposes, you might consider using this in combination with the IP address returned directly from $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] and storing both.

For 99.9% of users this solution will suit your needs perfectly. It will not protect you from the 0.1% of malicious users looking to abuse your system by injecting their own request headers. If relying on IP addresses for something mission critical, resort to REMOTE_ADDR and don’t bother catering to those behind a proxy.

Answer 1

Here is a shorter, cleaner way to get the IP address:

function get_ip_address(){
    foreach (array('HTTP_CLIENT_IP', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED', 'HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP', 'HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR', 'HTTP_FORWARDED', 'REMOTE_ADDR') as $key){
        if (array_key_exists($key, $_SERVER) === true){
            foreach (explode(',', $_SERVER[$key]) as $ip){
                $ip = trim($ip); // just to be safe

                if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE | FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE) !== false){
                    return $ip;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

---

Your code seems to be pretty complete already, I cannot see any possible bugs in it (aside from the usual IP caveats), I would change the validate_ip() function to rely on the filter extension though:

public function validate_ip($ip)
{
    if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE | FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE) === false)
    {
        return false;
    }

    self::$ip = sprintf('%u', ip2long($ip)); // you seem to want this

    return true;
}

Also your HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR snippet can be simplified from this:

// check for IPs passing through proxies
if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']))
{
    // check if multiple ips exist in var
    if (strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'], ',') !== false)
    {
        $iplist = explode(',', $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']);
        
        foreach ($iplist as $ip)
        {
            if ($this->validate_ip($ip))
                return $ip;
        }
    }
    
    else
    {
        if ($this->validate_ip($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']))
            return $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'];
    }
}

To this:

// check for IPs passing through proxies
if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']))
{
    $iplist = explode(',', $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']);
        
    foreach ($iplist as $ip)
    {
        if ($this->validate_ip($ip))
            return $ip;
    }
}

You may also want to validate IPv6 addresses.