Announcing cPGuard v5.88: Advanced Fake AI Bot Mitigation and LFD Enhancements
We are excited to announce the release of cPGuard version 5.88, featuring major updates to our Login Failure Daemon (LFD) system designed to protect servers against emerging security threats and optimise resource management.
The Growing Challenge: Fake AI Bots and Vulnerability Scanners
Recent security research highlights a significant rise in malicious traffic masquerading as legitimate AI crawlers. In a real-world analysis conducted on a server hosting over 1,000 accounts, 173,296 requests identified themselves using known AI User-Agents, including:
- GPTBot
- ChatGPT-User
- OAI-SearchBot
- ClaudeBot
- Claude-User
- SearchBot
- PerplexityBot
Crucially, nearly 90% of this traffic originates from a localised set of IP addresses constantly rotating User-Agents randomly.
Detecting and neutralising these fake agents is essential—not only to preserve critical server resources, but also to ensure legitimate AI crawlers can index content without degrading website performance.
What’s New in Version 5.88
1. Smart User-Agent Analytics & Fake Bot Mitigation
We have integrated a dedicated analytics module into LFD that inspects User-Agent behaviour to identify and automatically block fake AI bots and vulnerability scanners in real time. Production server testing has demonstrated exceptional results, instantly identifying and neutralising a large volume of IPs delivering spoofed traffic.
2. AI Crawling Analytics & Rate Limiting Preparation
In addition to blocking spoofed traffic, cPGuard now tracks and aggregates authentic AI bot hits across websites. This data will lay the foundation for an upcoming module designed to give server administrators fine-grained rate-limiting controls over AI crawlers.
3. Automatic CAPTCHA-Verified IP Detection
To resolve CAPTCHA loop issues caused by local or provider DNS caching, LFD now automatically identifies IPs that have successfully completed a WAF CAPTCHA verification. Once verified, these IPs are bypassed from redundant CAPTCHA challenges, ensuring a smooth experience for legitimate users.
4. System Improvements & Bug Fixes
Version 5.88 also includes various performance tweaks and bug fixes to enhance system stability across all supported platforms.
To review the complete list of changes and technical updates, visit our official changelog.
The update is now available and will be applied automatically on servers. Thank you for choosing cPGuard to keep your servers safe and secure!
