this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
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Hi folks. So, I know due to a myriad of reasons I should not allow Jellyfin access to the open internet. However, in trying to switch family over from Plex, I'll need something that "just works".

How are people solving this problem? I've thought about a few solutions, like whitelisting ips (which can change of course), or setting up VPN or tail scale (but then that is more work than they will be willing to do on their side). I can even add some level of auth into my reverse proxy, but that would break Jellyfin clients.

Wondering what others have thought about for this problem

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

You could probably set up a cloudflare tunnel. I forget what they call it. I think technically sending video through it is against their TOS but if just a few friends and family are using it I doubt you will hit their naughty list.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I've heard mixed responses about how sensitive they are about routing video through their service. I've heard some people are just fine running jellyfin/Plex while others get shut down from routing a security system through it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

I've used it about 2 years now. I have both Jellyfin and even had Invidious for a while. I don't even know it was against any terms until right now.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

I share Jellyfin.

Behind a Reverse Proxy with 2FA that breaks client support.
So only web browser :)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

I've been making people use VPN, but that's been a huge barrier to entry. I'm in the process of switching to IP allow list in traefik.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I just expose it to the internet.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I have it behind a proxy and IPS. I force my users to have strong passwords. I don't see why this would be a problem.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Its a major problem

It is only a matter of time before it gets compromised. Chances are you will have no idea it happened and you home internet will join the bot net of some nation state. The Jellyfin devs take security seriously but there will always be flaws.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

There will always be flaws

You said it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Reverse proxy with CrowdSec, which has setups specifically for Jellyfin. Docker for everything.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Now that's interesting, what is the purpose of the reverse proxy, don't you still need something exposed then?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

A reverse proxy saves you from having to expose your services directly and acts as a go-between.

Internet <--> Reverse Proxy <--> Service

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Right, but what exactly does the reverse proxy do to stop intrusion?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Think of it as more modular.

I personally used Traefik, but only because I'm a masochist and it would be useful to know in IT workplace.

Traefik + CrowdSec + CowdSec Traefik Bouncer.

Traefik handles the traffic, and said traffic has to get a green light from CrowdSec + Bouncer before it can go anywhere.

The concept of CrowdSec is honestly super awesome.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Is Taefik really that good? It seems crazy complex

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

It's designed to scale. Plus it's nifty to be able to add ~3 tags to a docker container and then it's instantly online and ready to be used.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Crowdsec is what stops the intrusion.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Crowdsec won't protect against a security vulnerability

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It will if it detects the requests and blocks them

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Only if it is from a known bad IP

Also the vulnerability may be in something needed for client functionality.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

It protects against vulnerabilities in layer 3 of the OSI model. It is the thing that gets hit from the outside while the back end is hidden away. This makes some attacks much harder.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Making a note so I can find this again - also I have been loving JellyFin over Plex.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yup, I like jelly more - not that I have one running over the other lol

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

I thought there was some way to use Jelly on the backend with a Plex client!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Hang on, why not open the port to jellyfin to the internet?

I have a lifetime Plex pass so its not urgent but I have a containers running emby and jellyfin to check them out. When I decide which one I planned to open it up and give people logins.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

That wouldn't even be using TLS

Bad idea

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