Route finger search through the cacheable /finger/<term> path

The search form POSTed to /finger, an uncacheable URL with no search term in
it, so every lookup re-ran the finger command even for repeated searches of the
same user. Redirect any query/POST search to the canonical /finger/<username>
path (and submit the form via GET, with a JS fast-path straight to that URL) so
repeated lookups are served from the nginx response cache. A bare /finger with
no user still lists local system users.

app.py

@@ -146,36 +146,31 @@ def index():
 @app.route('/finger', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
 @limiter.limit(lambda: app.config['RATELIMIT_FINGER'])
 def finger():
-    """Finger command route"""
+    """Finger search form.
+
+    Any submitted username is redirected to the canonical
+    ``/finger/<username>`` path so the lookup happens on a cacheable URL with
+    the search term in it — repeated searches for the same user are served from
+    the nginx response cache instead of re-running the finger command. A bare
+    ``/finger`` with no user shows the local system users (no daemon enumeration
+    risk: it never takes external input).
+    """
+    username = (request.args.get('user', '')
+                or request.args.get('username', '')
+                or request.form.get('username', '')).strip()
+
+    if username:
+        # Send the search to the cacheable canonical path.
+        return redirect(url_for('finger_direct', username=username))
+
+    # No user supplied: list logged-in system users.
     result = None
     error = None
-    username = request.args.get('user', '') or request.form.get('username', '')
-
-    if request.method == 'POST' or username:
-        # Sanitize username input
-        if username:
-            # Allow alphanumeric characters, dots, hyphens, underscores, and @ symbol for email-style usernames
-            if not all(c.isalnum() or c in '.-_@' for c in username):
-                error = "Invalid username format. Only alphanumeric characters, dots, hyphens, underscores, and @ symbol are allowed."
-            else:
-                # Execute finger command with specific user
-                cmd = ['finger', username]
-        else:
-            # Execute finger command without user (show all logged in users)
-            cmd = ['finger']
-
-        if not error:
-            # Execute the command with robust encoding handling
-            success, output, is_error = run_finger_command(cmd)
+    success, output, is_error = run_finger_command(['finger'])
     if success:
         result = output
     else:
         error = output
-                app.logger.warning("finger lookup failed for %r from %s: %s",
-                                   username, get_remote_address(), output.strip()[:200])
-        elif username:
-            app.logger.warning("rejected invalid finger username %r from %s",
-                               username, get_remote_address())
 
     return render_template('finger.html', title='Finger', result=result, error=error, username=username)
 

templates/finger.html

@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@
     <div class="col-lg-10 mx-auto">
         <div class="d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center flex-wrap gap-2 mb-3">
             <h1 class="h5 mb-0">🔍 Finger Command</h1>
-            <form method="POST" action="{{ url_for('finger') }}" class="d-flex" role="search">
+            <!-- GET so the search lands on a cacheable URL; JS sends it straight
+                 to /finger/<term>, and without JS the server redirects there. -->
+            <form method="GET" action="{{ url_for('finger') }}" class="d-flex" role="search"
+                  onsubmit="return gotoFinger(event)">
                 <input type="text" class="form-control form-control-sm me-2" id="username" name="username"
                        value="{{ username or '' }}"
                        placeholder="[email protected]"
@@ -50,6 +53,16 @@
 </div>
 
 <script>
+// Navigate straight to the cacheable /finger/<term> path so the nginx response
+// cache is hit for repeated lookups (avoids a redirect round-trip).
+function gotoFinger(event) {
+    var term = document.getElementById('username').value.trim();
+    if (!term) { return true; }  // empty -> let GET /finger list system users
+    event.preventDefault();
+    window.location.href = "{{ url_for('finger') }}/" + encodeURIComponent(term);
+    return false;
+}
+
 function clearForm() {
     document.getElementById('username').value = '';
     // Optionally reload the page to clear results