OUTDATED - 40: FAQ / HELP: 403 Access Denied Errors

mclemore

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403 Errors

A number of our users have experienced '403 Access Denied' errors while attempting to submit a post or send a private message.

These errors are usually caused by our firewall's block of submissions it deems risky. when it deems it to be risky.

Top 100 reasons your Post or PM resulted in a 403 error (a work in progress obviously):

1. EXTERNAL LINKS: Including a URL to a file hosting site known to have harbored malware in the past, known to not screen uploads, or for some other reasons been added to an industry-wide 'suspect' list. If you included an external file hosting URL, try removing the URL and see if your post will go through. There are hundreds of banned sites, ranging from Anglefire.com, FileDen.com, to known IP addresses of malware control servers.

2. PROGRAMMING CODE: Included PHP, PERL, or ASP code or SQL statements, may upset the firewall.

3. URL PATHS: Content that look like a attempted directory traversal, such as a combination of double periods and slashes together, may upset the firewall. The inclusion of paths that look like known Windows or Unix paths will upset it. One user had a link blocked because he created an image directory called 'etc'. Including a path that includes "/etc" and then "/" (slash-etc-slash) will in many cases result in a blocked posting.

4. EXTENDED ASCII/FOREIGN CHARACTERS: Some combinations of extended ASCII characters, in particular some foreign characters strings. Or browsing the site with a browser that isn't well known. Or hundreds of other actions.

If this happens to you and you can't solve the problem:

If this happens to you repeatedly, try simplifying or restating your message. If this doesn't solve your problem, you may email us and we may check our security logs. Be sure to include your email address, which may be checked at www.whatismyip.com
 
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