Title: False 403 Errors
Last modified: November 7, 2018

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# False 403 Errors

 *  Resolved [ChuckC3](https://wordpress.org/support/users/chuckc3/)
 * (@chuckc3)
 * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/false-403-errors/)
 * When the broken link checker scans this page:
 * [http://managedagile.com/training-courses-2/](http://managedagile.com/training-courses-2/)
 * it comes up with (8) 403 errors but I believe that is a false result. When I 
   test any of the links myself on this page, they all work fine. Here’s an example
   of a link that the broken link checker claims is broken due to a 403 error that
   works fine:
 * [https://www.udemy.com/learn-the-truth-about-agile-versus-waterfall/learn/v4/overview](https://www.udemy.com/learn-the-truth-about-agile-versus-waterfall/learn/v4/overview)
 * Thanks for your help,
 * Chuck Cobb
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Ffalse-403-errors%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  [Marco Beierer](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbsec/)
 * (@mbsec)
 * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/false-403-errors/#post-10858413)
 * Hi Chuck
 * The status code 403 means _forbidden_ and some sites return it when the page 
   isn’t accessed with a browser, but automated.
 * In my opinion this is a misuse of the status code, at least if the pages are 
   not listed in the robots.txt file.
 * And because a status code 403 could also be a valid response, it is very hard
   to detect the false positives…
 * Best regards
    Marco
 *  Thread Starter [ChuckC3](https://wordpress.org/support/users/chuckc3/)
 * (@chuckc3)
 * [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/false-403-errors/#post-10858492)
 * Thanks for your response – that makes sense and explains why I do not get any
   error when I manually access the same link with a web browser.
 * So, it sounds like the site this link is pointing to is erroneously returning
   an HTTP 503 error when the broken links plugin tries to access it.
    -  This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by [ChuckC3](https://wordpress.org/support/users/chuckc3/).

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The topic ‘False 403 Errors’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/broken-link-checker/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=2900468)
 * [Broken Link Checker](https://wordpress.org/plugins/broken-link-checker/)
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 * 2 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [ChuckC3](https://wordpress.org/support/users/chuckc3/)
 * Last activity: [7 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/false-403-errors/#post-10858492)
 * Status: resolved