Using blacklist causes 403 error on save

  • Resolved Marc Roth

    (@derroth)


    1 year, 1 month ago

    Hello forge12-team,

    first of all: great work! Your plugin works like a charme! 😉
    I’ve got a minor issue using the predefined blacklist. Activating the blacklist function, loading the list and saving the the setting causes an 403.

    Target URL shown after save:
    ../wp-admin/admin.php?page=f12-cf7-captcha

    and the error message:
    Error 403: your request was denied

    Possible causes for this error are:

    • No index page (e.g. index.php or index.html) was found
    • Your request was denied by our web application firewall. In case you are the operator of this website, you are able customize or disable the Web Application Firewall in our control panel.

    Maybe you’ve got some clues about it, as it might be just a malicous entry in the blacklist. I haven’t added or removed any of them manually.

    Kind regards,
    Marc

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Plugin Support forge12marc

    (@forge12marc)

    1 year, 1 month ago

    Hello Marc,

    Thanks for your message. It seems you are using a Web-Application-Firewall. Can you tell me which WAF you are using?

    If you are using WordFence, you can check this link https://www.wordfence.com/help/blocking/troubleshooting/#403-forbidden-what-why-am-i-seeing-this to solve the issue.

    Best Regards
    Marc

    Thread Starter Marc Roth

    (@derroth)

    1 year, 1 month ago

    Hi Marc,

    Thanks for your reply. I’m not using any Web Application Firewall (WAF) like WordFence or similar – at least none that I’m aware of. The site runs on a fairly standard WordPress setup without any specific security plugin installed.

    Do you have any idea what else might be causing the 403 error?

    Best regards,
    Marc

    Plugin Support forge12marc

    (@forge12marc)

    1 year, 1 month ago

    Hi Marc,

    Thanks for the clarification.

    Even without a dedicated security plugin like WordFence, 403 errors can still occur due to server-level restrictions. Here are a couple of possibilities to check:

    1. ModSecurity (Server-Side WAF):
      Many hosting providers have ModSecurity or similar protections enabled by default. These can block specific requests based on patterns or keywords (e.g. “blacklist”, “block”, etc.). It’s worth checking with your hosting provider if any rules were triggered during the save attempt.
    2. .htaccess Rules or Server Config:
      Occasionally, rules in .htaccess (or nginx configuration) can inadvertently block POST requests or certain query parameters. If you’ve made recent changes to .htaccess, it may be worth reviewing or temporarily restoring a default version.

    If you’d like, I can take a closer look at the specific request triggering the error—e.g. by enabling WP_DEBUG or inspecting the server logs.

    Best regards,
    Marc

    Plugin Support forge12marc

    (@forge12marc)

    1 year, 1 month ago

    deleted

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by forge12marc. Reason: posted twice
    Plugin Support forge12marc

    (@forge12marc)

    8 months, 3 weeks ago

    Hello @derroth ,

    As we did not get any update, I’ll close the ticket for the moment. If you need further assistance, feel free to open a new ticket.

    Best Regards,
    Marc

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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