403 Forbidden error

Hi all,

So I recently moved hosters & I use ManageWP to log into all of my sites. I've been using them for what, the last 10-15 years?

While I have other issues with this one site, I've NEVER ever had an issue with whatever a 403 is. I don't even know what this means.

I'm already logged in through MWP & I go to edit a comment I made on my own article. I get that error.

Or I try to even load the page & I get that error.

I tried to just log in manually without MWP & I got that error.

The hoster is denying it has anything to do with him, but what else could it be. I've never had this issues with the last 2 hosters I've been with for years.

Here's what he said...

"403 is strictly authentication and nothing else. It has nothing to do with who or where the login is having, only with authentication.
If you get a 403 error it only means that you are NOT authenticated any longer, whatever that reason may be.

You believe you are logged in, but if you get a 403 error you are most definitely no longer logged in and need to re-authenticate. Your browser may be showing cached information from a screen that was previously logged in but if you get a 403 error you are no longer authenticated.

I would suggest going to (removed) and logging in to the shared hosting control panel, go to the website and click the button that says "Log in to Admin" and it will perform a SSO log in session with wordpress.

It sounds like whatever management program you are using uses a similar SSO method for logging into your wordpress sites, there is probably something going on with that SSO session they are creating.

This is not a server related issue, server related issue would be server wide and I've been logging into wordpress sites all day without any issue and I have many many customers on that same server who are logging into their sites without any 403 errors.

I have no problem helping you troubleshoot this but this is related specifically to whatever method you are using to authenticate and your local environment and this is not server related, there is nothing I can do on the server side to address a 403 error that is not a global issue, the problem is isolated to your environment."

At first I thought it was my browser, so I tested it on Chrome which I rarely ever use & it's doing it there too.

It's an intermittent thing so one day the page will load, & the next week I get the error.

It started on April 6th. I was swamped with a move, but I think it stopped around the 15th although I'm not sure because I didn't work on the site when I was so busy, & now it's back, but in the last 3 days nothing, so it's definitely intermittent.

I even moved to a whole new city, ISP, etc. & it's still happening.

Please help. I don't even know what SSO is & even if he thinks it's MWP. I already told him I tried to log in manually & I got that error too. sigh

Thanks

I'm not tech-savvy so I can't help (probably).

But by what you're describing it seems like there's an issue with that site specifically. So, like your hosting customer support guy said: it's definitely not a server issue.

And you said you've tried different browsers, so it's not a browser / caching issue either.

What's left to pinpoint is plugins / themes that are isolated to that site specifically...

So, think about which plugins you are using on that site that you're not using on other sites, and - if it's not a problem to remove / de-activate that plugin briefly - log into your site's File Manager via FTP and remove that plugin (or those plugins that are unique to this site) to see if it solves the issue, and then you can re-instate each plugin individually until you find the culprit.

It seems like the issue you are facing is related to authentication. The 403 error means that you are not logged in. Even if you believe you are logged in, if you see this error, you need to re-authenticate. This could be due to a problem with the Single Sign-On (SSO) method used by your management program. I would recommend trying to log in to the shared hosting control panel and then accessing your website through the "Log in to Admin" button to perform an SSO log in session with WordPress. This should help resolve the authentication issue you are experiencing. It's possible that the error is related to your local environment and the SSO method being used, rather than a server-wide problem. If the error persists, you may need to further troubleshoot your authentication settings.

I've seen 403 errors caused by mod_security, IP blocks, or even overly aggressive firewall rules, especially after host migrations.
If you're getting the same error even without ManageWP (manual login), it’s likely not SSO-related.
I’d ask the host to check mod_security and any IP blocking rules on their end.
Also try disabling all plugins via FTP just to rule out conflicts.

Also check your server logs.

tazarbm said:

I'm not tech-savvy so I can't help (probably).

But by what you're describing it seems like there's an issue with that site specifically. So, like your hosting customer support guy said: it's definitely not a server issue.

And you said you've tried different browsers, so it's not a browser / caching issue either.

What's left to pinpoint is plugins / themes that are isolated to that site specifically...

So, think about which plugins you are using on that site that you're not using on other sites, and - if it's not a problem to remove / de-activate that plugin briefly - log into your site's File Manager via FTP and remove that plugin (or those plugins that are unique to this site) to see if it solves the issue, and then you can re-instate each plugin individually until you find the culprit.

Click to expand...

Right, well if that was the case, then why wasn't it happening before I moved hosters?

OUG said:

It seems like the issue you are facing is related to authentication. The 403 error means that you are not logged in. Even if you believe you are logged in, if you see this error, you need to re-authenticate. This could be due to a problem with the Single Sign-On (SSO) method used by your management program. I would recommend trying to log in to the shared hosting control panel and then accessing your website through the "Log in to Admin" button to perform an SSO log in session with WordPress. This should help resolve the authentication issue you are experiencing. It's possible that the error is related to your local environment and the SSO method being used, rather than a server-wide problem. If the error persists, you may need to further troubleshoot your authentication settings.

Click to expand...

But as I said, I logged in manually as well, & it did it. Prior to that I thought it was MWP, but that one step ruled that out, then Chrome ruled out my browser & again, this only started when I moved hosters & not right away either. I think it started in month 2 with him.

I don't have time to log in via his admin panel every time. I've been using MWP for years. I'm not even sure how to do that. Are you saying you think that will correct the problem permanently?

I'm not sure how, but if it does, I am willing to give it a try, but that still doesn't explain why it only started with him & I never had this specific problem with any other hoster.

Thanks

Deleted member 752298 said:

I've seen 403 errors caused by mod_security, IP blocks, or even overly aggressive firewall rules, especially after host migrations.
If you're getting the same error even without ManageWP (manual login), it’s likely not SSO-related.
I’d ask the host to check mod_security and any IP blocking rules on their end.
Also try disabling all plugins via FTP just to rule out conflicts.

Also check your server logs.

Click to expand...

I haven't talked to my website coder in ages, so I have no one to help me with logs & stuff & I don't know how to shut off all plugins thru FTP, only thru WP.

I'm going to go with your first impression b/c this guy is a security "expert."

I don't think he knows much about hosting. He already made mistakes with the email on cloudflare when I first joined, & something else I can't remember now, & his ego irks me with him insinuating I'm the problem & he's just here to "help" even though it's not part of the hosting requirements.

I don't even think he apologized for his mistake, me wasting my time, & him making me think I wasn't setting things up properly on Thunderbird when I've been using TB since 2004 & have changed servers many times over the years.

I'm concerned if I tell him to look at that he will bite my head off. sigh

I may have to start looking of another hoster again & I hate doing that.

I shouldn't have to fear emailing my own bloody hoster.

Thanks

P.S. Why do you think it only happens intermittently? And why doesn't it happen with other customers' sites?

ep2002 said:

Right, well if that was the case, then why wasn't it happening before I moved hosters?

Click to expand...

I've no idea, I suck at coding. I was just giving some suggestions where to look