What do I do if I have a 403 forbidden page?

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Find out how to get your website back online if it displays a 403 forbidden page

Objective

A "403 forbidden" page may appear in the following cases:

  • FTP access rights (CHMOD) are insufficient or restricted. Access to the file/folder/website you want to access via your browser is then denied by the web server of your web hosting plan.

  • The .htaccess file contains an access restriction rule.

  • A security plugin protects web browser access to your files/folder/websites.

  • An application firewall is enabled.

Following the detection of suspicious operation, our security robots may temporarily block access to files on your web hosting plan. This is supposed to prevent:

  • The progress of any potential hacking of your data stored on your web hosting plan.

  • Sending malicious code to other entities/websites, which could then lead to their being hacked.

  • Carrying out illegal operations.

This device also legally protects you from actions resulting from a possible hack of your web hosting towards other organisations/websites.

If you are affected by this type of blocking, you will be sent a notification via the email address of the “administrator” contact for your Web Hosting plan.

http-403

Find out how to unblock access to your website if you see a "403 forbidden" page.

Information regarding OVHcloud service administration and how to find appropriate assistance

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  • User instructions aim to provide as many details as possible but cannot cover individual use cases. You might need to adapt the pertinent actions to your requirements.
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Warning

This guide is designed to help you with common tasks. Nevertheless, we recommend contacting a specialist provider or reach out to the OVHcloud community if you encounter any difficulties. We will not be able to assist you.

Requirements

OVHcloud Control Panel Access

  • Direct link:
  • Navigation path: Web Cloud > Hosting plans > Select your web hosting plan

Instructions

Step 1: Analyse the situation

If the page "403 forbidden" appeared following a modification of your website, restore all or part of the FTP storage space of your hosting to an earlier date.

If the available backups do not allow you to restore access to your website, contact a specialised provider.

If the page "403 forbidden" did not appear following a modification of your website, check your inbox. If you have received an email from OVHcloud notifying you that your web hosting plan has been closed for security reasons, please skip directly to step 2 of this guide.

If the page "403 forbidden" appeared without any action on your part and you have not received any email from our services about it, check the FTP access rights (CHMOD) of your files and folders as well as the code contained in your .htaccess file(s). Also check if the restriction is caused by a security plugin or application firewall. If necessary, contact a specialised provider.

Step 2: Apply security measures on your side

First, check the security of your computers and devices:

  • Perform security updates for all your devices.

  • Check that an antivirus software is installed, update it and run a full scan. If you do not have one, consult a specialised provider before installing.

  • Change all of your account passwords, including those of your email accounts, following the best practices specified in this guide.

  • Change the passwords for all of your OVHcloud services, including your database and your FTP storage.

Warning

Before changing the password for your website’s database in your , update your website’s configuration file so that it connects to the database with the new password.

Otherwise, changing your database password will result in your website and any services accessing it being blocked.

If you have any doubts about the changes to be made, contact OVHcloud partners.

Step 3: Intervene on your web hosting plan

First, take note of the date on which the OVHcloud email regarding the deactivation of your hosting and the list of folder(s) containing the malicious files detected.

Info

Our security robots can apply two levels of access restriction to your web hosting plan:

  • Access permissions are set to CHMOD 700 at the FTP root of your web hosting plan
  • Access permissions are set to CHMOD 000 at the FTP root of your web hosting plan.

If you wish to revert CHMOD 000 permissions, please contact our support teams to check the status of your issue before following the steps in this guide.

Depending on your situation, access restrictions can be changed from CHMOD 000 to CHMOD 700 to allow you access to your web hosting plan’s FTP space.

Case no. 1: Your web hosting plan has been disabled for less than two weeks

If access to your hosting plan was blocked less than two weeks ago and it contains only one website, restore your FTP storage space to an earlier date. If your web hosting contains multiple websites, only restore the folder or folders containing the illegitimate files.

To restore all or part of your FTP storage space, see our guide on this topic.

Warning

Restoring only your FTP storage space is not sufficient to correct potential security vulnerabilities previously present on your website. To identify these security vulnerabilities, analyse the web logs of your web hosting plan, or contact a specialised provider to perform a security audit on your websites.

Case no. 2: Your web hosting plan has been disabled for more than two weeks

If your hosting plan was closed more than two weeks ago, please contact a specialist provider to perform a security audit on your websites.

Tip

If you would like more details on the previous steps 2 and 3, please refer to our tutorial on what to do if your website is hacked.

Step 4: Reactivating your web hosting with FileZilla

Warning

We recommend that you carry out a security audit before reopening your web hosting plan. Any malicious actions originating from your web hosting plan may result in your being held legally responsible.

Info

If you want to install the FileZilla software to manipulate your website files, follow the instructions in this guide.

Open the FileZilla application, then log in to your FTP storage space. Click on Server in the menu bar then on Enter custom command (the button may be differently labelled, depending on which version of FileZilla you are using):

command_filezilla1

In the window that pops up, enter and validate the command below:

SITE CHMOD 705 /
command_filezilla2

The response "200 Permissions changed on /" confirms that the change was successful. To check, try accessing your site again.

Warning

You may need to wait a few minutes (maximum 20 minutes) for the change to be visible in your web browser.

Depending on your website, you may also need to clear your browser’s cache.

If the above command does not work, you can try this command:

SITE CHMOD 705.
Warning

You may need to wait a few minutes (maximum 20 minutes) for the change to be visible in your web browser.

Depending on your website, you may also need to clear your browser’s cache.

Go further

What to do if your WordPress site is hacked

Activating the application firewall

Changing a web hosting plan’s PHP version

For specialised services (SEO, development, etc.), contact OVHcloud partners.

If you would like assistance using and configuring your OVHcloud solutions, please refer to our support offers.

Join our community of users.

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