WordPress 403 Forbidden Error

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I am having a CRAZY error with WordPress. When I create a new article or edit an old one, I cannot insert hotfile links that go after the first trailing slash.

I’m explaining it better. If in a post I do:

Read More
<a href="http://www.hotfile.com">TEST</a>

I can correctly create the article. If I do: 

<a href="http://www.hotfile.com/">TEST</a>

Or longer link, like: 

<a href="http://www.hotfile.com/dl/[...]">TEST</a>

I get an instant 403 error when updating the post from administration. This is crazy, and happens only with Hotfile links. Everything else works like a charm.

What could the error be? If it helps, i’m posting my .htaccess, that I never changed from my WP installation: 

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

Already done repairing and optimization of MySQL DB. Kind thanks in advance to everyone.

Post Views: 2

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5 comments

  1. I’m a regular WP developer, and I see little bugs like this all the time. Unfortunately, it usually means it’s time to go through the tedious work of testing. The problem likely lies either with Apache/htaccess, or in a WP plugin or Theme.

    To attempt to eliminate WP as the cause of this specific issue, I’d try creating a php file with the following in it:

    <?
if (isset($_POST["field"]))
    echo $_POST["field"];
?>
<form method='post'>
    <input type='hidden' name='field' value='<a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/">TEST</a>'>
    <input type='submit' value='Test'>
</form>

    If clicking “Test” does not result in the same 403 error, then it’s something happening with WP specifically. If it does result in a 403, then it’s a much more annoying problem that you are going to want to take up with your hosting provider.

    If it is a WP problem, the first thing I would do is to start deactivating plugins 1 by 1, starting with the plugins I think are the most likely culprits. If I have no reason to suspect one over another, I just disabled them all, 1 at a time. Once a plugin is disabled, I try to recreate the original issue. If the problem still happens, it’s obvious that plugin wasn’t at fault, and I reactivate it and test the next one. 9 times out of 10, my issue is found this way. Be careful when trying this, as some plugins will clear their settings when they’re deactivated.

    If that doesn’t solve the issue, I’ll try a different theme and see if that fixes it. Obviously if the problem is gone when you try a new theme, you know where your problem is. Again, some themes can have setting associated with them, and changing the theme can lose those settings.

    Finally, check your wp-content/mu-plugins folder for plugins that are always active and don’t always show up in your list of plugins.

  2. I realize this post is as ancient as time itself but I’ve run into a similar problem took me forever to figure out what was going on until i realized all I had to do is add:

    Options +FollowSymLinks

    At the top of the .htaccess file and presto! It worked.

    Options +FollowSymLinks
# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

    Credit goes to this good man: http://www.coolestguyplanettech.com/403-forbidden-error-wordpress-htaccess/

  3. I also had a similar issue, apparently wordpress has some problems with some bits of code I tried to add in my post. I managed to bypass the issue by surrounding the code in <pre> tags.

  4. Mostly, 403 forbidden error is because of four reasons 1. File permission. 2. Issue with plugins. 3. Hotlink protection 4. issue with .htaccess file 5. Your CDN(Content Delivery Network). For solving this error you need to check all these aspects to remove the error.

    1. check the file permission as you know
      the file has permission for 644 and the directory 755
    2. Deactivate the plugins. Sometimes you might get errors because of plugins
    3. next you need to delete .htaccess file and create a new file with the below code
    # BEGIN WordPress
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
# END WordPress
    1. Next you need to check hotlink protection for your site. As it proved your website to link media or files from other sites.
    2. lastly, you need to check for CDN you can disable it to know if it causing error or not.

  5. I know my answer is late in coming but just wanted to add my 2 cents.

    1. I would recommend checking the .htaccess file to make sure it is similar to below.

      # BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /
    RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L]
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

    2. You could try adding Options +FollowSymLinks as adamj stated in his answer so the .htaccess would look similar to below.

      Options +FollowSymLinks
# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /
    RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L]
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

    3. Check to ensure that no plugin are causing the issue. Disable all plugins to see if the issue persist. If it doesnt, it would be a process of elimination to figure out which one is the cause.

    4. Finally, I have removed the .htaccess file and that also worked for me but no .htaccess file would means no URL rewrite unless your web server is otherwise configured.

    I hope this helps someone.