Broken cPanel HotLink Protection Tool – 404 errors, unable to edit files

  • ResolvedPlugin Author AITpro

    (@aitpro)


    12 years, 4 months ago

    This problem continues to resurface over and over.

    IMPORTANT! Ongoing problem since 2008

    Problem: If you are unable to create .htaccess files with AutoMagic or edit .htaccess files with the built-in editor or you are seeing 404 errors when trying to edit .htaccess files or use AutoMagic and Quarantine does not work period then your site is using the broken cPanel HotLink Protection Tool. It has been broken since 2008 and it also breaks many other WordPress features such as the Plugin Editor and too many other things in WordPress to list here.

    Solution: There is only one way to block the broken cPanel HotLink Protection tool, since enabling and disabling it is also broken – you cannot turn it off. You need to lock your Root .htaccess file with F-Lock and log into cPanel and delete all code that you see in the HotLink Protection tool window. If you unlock your Root .htaccess file at a later time and WordPress and BPS and ARQ are not working correctly again then you will need to repeat these steps to fix the problem again as this broken tool will probably do the same thing again as soon as your Root .htaccess file is unlocked.

    There is example HotLink Protection .htaccess coding included in the BPS Root .htaccess file. It is commented out so if you would like to still have HotLink Protection for your website then uncomment that example .htaccess code and add your actual domain name to the example HotLink Protection .htaccess code.

    https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/bulletproof-security/

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • Plugin Author AITpro

    (@aitpro)

    Actually i stand corrected. I found a post from 2002 that stated that the cPanel HotLink Protection Tool had been broken for some time. LOL

    What is “F-Lock”?

    Plugin Author AITpro

    (@aitpro)

    Please disregard that. F-Lock is only in BPS Pro. The text was copied and pasted from the AITpro website without first modifying it.

    Plugin Author AITpro

    (@aitpro)

    Additional Info:

    You should also delete all the code that you see in the HotLink Protection Tool windows. Since the enable/disable buttons are also broken there is no point in clicking those buttons. Once you have deleted the code in the HotLink Protection Tool windows you would then lock your root .htaccess file. Keep in mind that later if you unlock your root .htaccess file the broken HotLink Protection Tool problem will reoccur again. It is permanently set to On/enabled setting and cannot be turned Off/disabled.

    And here is some more info on exactly what the broken HotLink Protection Tool is doing to break WordPress, BPS and many other WordPress plugins that use .htaccess code >>> https://www.mikedvb.com/2010/09/12/avoid-hotlink-protection-feature-in-cpanel-11-25-11-26/

    Plugin Author AITpro

    (@aitpro)

    Another method to get around the broken cPanel HotLink Protection Tool problem is to delete your root .htaccess file. Then with 2 browser windows open – 1 browser window/tab for cPanel and 1 browser window/tab for your WP Dashboard. You would delete the gibberish code that you will find in the HotLink Protection Tool windows and in BPS you would quickly activate root BulletProof Mode and quickly lock your root .htaccess file.

    Plugin Author AITpro

    (@aitpro)

    The broken cPanel HotLink Protection Tool also causes 403 errors as well as 404 errors and can also cause many other random website problems. If you are using cPanel for your Hosting Control Panel and you are experiencing 403 errors, 404 errors, images are not displaying correctly, your website has crashed, your website is down, etc etc etc, then log into cPanel and check the HotLink Protection Tool. If you see any code in the cPanel settings windows then this is why your website is down, crashed, generating 403 or 404 errors, etc etc etc. Please follow the steps in one of the posts above to “fix” the problem.

    Plugin Author AITpro

    (@aitpro)

    If you check your cPanel HotLink Protection Tool and you see this code below in the text boxes then this confirms that the problem that is occurring on your website is the broken cPanel HotLink Protection Tool problem. Please see the previous posts on how to “fix” this. Also i am currently working on a script that will hopefully permanently really disable this broken tool.

    URLs to allow access:

    (%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00)
\.opendirviewer\.
users\.skynet\.be.*

    Block direct access for these extensions (separate by commas):
    .*

    Plugin Author AITpro

    (@aitpro)

    The broken cPanel HotLink Protection Tool problem also causes 500 Internal Server Errors as well as 404 and 403 errors, breaks WordPress Plugin Editor, breaks other WordPress Admin pages, etc etc etc etc etc etc.

    Basically if your website is broken or crashed or nothing is working and you have cPanel then this is what you should check first.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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