Our servers use Imunify360 to protect websites from hacking attempts, brute-force logins and bad bots. Occasionally it can block or challenge a real visitor. This article explains what you might see and what to do about it.
What you might see
- A short "checking your browser" page, or a CAPTCHA, before the website loads.
- A web address containing
wsidchk. This is part of Imunify360's browser check. - A 403 Forbidden or "Access denied" page when saving a form, uploading a file or using the admin area.
- The website, cPanel or webmail not loading at all from one location while it works fine elsewhere, such as on mobile data.
Why it happens
- The browser check appears when traffic from an IP address looks automated, for example many requests in a short time. Real visitors normally pass it automatically within a few seconds.
- A 403 on a specific action usually means a security rule (the web application firewall) thought the request looked like an attack. This can happen with some page builders, import tools and forms that send unusual content.
- A complete block usually means your IP address was blocked after repeated failed logins. See Why is my IP address blocked from cPanel, WHM or my website?
What to do
- Wait a minute and reload the page. If it's the browser check, make sure JavaScript and cookies are turned on, and complete the CAPTCHA if one appears.
- If it keeps happening, open a support ticket and include:
- the full web address (URL) that was blocked
- the date and time it happened
- your public IP address (search "what is my IP" to find it)
- a screenshot of the message, if you can
With those details we can find the exact rule that was triggered and whitelist it for your site if it's a false positive, or unblock your IP address.
Using Cloudflare?
If your site is behind Cloudflare, two extra things can happen:
- The challenge page gets cached. If Cloudflare is set to cache HTML pages (for example a "Cache Everything" rule), it can save the Imunify360 challenge page and show it to every visitor. Purge the Cloudflare cache to clear it straight away. For a lasting fix, don't cache HTML for pages that change, or let us know so we can stop the rule triggering for your site.
- Visitors share Cloudflare's IP addresses. Let us know in your ticket that the site uses Cloudflare so we can check it's set up correctly on our side.
Please don't try to work around a block by disabling security plugins or changing your site's code. Let us check it first, as the block may be stopping a real attack.
