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#14208 Web Firewall Issues on Tablets/Ipads

Posted in ‘Admin Tools for Joomla! 4 & 5’
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Environment Information

Joomla! version
n/a
PHP version
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Admin Tools version
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Latest post by nicholas on Friday, 30 November 2012 10:55 CST

Friday, 30 November 2012 09:58 CST

habdaddy

Mandatory information about my setup:

Have I read the related troubleshooter articles above before posting (which pages?)? Yes
Have I searched the tickets before posting? Yes
Have I read the documentation before posting (which pages?)? Yes
Joomla! version: 2.5.8
PHP version: 5.3.18
MySQL version: 5.1.65
Host: Green Geeks
Admin Tools version: 2.4.2

Description of my issue:

I have the web firewall all setup and it is working fine except when we try to access the backend of the site using a tablet (Android) or Ipad.  We go to the site and eventually get the message for the Auto Ban - Repeat Offenders.  Keep in mind that we only tried to access the site once yet it acts as if we accessed it incorrectly multiple times (this is how we get banned).

At first I thought it might be the template but have tried this on two sites using completely different templates and get the same result.

Friday, 30 November 2012 10:16 CST

nicholas

You either have a template or a system plugin which tries to redirect your browser if it detects that the request comes from a non-desktop device. This would remove the secret word from the URL and cause repeated security exceptions to be registered, leading to you being automatically banned.

FWIW, I am administering my site from my iPad about 60% of the time and another 5% from my iPhone :) So, check your template and plugins. Something fishy is going on.

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

🇬🇷Greek: native 🇬🇧English: excellent 🇫🇷French: basic • 🕐 My time zone is Europe / Athens
Please keep in mind my timezone and cultural differences when reading my replies. Thank you!

Friday, 30 November 2012 10:31 CST

habdaddy

I am wondering if it would make a difference if you login using this url:

www.test.com/administrator/index.php?myspecialword

vs

www.test.com/administrator/?myspecialword

 

Friday, 30 November 2012 10:55 CST

nicholas

It makes a huge difference. The explanation has to do with the way Apache parses and internally routes URLs. The bottom line is that the first method (with the index.php) is the unambiguous one and should always be preferred.

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

🇬🇷Greek: native 🇬🇧English: excellent 🇫🇷French: basic • 🕐 My time zone is Europe / Athens
Please keep in mind my timezone and cultural differences when reading my replies. Thank you!

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