Hello,
I am running phpBB 3.3.19 on InfinityFree. The forum loads normally, but whenever I submit a new post or reply, I get a 403 Forbidden error or a blank page. The posting URL is posting.php?mode=post&f=4. I can enter text, but the post cannot be saved. I also sometimes experience errors when logging out.
Could you please check whether your security filter is blocking POST requests to phpBB?
Thank you.
Other Information
phpBB 3.3.19, PHP 8.4.25.
Steps to reproduce
Log in to the forum.
Open a topic or start a new post.
Enter a short message, such as “Huhu”.
Click Submit.
Current behavior
The post cannot be saved. I get a 403 Forbidden error or a blank page. Sometimes logging out also fails.
Expected behavior
The post should be saved normally.
Additional information
The forum itself loads normally. I also corrected a PHP configuration warning about mbstring.http_input, but the 403 error still occurs.
Could you please check whether a security filter is blocking the POST request?
Welcome to the InfinityFree community forum! Good to have you here.
Most people answering here are volunteers. They’re often the fastest source of help. Admin (the only staff member) checks in about once a day for issues on our end.
Volunteers can’t see your account or website. Share what you actually see, like error messages and what happens when you try something. That’s more useful than your theory of what’s wrong.
AI tools often get InfinityFree wrong. If a volunteer’s advice differs from what an AI told you, please try the volunteer’s suggestion first.
Solving an issue is a joint effort. Try the suggestions you get and report back what happened.
Beep boop, I’m a bot! I dug through the forum to get you started. I sometimes get things wrong though, so do with this what you will until a human has a look.
Could you tell me exactly what the 403 page says and what URL is in the address bar when it appears? Does the 403 page carry InfinityFree’s branding, or is it a plain “Forbidden” page? That would show whether it’s our hosting refusing the request or something in phpBB or your .htaccess.
I’d also like to know whether it happens with every message, or only some. Try a one-word post, then a longer one, and tell me if both fail.
I found two articles that could be related, but nothing yet that points at your case.
The first covers the browser security check. It says the check only stops tools and apps that can’t run JavaScript or keep cookies, and that real browsers work normally.
The second lists URL keywords we block automatically, such as chat and includes. Your posting URL doesn’t contain either, but the exact URL in the error would show whether another one does.