After adding IP restriction I get a '403 error' for get_file_contents

Question

I have the following code that determines if an image is an SVG or not so that it displays the source if it is (the SVG can then be coloured using CSS):

if (strpos('url_to_an_image', '.svg') !== false) {
    echo file_get_contents('url_to_an_image'); 
} else {
    echo '<img src="url_to_an_image" />';
}

This worked fine, until I added an IP restriction in htaccess when I get the following error:

file_get_contents(http://example.com/images/icons/icon-email.svg): failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden

I have tried the solutions that suggest spoofing a real browser request; they don't work.

Is there another solution for this, or another approach I could use to display SVGs?

Maybe you forgot to allow own IP? Also why use URL when file is located on your system? Use path to file and no IP restrictions will apply. — Justinas, Jan 04 '18 at 11:37

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 04 '18 at 12:09

1

i had the same issue and finally found out what happened. My VPS provider put in a "deny from all" in the .htaccess after putting in a huge list of "allow from" IP addresses.

They did this because of a bonet attack on the site.

answered Jan 04 '18 at 12:09

jDeep

11
2

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 04 '18 at 11:39

0

You're getting the 403 error because php doesn't seem to have the permission to open this file. What's your exact code to block the IPs? Do not use an URL when it's on your own server, just use an absolute path.

answered Jan 04 '18 at 11:39

dmuensterer

1,875
11
26

Thank you, it was because I was using the full path! – greebstreebling Jan 04 '18 at 12:19
You're welcome. It's always the best way to use a path and not a URL since your page will also work on an different domain or server without major changes. – dmuensterer Jan 05 '18 at 12:35
yeah, I'm using expressionengine cms and it was actually a tag that returned the full url so I didn't realise at first. – greebstreebling Jan 07 '18 at 09:26

After adding IP restriction I get a '403 error' for get_file_contents

2 Answers2