htaccess file help please

[Mark Shapiro]

Is it appropriate to ask for help about a simple
htaccess question here? I have a spammer always
trying to flood/hack my site, and it's from one
IP adresss in Russia. I looked on the web and
found examples, oh I will just go ask:

Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine on

rewritecond %{http_host} ^JudgmentBuy.com$ [nc]
rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://www.JudgmentBuy.com/$1 [r=301,nc]

order allow,deny
deny from 91.201.66.76
allow from all



--- any glaring errors?

 

[Doug Miller]

Is it appropriate to ask for help about a simple
htaccess question here?

You're more likely to get useful advice if you post in
alt.apache.configuration

I have a spammer always
trying to flood/hack my site, and it's from one
IP adresss in Russia. I looked on the web and
found examples, oh I will just go ask:

Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine on

rewritecond %{http_host} ^JudgmentBuy.com$ [nc]
rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://www.JudgmentBuy.com/$1 [r=301,nc]

order allow,deny
deny from 91.201.66.76
allow from all



--- any glaring errors?

 

[Beauregard T. Shagnasty]

Certainly your firewall would be a better place to block the spammer
at.

...unless it is a shared hosting server. Then .htaccess would be the
better place.

 

[Denis McMahon]

--- any glaring errors?

The directives that you can use in an .htaccess file depend on the
allowoveride settings for the directory concerned in the apache config
for the [virtual] server concerned.

Afair you need at least "limit" to use allow / deny / order in an .htaccess.

You might want to ask your hosting company.

If it's your own server, editing the apache config for the [virtual]
server concerned is the recommended approach for such things.

Rgds

Denis McMahon

 

[Mark Shapiro]

You might want to ask your hosting company.

If it's your own server, editing the apache config for the [virtual]
server concerned is the recommended approach for such things.

Thank you much. I have contacted the hosting company, as it's a shared
hosting site.

 

[Mark Shapiro]

You might want to ask your hosting company.
If it's your own server, editing the apache config for the [virtual]
server concerned is the recommended approach for such things.

Thank you much. I have contacted the hosting company, as it's a shared
hosting site.

Well, my ISP said that since I was on a shared hosting server,
the spammer uses the system's CGI script, so my htaccess file
was being ignored. They said I could (4 times the price)
upgrade my account to move the mail cgi script to my home
directory. Oh well.

 

[Jonathan N. Little]

Well, my ISP said that since I was on a shared hosting server,
the spammer uses the system's CGI script, so my htaccess file
was being ignored. They said I could (4 times the price)
upgrade my account to move the mail cgi script to my home
directory. Oh well.

Change your ISP. There are plenty out there that allow you to have your
own CGI scripts on the cheap. I use to use FatCow when I could use
shared hosting which like others in its class allow for your own user
cgi-bin. I like them, but had to move to a VPS solution to satisfy PCI
Compliance...

 

[Beauregard T. Shagnasty]

Well, my ISP said that since I was on a shared hosting server,

Hmm? Your ISP is the 'pipe' by which you personally connect to the
Internet. DSL/cable/dialup. Who is your *web hosting company?*

the spammer uses the system's CGI script,

So there is an insecure script at your web site. You should fix that.

so my htaccess file was being ignored. They

Your ISP?

said I could (4 times the price) upgrade my account to move the mail
cgi script to my home directory. Oh well.

Run away fast.

 

[Mark Shapiro]

So there is an insecure script at your web site. You should fix that.


Your ISP?


Run away fast.

Pair.com - they are very reliable. $8 a month,

 

[Jonathan N. Little]

Pair.com - they are very reliable. $8 a month,

Not very reliable if their mail cgi script you have to use is
hackable... Many other fish in the sea. Checked on my old hosting co.

http://www.fatcow.com/

They dropped the price since I used them, now $78 which works out $6.50
a month, and you have your own cgi-bin... They are not alone, I hear
Bluehost, 1&1 are good...

 

[Denis McMahon]

Pair.com - they are very reliable. $8 a month,

1) Like I said before, any directives you add to .htaccess will only
work if they are allowed by the site config. If they're not allowed,
your site might just generate 500 errors to all visitors if there's an
unrecognised / not permitted directive in the .htaccess.

2) Someone at your hosting company is giving you bad information if they
say "your .htaccess is being ignored because the mail script is a system
wide cgi". Either he means they don't support .htaccess, or the person
who spoke to you doesn't understand what he's talking about. The
mailform cgi will be accessed through a symlink that you can control
with the .htaccess if .htaccess is supported (it may not be).

3) Try the following in your .htaccess

order allow deny
deny from 91.201.66.76
allow from all

If it doesn't stop the spammer, then either the server is set up without
"AllowOverride limit" for your <directory> section, or although he's
spamming you, he's not actually doing it by accessing the cgi through
your website (even if he's accessing the cgi on your server).

Can you clarify the nature of the spamming? Is he sending spam to you,
or sending spam to other people that seems to come from your website? Do
you have examples of spams with all headers that we could perhaps look
at to analyse? (Don't post them here)

Rgds

Denis McMahon