403 Forbidden – htaccess (on an inaccessible directory)

Domains and Hosting
1

Hello,

After a hack and several complications, I decided to rebuild my showcase website (and change the CMS at the same time).

OVH sent me an email:

"Our monitoring system detected an irregular operation on your site. This message is intended to alert you that your site and data may be at risk.
As a security measure, we have blocked access to your site, however, access to your hosting space (FTP) is still available."

So I decided to delete the directories and database of the old site.

I placed an index.php (to indicate maintenance) in my www directory

and I get the infamous "Forbidden You don't have permission to access this resource. Server unable to read htaccess file, denying access to be safe"

I looked for the cause in the logs and got:

"[Mon Sep 14 16:00:27 2026] [X-OVHRequest-Id: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] [crit] [client xx.xxx.x.xxx:0] [host www.indiceoconseil.com] AH00529: /homez.98/xxxxxxxx/.htaccess pcfg_openfile: unable to check htaccess file, ensure it is readable and that '/homez.98/xxxxxx/' is executable"

But I don't have access to the /homez.98/ directory.

In my OVH account I have:

Datacenter: eu-west-gra

Cluster: cluster123

Filer: 98

Websites: 3

How can I delete the .htaccess file in the "/homez.98/xxxxxxxx/.htaccess" directory?

Thank you,

Gilles

2

Hello @GillesC60

Create an Incident ticket in which you explain what you did and request the unblock:

Manager OVH > https://www.ovh.com/manager/#/dedicated/useraccount/dashboard > My support requests > Create a request / ticket

Put this ticket number on this forum (in case a member of the OVH Team passes by)

then:

Call OVH support at +33 9 72 10 10 07.
Preferably between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. in the morning, or around 3 p.m. there is less waiting.

Or already now on Twitter @ovh_support_fr or #OVHcloudsupport

image
image676×336 118 KB

3

Thanks!

I'll keep you posted (for the community)

Ticket CS16717618 created on Sep 15 at 09:14

4

Hello,

See, using FileZilla, if you have the right to change the permission of the folder that corresponds to your user.

If it has permission 700 (rwx------), change it to 705 (rwx---r-x).

For a first incident it is possible, but not certain, that you can handle it yourself.
If your site was blocked a second time (recurrence), this operation requires support intervention.

5

Hello,

I can change the permissions: ok

But the error says that the .htaccess file is in a directory I don't have access to via my FTP!!!

Incomprehensible: the .htaccess (in question) is located at /homez.98/xxxxxxxx/.htaccess (xxxxxx = my username) and I have no access to it.

I only have access to the root (and to my website (currently empty) www)

So I don't understand!

If you have an explanation of how this .htaccess is being called and how to remove it ...

Thanks

6

Who is the owner and what are the permissions on this .htaccess?

7

Hello @GillesC60

Your ticket has just been processed, the blockage occurred automatically due to the presence of malicious files in your offering.
It will be necessary to clean these unwanted files before you can change the CHMOD of your hosting :wink:

Astérix

8

Hello, indeed, I followed all the recommendations (and eventually) I cleared everything (empty folder and DB deleted)! To start from scratch. I thought the .htaccess would be removed. So easy!!!! But no, the error log shows a .htaccess file in an unknown directory (under the root directory – therefore inaccessible) /homez.98/moncompteovh/. I have no idea why it’s there in the /homez98 directory… and how to delete it… If you have any ideas, I’m all ears :slight_smile:

9

Following the data deletion, the latest scan of your offer no longer finds any malicious file, so the CHMOD has been updated by support.

Everything is operational now :slight_smile:

Astérix

10

Excellent!

Thank you!

Have a nice day