front-end authentication required with Firefox

  • Resolved enricolino

    (@enricolino)


    4 years, 12 months ago

    Hello guys,

    I need your help! I have a serious problem with my site when using Firefox! I protected my wp-admin folder with a password and I added to the .htaccess file a rule to whitelist my admin-ajax.php, to avoid some problems I had in the past with a plugin which needed access to this file. After the last two WP updates, I assume, when I visit [ redundant link removed ] using Firefox, I am asked to authenticate. I don’t understand why it happens, BUT, apparently, it is not a problem of the plugins anymore (I deactivated them all and the issue was still there)! Could anyone understand what can cause this trouble? By the way, to add an info, if I click on cancel, I can go on surfing the website without getting an error as it usually happens while doing the same accessing the backend. I would truly appreciate any suggestion.

    Thanks in advance

    Enrico

    • This topic was modified 4 years, 12 months ago by Jan Dembowski.
    • This topic was modified 4 years, 12 months ago by Jan Dembowski.

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • Clayton James

    (@claytonjames)

    4 years, 12 months ago

    What does the rule you added to the .htaccess file that allows access to admin-ajax.php look like?

    Thread Starter enricolino

    (@enricolino)

    4 years, 12 months ago

    Hello @claytonjames

    the rule I added is this:

    
<Files admin-ajax.php>
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
    Satisfy any
</Files>

    The strange thing is that the problem appears only using Firefox!

    Clayton James

    (@claytonjames)

    4 years, 12 months ago

    That is an odd one. That rule is located in the .htaccess file that’s inside the /wp-admin directory, correct?

    Thread Starter enricolino

    (@enricolino)

    4 years, 12 months ago

    Yes, correct, this rule is in the .htaccess file inside wp-admin directory and it worked until the last couple of Wp updates….

    Clayton James

    (@claytonjames)

    4 years, 12 months ago

    Okay… this seems a little weird. When I visit the site (in Firefox) I get the dialog asking me to authenticate. After I decline authentication, I can see one “401 forbidden/unauthorized” error being generated in your net responses. The path to that file is /wp-admin/images/w-logo-blue.png

    [edit] – Just a little more info – I get the same 401 response on that file in the Edge browser as well, but it doesn’t set off the authentication request.

    • This reply was modified 4 years, 12 months ago by Clayton James.
    Thread Starter enricolino

    (@enricolino)

    4 years, 12 months ago

    Weird indeed :-O. Any idea what I could do? I don’t get any error when I click on ok without inserting user and password and not even clicking on cancel…. The pop up window disappears and I can surf the site!

    Clayton James

    (@claytonjames)

    4 years, 12 months ago

    This might be relevant (although I cannot explain why Firefox reacts the way it does).

    Enhancements to favicon handling in WordPress 5.4

    My understanding of this behavior is best explained here: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/47398#comment:10

    If this was my site I might try the following:

    Confirm this is the issue by temporarily renaming or removing the .htaccess file in the /wp-admin directory, then clear the cache in firefox and see if the problem is gone.

    If the problem is resolved, re-activate the .htaccess file and try either

    A) whitelist the w-logo-blue.png file, or

    B) place a favicon.ico file in your site directory (also note the reference to that file in customizer in the trac conversation), and see if that removes the 401 and the authentication request.

    I cannot guess why firefox stumbles on this while other browsers do not.

    Thread Starter enricolino

    (@enricolino)

    4 years, 12 months ago

    Wow, that’s crazy but it is exactly the issue! I whitelisted the w-logo-blue.png and the problem disappeared. THANKS A LOT :-)!!!!!!!

    Could you please explain this sentence “(also note the reference to that file in customizer in the trac conversation)” of the B) solution? In case I create a favicon is there something else needed?

    Thanks again, you saved me 🙂

    Cheers

    Enrico

    Clayton James

    (@claytonjames)

    4 years, 12 months ago

    You’re welcome, I’m glad that worked!

    My reference to customizer in the trac conversation was just to highlight that there should be an option in the customizer that lets you set a favicon. Otherwise ,you could use your own. There’s a good “how to” here – https://wordpress.org/support/article/creating-a-favicon/

    Thread Starter enricolino

    (@enricolino)

    4 years, 12 months ago

    Ah ok, sure, thanks! I still didn’t create a favoicon due to the lack of inspiration, but I will! Thanks again for your precious help!

    Ciao 🙂

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
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