.htaccess Security

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Here is most of our .htaccess file. This is what I like to call the forefront of our site. It works just like a firewall. We have been using our .htaccess for a few months now and we love the results. I know it can occasionally be hard to find the right command to do the job, so I’d like to show you all of the lines, not just the ones that are security related. If you are not using Joomla! you will have to strip about ten lines from this.

This is a great reference piece, and I strongly recommend the use of most of this file.

# Lets deny some users
# deny from xx.xxx.xxx.xxx

# Use Options
Options +FollowSymLinks

#  mod_rewrite in use
RewriteEngine On

#  Uncomment following line if your webserver’s URL
#  is not directly related to physical file paths.
#RewriteBase /

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^corephp.com
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ [R=permanent,L]

#Redirect moved pages
Redirect 301 /old-link.html

#Rewrites
RedirectMatch    ^/somedir(/)?$  

ServerSignature Off
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD}  ^(HEAD|TRACE|DELETE|TRACK) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST}     ^.*(\r|\n|%0A|%0D).* [NC,OR]

RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER}    ^(.*)(<|>|’|%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE}     ^.*(<|>|’|%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI}     ^/(,|;|:|<|>|”>|”<|/|\..\).{0,9999}.* [NC,OR]

RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^(java|curl|wget).* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.*(winhttp|HTTrack|clshttp|archiver|loader|email|harvest|extract|grab|miner).* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.*(libwww-perl|curl|wget|python|nikto|scan).* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.*(<|>|’|%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).* [NC,OR]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING}    ^.*(;|<|>|’|”|)|%0A|%0D|%22|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).*(/*|union|select|insert|cast|set|declare|drop|update|md5|benchmark).* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING}    ^.*(localhost|loopback|127.0.0.1).* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING}    ^.*.[A-Za-z0-9].* [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING}    ^.*(<|>|’|%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).* [NC]

########## Begin – Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits
## If you experience problems on your site block out the operations listed below
## This attempts to block the most common type of exploit `attempts` to Joomla!
## Block out any script trying to set a mosConfig value through the URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} mosConfig_[a-zA-Z_]{1,21}(=|%3D) [OR]
# Block out any script trying to base64_encode crap to send via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode.*(.*) [OR]
# Block out any script that includes a <script> tag in URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (<|%3C).*script.*(>|%3E) [NC,OR]
# Block out any script trying to set a PHP GLOBALS variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
# Block out any script trying to modify a _REQUEST variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})
# Send all blocked request to homepage with 403 Forbidden error!
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [F,L]
########### End – Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits

########## Begin – Joomla! core SEF Section#
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/index.php
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (/|.php|.html|.htm|.feed|.pdf|.raw|/[^.]*)$  [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) index.php
RewriteRule .* – [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization},L]
########### End – Joomla! core SEF Section

########## Block bad user agents
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BlackWidow [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Bot mailto: [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ChinaClaw [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Custo [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^DISCo [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Download Demon [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^eCatch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EirGrabber [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailSiphon [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailWolf [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Express WebPictures [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ExtractorPro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EyeNetIE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^FlashGet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GetRight [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GetWeb! [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Go!Zilla [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Go-Ahead-Got-It [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GrabNet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Grafula [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^HMView [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} HTTrack [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Image Stripper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Image Sucker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Indy Library [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^InterGET [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Internet Ninja [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JetCar [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JOC Web Spider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^larbin [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^LeechFTP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mass Downloader [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^MIDown tool [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mister PiX [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Navroad [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NearSite [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetAnts [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetSpider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Net Vampire [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetZIP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Octopus [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline Explorer [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline Navigator [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^PageGrabber [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Papa Foto [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pavuk [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pcBrowser [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^RealDownload [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ReGet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SiteSnagger [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SmartDownload [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SuperBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SuperHTTP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Surfbot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^tAkeOut [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Teleport Pro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^VoidEYE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web Image Collector [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web Sucker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebAuto [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebCopier [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebFetch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebGo IS [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebLeacher [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebReaper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebSauger [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website eXtractor [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website Quester [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebStripper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebWhacker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebZIP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Widow [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WWWOFFLE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xaldon WebSpider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus
RewriteRule ^.* – [F,L]

Credit for part of this .htaccess file goes to Ronald van den Heetkamp. Sadly, his website is no longer available.
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8 thoughts on “.htaccess Security”

  1. wmena

    On my hosting provider, one of the lines above fails:

    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/(,|;|:||”>|”<|/|\..\).{0,9999}.* [NC,OR]

    Now, I did do a search and found that the quotes that you have above and what most others have when using this line are different: ” vs ”

    Still, I get an error 500 on my site whenever I un-comment that 1 line in my htaccess file… regardless of which quote I use.

    1. Rafael Corral

      wmena,
      I fixed those quotes, there was a problem with the single and double quotes throughout the post.
      Please try it again.

    1. Rafael Corral

      Have you looked into your server error logs to see what the error is?
      I am guessing it is a misconfiguration on your server as we use that on many sites and haven’t had a problem yet.

  3. Kieran

    Hi Rafael,

    You stated:

    “If you are not using Joomla! you will have to strip about ten lines from this.”

    Could you be specific about these lines.
    Thank you

    1. Rafael Corral

      Removing all of this should do it, more than 10 lines :)

      ########## Begin – Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits
      ## If you experience problems on your site block out the operations listed below
      ## This attempts to block the most common type of exploit `attempts` to Joomla!
      ## Block out any script trying to set a mosConfig value through the URL
      RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} mosConfig_[a-zA-Z_]{1,21}(=|%3D) [OR]
      # Block out any script trying to base64_encode crap to send via URL
      RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode.*(.*) [OR]
      # Block out any script that includes a tag in URL
      RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (|%3E) [NC,OR]
      # Block out any script trying to set a PHP GLOBALS variable via URL
      RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
      # Block out any script trying to modify a _REQUEST variable via URL
      RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})
      # Send all blocked request to homepage with 403 Forbidden error!
      RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [F,L]
      ########### End – Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits

      ########## Begin – Joomla! core SEF Section#
      RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
      RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
      RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/index.php
      RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (/|.php|.html|.htm|.feed|.pdf|.raw|/[^.]*)$ [NC]
      RewriteRule (.*) index.php
      RewriteRule .* – [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization},L]
      ########### End – Joomla! core SEF Section

  4. Peter

    I also have to suncomment the following line to make it work. Otherwise I get a 500 error page.
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/(,|;|:||”>|”<|/|\..\).{0,9999}.* [NC,OR]
    After experimenting with a couple of different variations of the single signs I found that the error page disappears when I change the brackets from {} to ().
    I am not so familiar with the code details so my question is: Does the RewriteCond still make sense when I change these brackets or does it have a completely different meaning now and maybe lost its original intention?

Comments are closed.