Fix: %20 in URL Causes 403 Forbidden Error

If you encounter a 403 Forbidden error when trying to access a URL with spaces encoded as %20, follow this guide for the solution.

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🚨 Problem

Accessing URLs with spaces, such as example.com/index.php?query=two words, leads to encoding as example.com/index.php?query=two%20words, which may trigger a 403 Forbidden error and block access to the page.

🔍 Diagnostics

To confirm this issue, try using + instead of %20 in the URL:

• URL with +: Accessing example.com/index.php?query=two+words should work correctly.
• Testing Command:bashCopy codewget https://www.example.com/index.php?query=two%20words Output:arduinoCopy code--2024-06-27 16:27:21-- https://www.example.com/index.php?query=two%20words Resolving www.example.com (www.example.com)… 1234:f1c1:123f:f987::1f1, 12.123.234.123 Connecting to www.example.com (www.example.com)|1234:f1c1:123f:f987::1f1|:443… connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 403 Forbidden 2024-06-27 16:27:21 ERROR 403: Forbidden.

🛠 Solution

The likely cause is the configuration of your .htaccess file.

1. Open .htaccess File
   Locate the .htaccess file in your website’s root directory (commonly /public_html/ or /home). Open it using your preferred text editor.
2. Modify the RewriteRule
   Find the line with RewriteRule, which should look similar to:apacheCopy codeRewriteRule (.*)$ /index.php?path=$1 [NC,QSA,L]
3. Add the B Flag
   Update the line to include the B flag, which tells RewriteRule to escape special characters like %20:apacheCopy codeRewriteRule (.*)$ /index.php?path=$1 [B,NC,QSA,L]
4. Save and Test
   After saving the .htaccess changes, reload the page using %20 in the URL. This should resolve the 403 Forbidden error.

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