[Bug] [Will never be adressed] Access denied

I use Chrome, up-to-date.

 

Happened today again:

Reference #18.98e24817.1651387689.3054cc43

It's not because I'm the only one reporting this that I'm the only one experiencing it.

I'm using Firefox 99.0.1 (64 bits) on Linux Mint, up to date. I use private windows only which means that cookies, history and the rest are deleted each time I close it. I also refuse all the cookies when I connect here.

And you are the only site that gives me problems (well, not the only one but the other is not a big one like yours). I suspect that the problem is related to me refusing the cookies, your partners might not like that at all.

Sorry but it's not for us to find a workaround; thanks for the info though maybe others will want to use it.

 

Today again: Reference #18.88a51002.1651815343.1a2e8c6

 

Okay, I get it, this will never be fixed.

Today's reference: Reference #18.c4e24817.1651905878.dacd61

 

I hope you like it, Unity:

I got re-access by applying my workaround.​

 

bump, still happening these days

Happens in my desktop, all browsers i tried (Opera, Chrome)

Does not happen on my mobile, so i can check forum normally there

 

Update: It seems to happen randomly, also happens in mobile now

Please fix, as is impossible to visit the forums normally

 

What is going on at Unity?! Why do partners control their sites? I guess cost related... with service clearly impacted, seems like a bad service.

 

If I see the error I refresh a few times and then the page loads, just some info to share

 

Hi, the issue is still happening and with much larger frequency than before.



It fixes itself after few minutes, then happens again, but renders the forums rather unusable at this point

It happens in every browser and platform, i think is related to the load of data a user accesses, e.g. if i dont open any thread can browse more time without see the issue, if open many heavy in images threads then get the error for sure directly.

So i think is just a stopper of drawing too much data from the company handling your traffic

Hope this helps

Note that forums lately are unusable due to this issue, i get constantly the problem and blocks me for many minutes, which means cant also provide asset support and do proper discussion in threads etc

This is by far and away the most critical thing currently and should be the no1 priority to fix

Thanks in advance

 

I am not seeing this anymore, weird, maybe something is fixed?

 

I get it instantly when open any thread with many images, happens every time too.

E.g. this thread i tested just now

https://forum.unity.com/threads/upg...ender-cartoon-shaders-image-fx-tools.1275767/

Or this one

https://forum.unity.com/threads/new...meshes-work-on-mobile-hdrp-urp.351694/page-34

Or this

https://forum.unity.com/threads/big...er-next-generation-ocean-system.767168/page-2

I think is just a bandwidth based limiter with a timer, seems clear now after few tries with image heavy threads.

 

Has been 5 months now and the issue is still there and increasing in frequency making the forums unusable.

Imo is now best idea to change partners, than try to fix a broken backend, which apparently is not possible.

Hopefully this will be resolved soon

Hi,

Is there any update on this ?

We try to offer support for assets in the forum and is nearly impossible now, this error happens constantly and at an increasing rate.

It is very critical to be fixed the soonest, as the forums are not usuable.

It happens every single time in every browser and platform, when load a heavy in images thread.

Thanks

 

I did some more testing since I had it as well. It's not that much of an issue since it affects only individual users, not the whole user base.

In short, an example link:

https://forum.unity.com/threads/what-is-on-secret-sale-2nd-new-thread.1191568/page-20

Once you visit that one, something happens and your IP gets banned (or whatever weird dark magic happens in the background). You get Access Denied for like 10 minutes, after that you can access the forum again.

The Access Denied seems to be IP based, I tried with different browsers (firefox, chrome, edge) on my PC. All on the same PC had the same Access Denied issue, even ones where I wasn't logged in. So it's not a cookie or browser thing. When I tried on my Phone which was going over the same WIFI the same issue occurred. When I disabled WIFI on the Phone and used paid data tariff the forum worked as usual.

 

interesting, tested and it happens..

i'm guessing it could be related to all those images on that thread,
so browser makes hundreds of requests into unity server?

i've noticed it sometimes happens to me, if i open tens of new tabs, for checking message alerts..
that would match to some kind of request spam issue.

*tested: Disable image loading from browser, no ban if visit that link.

 

I can confirm that, same for me. Those images are very small and have low bandwidth. But maybe it's indeed the sum of async requests of them. Definitely reproducible and solvable by a Unity forum dev.

 

Honestly, this sounds like the forum devs have implemented a poor solution to react to a naively detected DDoS. Basically, if the database throttles down (or pings too many 3rd party servers) they introduce a deliberate time-out bottleneck, similar to how TCP-IP was designed to reroute traffic and prevent complete system halt. Now I'm not saying that Unity's hardware is at fault (seriously this is all scalable and they're probably just renting it out flat), but this might be a compounding issue, where something else entirely in the forum code ecosystem produces a domino effect and the stresses precipitate to the point of having an overall effect, but without a reasonable cause. Given how horrible these web technologies really are, perhaps there is no one really who knows what's wrong or how to fix it.

 

@UnityMaru maybe from the info above it's just some setting that creates a false positive of a DoS attack and that threshold just needs to be set a tad higher.

 

i've also reported it that day, got reply that its forwarded to people handling the forum or something..

 

The forum is completely useless at this point, every time i open a thread may lock out for many minutes, looks like a practical joke at this point.

What is the purpose of having a forum if is not working at all ?

This was never an issue before, so i assume a few months back something changed that made this mess.

Please fix this as it is impossible to do anything with the forum anymore.

 

Hi, is there any update on this ?

It has only got worse and make the forum unusable, thanks

 

if unity forum is running on akamai (at least server info would suggest that it is?)

then it could be simply this setting:
https://www.akamai.com/blog/developers/demystifying-api-rate-limiting
https://community.akamai.com/customers/s/article/Why-is-Akamai-blocking-me?language=en_US

*actually the first link might be some api related, not hosting directly? but still, sure its just some setting..

 

Happened to me right now, again... I didn't take note of the message.

 

same here, i think can replicate if you open this thread multiple times: (but doesn't happen if open once, like before)