Domain in Plesk shows error 403: rewritten query string contains control

[Suhitha]

Question: Domain in Plesk shows error 403: rewritten query string contains control characters or spaces


Symptoms

• A domain in Plesk contains the %20 symbol in the link, for example: https://www.example.com/something/link%202.

• After the Apache update to 2.4.41-4ubuntu3.14, these links become inaccessible in a browser with:

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Forbidden
You don't have permission to access this resource.
Apache Server at www.example.com Port 443

• The following error can be found in the domain's logs:

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AH10411: Rewritten query string contains control characters or spaces

Cause

mod_rewrite is now blocking "unsafe" requests.


Resolution

Perform one of the following:

• Adjust the website code (change URLs) and make them avoid using symbols such %20.

• Switch the domain from PHP-FPM to FastCGI in Domains > example.com > PHP Settings.

• As a workaround, downgrade Apache on the server:

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apt install apache2=2.4.41-4ubuntu3 apache2=2.4.41-4ubuntu3 apache2-data=2.4.41-4ubuntu3 apache2-utils=2.4.41-4ubuntu3 apache2-bin=2.4.41-4ubuntu3
and forbid further apache updates.