RE: IO Error whenever page is named contact.html

"Leonid Batkhan" <[email protected]> Wed, 6 May 2020 15:14:19 -0400
Newsgroups gmane.org.w3c.validator
Message-ID <[email protected]>
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Thank you, Michael!

 

It seems you are on something regarding "contact" word.  "PHP backend" is s=
omewhat more questionable.  These are some websites hosted in my account wi=
th Hostgator:

 

1. Both following pages do not have PHP:

https://www.wild-west-tours.com/ <https://www.wild-west-tours.com/contact.h=
tml> contact.html gives that 409 Error, but

https://www.wild-west-tours.com/ <https://www.wild-west-tours.com/contact_e=
n.html> contact_en.html does not.

 

2. This page does have PHP reference:

https://www.lenetek.com/ <https://www.lenetek.com/contact-us.html> contact-=
us.html gives 409 Error (has "contact-us")

 

3. Both these pages do have PHP reference:

https://www.usa-travel.us/ <https://www.usa-travel.us/contact.html> contact=
=2Ehtml gives 409 Error. but

https://www.usa-travel.us/ <https://www.usa-travel.us/contact_en.html> cont=
act_en.html does not

 

It is possible that Hostgator web hosting provider has some IP black listed=
 / filtered based on the name of retrieved page (containing =E2=80=9Ccontac=
t=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9Ccontact-us=E2=80=9D as shown in the examples above),=
 but they will not tell me that, although I did ask them. I can=E2=80=99t m=
ake them whitelist any servers, it=E2=80=99s their internal policy, and who=
 am I to influence that?!

 

However, given that all the above pages are accessible and retrievable via =
browsers and function just fine, why the validator can just ignore that 409=
 server response and still run validation report on the page. The validator=
 should validate accessible and retrievable page based on its contents only=
 and disregard that server code. That is my take on it.

 

Wouldn=E2=80=99t you agree?

 

Thank you.

Leonid Batkhan

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael[tm] Smith [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2020 7:26 AM
To: Leonid Batkhan <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: IO Error whenever page is named contact.html

 

OK, I looked into this and that short answer is that it=E2=80=99s a hosting=
 issue with the  <https://www.usa-travel/> https://www.usa-travel/ site and=
 with a number of other sites. And there is nothing we can do from the W3C =
side to fix it.

 

If you think this problem is affecting a site you run, what you can do is:

Tell your hosting provider to whitelist the 128.30.52.0/24 subnet. That is =
the IP range for the W3C validator service.

 

The longer answer is that there appear to be a number of hosting providers =
or sites that are running some kind of blocking mechanism which checks the =
IP address of each request, and if (1) they find that the IP address is in =
some IP address is in some blocklist they use, and (2) the request URL has =
=E2=80=9Ccontact=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9Cregister=E2=80=9D in the path, then t=
he mechanism causes the server to respond with a 409 error.

 

The sites with this issue all seem be sites that are are running Wordpress =
or in some cases maybe not running Wordpress but just running a PHP backend=
=2E

 

And it=E2=80=99s possible that the mechanism behind this issue is the softw=
are system called =E2=80=9CWordfence=E2=80=9D.

 

Regardless, whatever the system is that=E2=80=99s doing this, it appears to=
 rely on checking some kind of distributed blocklist of IP addresse =E2=80=
=94 and the W3C validator IP address range ended up in that blocklist.

 

So, as I mentioned above, if you think your site is affected by this, then =
ask your hosting provider to un-block the 128.30.52.0/24 subnet, or ask the=
m to get the 128.30.52.0/24 subnet removed from whatever distributed blockl=
ists they=E2=80=99re using =E2=80=94 or else ask them to quit using altoget=
her whatever they find the 128.30.52.0/24 subnet IP addresses in.

 

Whatever blocklists exists that have 128.30.52.0/24 IP addresses in them ar=
e bad, broken, poorly-administered blocklists that nobody should be relying=
 on. There is nothing originating from those (W3C) addresses that even remo=
tely could be considered abuse =E2=80=94 nothing that would merit those IP =
addresses ending up in the blocklist.

 

And if W3C server IP addresses are in a blocklist mistakenly, it is very li=
kely that quite a few other legitimate IP addresses are mistakenly in that =
same blocklist. And the effect of that would be that you have users/ custom=
ers who aren=E2=80=99t able to access any pages at your site which have =E2=
=80=9Ccontact=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9Cregister=E2=80=9D in the page filenames/=
paths.

 

Leonid Batkhan < <mailto:[email protected]> leonid.batkhan@lenetek=
=2Ecom>, 2020-05-04 18:27 -0400:

> Archived-At: 

> < <https://www.w3.org/mid/[email protected]> ht=
tps://www.w3.org/mid/[email protected]>

> 

> I tried validating several websites, and noticed that whenever page is 

> called contact.html I am getting the following

> 

> 1.      IO Error: HTTP resource not retrievable. The HTTP status from the=


> remote server was: 409.

> 

>  <https://www.usa-travel.us/contact.html> https://www.usa-travel.us/conta=
ct.html

> 

> Here is a screenshot:

> 

> 

> 

> I checked that on several websites with consistent results which only 

> affects pages named contact.html.  Even when I renamed perfectly 

> validated page to be named contact.html that page stops being validated.

> 

> Could you please let me know what is going on?

> 

> Thank you in advance.

> 

> Leonid Batkhan

> 

>  

> 

>  

> 

> 

 

 

 

--

Michael[tm] Smith  <https://people.w3.org/mike> https://people.w3.org/mike



-- 
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=3DEN-US link=3D"#0563C1=
" vlink=3D"#954F72"><div class=3DWordSection1><p class=3DMsoPlainText>Thank=
 you, Michael!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><=
p class=3DMsoPlainText>It seems you are on something regarding &quot;contac=
t&quot; word.=C2=A0 &quot;PHP backend&quot; is somewhat more questionable. =
=C2=A0These are some websites hosted in my account with Hostgator:<o:p></o:=
p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>=
1. Both following pages do not have PHP:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainT=
ext><a href=3D"https://www.wild-west-tours.com/contact.html">https://www.wi=
ld-west-tours.com/<span style=3D'background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>co=
ntact</span>.html</a> gives that 409 Error, but<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMs=
oPlainText><a href=3D"https://www.wild-west-tours.com/contact_en.html">http=
s://www.wild-west-tours.com/<span style=3D'background:lime;mso-highlight:li=
me'>contact_en</span>.html</a> does not.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainT=
ext><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>2. This page does have PHP=
 reference:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><a href=3D"https://www.le=
netek.com/contact-us.html">https://www.lenetek.com/<span style=3D'backgroun=
d:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>contact-us</span>.html</a> gives 409 Error (=
has &quot;contact-us&quot;)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbs=
p;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>3. Both these pages do have PHP referen=
ce:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><a href=3D"https://www.usa-travel=
=2Eus/contact.html">https://www.usa-travel.us/<span style=3D'background:yel=
low;mso-highlight:yellow'>contact</span>.html</a> gives 409 Error. but<o:p>=
</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><a href=3D"https://www.usa-travel.us/cont=
act_en.html">https://www.usa-travel.us/<span style=3D'background:lime;mso-h=
ighlight:lime'>contact_en</span>.html</a> does not<o:p></o:p></p><p class=
=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>It is possible=
 that Hostgator web hosting provider has some IP black listed / filtered ba=
sed on the name of retrieved page (containing =E2=80=9Ccontact=E2=80=9D or =
=E2=80=9Ccontact-us=E2=80=9D as shown in the examples above), but they will=
 not tell me that, although I did ask them. I can=E2=80=99t make them white=
list any servers, it=E2=80=99s their internal policy, and who am I to influ=
ence that?!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p c=
lass=3DMsoPlainText>However, given that all the above pages are accessible =
and retrievable via browsers and function just fine, why the validator can =
just ignore that 409 server response and still run validation report on the=
 page. The validator should validate accessible and retrievable page based =
on its contents only and disregard that server code. That is my take on it.=
<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoP=
lainText>Wouldn=E2=80=99t you agree?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>=
<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>Thank you.<o:p></o:p></p><p cl=
ass=3DMsoPlainText>Leonid Batkhan<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:=
p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>-----Original Message-----<br>Fro=
m: Michael[tm] Smith [mailto:[email protected]] <br>Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2020 7:=
26 AM<br>To: Leonid Batkhan &lt;[email protected]&gt;<br>Cc: www-v=
[email protected]<br>Subject: Re: IO Error whenever page is named contact.htm=
l</p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>O=
K, I looked into this and that short answer is that it=E2=80=99s a hosting =
issue with the <a href=3D"https://www.usa-travel/"><span style=3D'color:win=
dowtext;text-decoration:none'>https://www.usa-travel/</span></a> site and w=
ith a number of other sites. And there is nothing we can do from the W3C si=
de to fix it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p=
 class=3DMsoPlainText>If you think this problem is affecting a site you run=
, what you can do is:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>Tell your hosti=
ng provider to whitelist the 128.30.52.0/24 subnet. That is the IP range fo=
r the W3C validator service.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nb=
sp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>The longer answer is that there appear=
 to be a number of hosting providers or sites that are running some kind of=
 blocking mechanism which checks the IP address of each request, and if (1)=
 they find that the IP address is in some IP address is in some blocklist t=
hey use, and (2) the request URL has =E2=80=9Ccontact=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9C=
register=E2=80=9D in the path, then the mechanism causes the server to resp=
ond with a 409 error.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:=
p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>The sites with this issue all seem be sites t=
hat are are running Wordpress or in some cases maybe not running Wordpress =
but just running a PHP backend.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>=
&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>And it=E2=80=99s possible that the =
mechanism behind this issue is the software system called =E2=80=9CWordfenc=
e=E2=80=9D.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p c=
lass=3DMsoPlainText>Regardless, whatever the system is that=E2=80=99s doing=
 this, it appears to rely on checking some kind of distributed blocklist of=
 IP addresse =E2=80=94 and the W3C validator IP address range ended up in t=
hat blocklist.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><=
p class=3DMsoPlainText>So, as I mentioned above, if you think your site is =
affected by this, then ask your hosting provider to un-block the 128.30.52.=
0/24 subnet, or ask them to get the 128.30.52.0/24 subnet removed from what=
ever distributed blocklists they=E2=80=99re using =E2=80=94 or else ask the=
m to quit using altogether whatever they find the 128.30.52.0/24 subnet IP =
addresses in.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p=
 class=3DMsoPlainText>Whatever blocklists exists that have 128.30.52.0/24 I=
P addresses in them are bad, broken, poorly-administered blocklists that no=
body should be relying on. There is nothing originating from those (W3C) ad=
dresses that even remotely could be considered abuse =E2=80=94 nothing that=
 would merit those IP addresses ending up in the blocklist.<o:p></o:p></p><=
p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>And if =
W3C server IP addresses are in a blocklist mistakenly, it is very likely th=
at quite a few other legitimate IP addresses are mistakenly in that same bl=
ocklist. And the effect of that would be that you have users/ customers who=
 aren=E2=80=99t able to access any pages at your site which have =E2=80=9Cc=
ontact=E2=80=9D or =E2=80=9Cregister=E2=80=9D in the page filenames/paths.<=
o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPl=
ainText>Leonid Batkhan &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]"><s=
pan style=3D'color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>leonid.batkhan@lenetek.=
com</span></a>&gt;, 2020-05-04 18:27 -0400:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPla=
inText>&gt; Archived-At: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; &lt;<a=
 href=3D"https://www.w3.org/mid/[email protected]=
"><span style=3D'color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>https://www.w3.org/=
mid/[email protected]</span></a>&gt;<o:p></o:p></=
p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; =
I tried validating several websites, and noticed that whenever page is <o:p=
></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; called contact.html I am getting th=
e following<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <o:p></o:p></p><p cl=
ass=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; 1.=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 IO Error: HTTP res=
ource not retrievable. The HTTP status from the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMs=
oPlainText>&gt; remote server was: 409.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainTe=
xt>&gt; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <a href=3D"https://www.=
usa-travel.us/contact.html"><span style=3D'color:windowtext;text-decoration=
:none'>https://www.usa-travel.us/contact.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p c=
lass=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; Here i=
s a screenshot:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <o:p></o:p></p><=
p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <o:=
p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; I checked that on several websites=
 with consistent results which only <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>=
&gt; affects pages named contact.html.=C2=A0 Even when I renamed perfectly =
<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; validated page to be named cont=
act.html that page stops being validated.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlain=
Text>&gt; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; Could you please let =
me know what is going on?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <o:p><=
/o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; Thank you in advance.<o:p></o:p></p><=
p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; Leo=
nid Batkhan<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <o:p></o:p></p><p cl=
ass=3DMsoPlainText>&gt;=C2=A0 <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <=
o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt;=C2=A0 <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3D=
MsoPlainText>&gt; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>&gt; <o:p></o:p></=
p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p=
>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p><p class=3DMs=
oPlainText>--<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoPlainText>Michael[tm] Smith <a hr=
ef=3D"https://people.w3.org/mike"><span style=3D'color:windowtext;text-deco=
ration:none'>https://people.w3.org/mike</span></a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div=
 id=3D"DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2"><br />
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