Error 403 keeps appearing despite deletion

I’m having the same issue. I want to add Javascript code to my header, but Wordfence keeps blocking me. I tried disabling the plugin but STILL got the 403 message below, so I reactivated Wordfence and tried adding the script a different way, but the 403 message appeared again. There are threads on here claiming that we should be able to enable Learning Mode as a workaround, but the Firewall Options described in those threads and on the Wordfence site (https://www.wordfence.com/help/firewall/learning-mode/) DO NOT EXIST on my WP dashboard. I’m guessing they would appear if I had the premium version, but until then, how can I add code to my header AND keep Wordfence?

Help, please! (Thanks!)

…THE DREADED MESSAGE from WORDFENCE…

A potentially unsafe operation has been detected in your request to this site
Your access to this service has been limited. (HTTP response code 403)

If you think you have been blocked in error, contact the owner of this site for assistance.

Block Technical Data
Block Reason: A potentially unsafe operation has been detected in your request to this site
Time: Thu, 19 Nov 2020 14:31:34 GMT
About Wordfence
Wordfence is a security plugin installed on over 3 million WordPress sites. The owner of this site is using Wordfence to manage access to their site.

You can also read the documentation to learn about Wordfence’s blocking tools, or visit wordfence.com to learn more about Wordfence.

Click here to learn more: Documentation

Generated by Wordfence at Thu, 19 Nov 2020 14:31:34 GMT.
Your computer’s time: Thu, 19 Nov 2020 14:31:34 GMT.

Hello @maximed and thanks for reaching out to us!

To ensure you have completely removed Wordfence, follow these steps:

• Remove extended protection manually (https://www.wordfence.com/help/firewall/optimizing-the-firewall/#removing-the-optimization)
• Remove the wordfence plugin folder located in wp-content/plugins
• Remove the wflogs folder located in wp-content
• Remove wordfence-waf.php located in the root of you WordPress installation
• Remove all Wordfence related database tables from the database, using for example phpMyAdmin or Wordfence Assistant plugin.
• Check either .htaccess file or .user.ini depending on your server configuration and remove any code snippets wrapped by # Wordfence WAF and # END Wordfence WAF.

Let me know if you have any questions!

@savvybaker As per forum guidelines below, could you please open your own topic and we would be glad to assist you:
“Unless users have the exact same version of WordPress on the same physical server hosted by the same hosts with the same plugins, theme, and configurations, then the odds are the solution for one user will not be the same for another. For this reason, we recommend people start their own topics.”

Thanks!

Thanks for getting back to us so quickly, WFAdam!

Since we don’t (or at least I don’t) have access to the Firewall Options page, the easy approach to this fix (as described in the link you provided) wouldn’t work for me. With your input, however, the following steps did the trick:

After deleting the plugin via WP, I used my host’s file manager to make sure there were no remaining instances of WAF. I then installed Wordfence Assistant to handle your fifth bullet item, deleting all WF data and tables. Success!

Now I can add the scripts needed for Flodesk forms without having WF block every attempt. (Yay!). I am going to reinstall WF ASAP.

Thanks for your help!

Liesl | SavvyBaker

PS – Sorry for not setting up a separate thread. I kind of figured “Why bother?” since I’m set now. ??

That’s good that this helped you though @savvybaker

If you run into any issues in the future, open a new thread and we would be glad to assist!

Thanks!

PS – I just reinstalled Wordfence, and NOW I can see the Firewall options! I don’t know if I was just oblivious before (likely) or I had an older version. ??

Glad to hear it @savvybaker !

Let us know if you run into any other issues!

Hi Adamn,

I proceeded to both of your suggestions but the 403 error message keeps appearing when I try to import a csv list.

Do you have any other recommendations?

Best,

Can you show me a screenshot of the error @maximed ?

I want to make sure it’s a Wordfence error. Also try using a different browser as this might be a cache issue.

Thanks!