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OSSEC / HIDS Rule 60128

OSSEC / HIDS rule catalog

  • Rule family: OSSEC / HIDS
  • Rule ID: 60128
  • Definition status: Present in current source
  • Alert message / subject: HTTP 403 Forbidden. This is not a WAF event, the web server has refused to complete the transaction
  • Rule level: 5
  • Definition checked: 2026-10-21

Interpretation and response

This event is recorded as “HTTP 403 Forbidden. This is not a WAF event, the web server has refused to complete the transaction”. Review the originating log and the affected host or service to determine whether the activity was expected.

An OSSEC/HIDS event records or correlates activity. Blocking depends on the originating application and any separately configured Active Response policy; an alert alone does not prove that an attack was blocked.

Documentation

The following guidance was migrated from the historical wiki and reviewed against the rule definition. Legacy ASL product names and interface instructions refer to the versions documented then. Use the current metadata above and your installed configuration when interpreting thresholds, notification settings and response behavior.

Description

This event is not caused by ASL. ASL is just reporting when apache has rejected a request with a “Forbidden” 403 error message.

This rule is triggered when apache blocks a request as forbidden, and sends a 403 error. This is not caused by ASL, or any other rule. This rule just reports when apache has blocked a request.

You should investigate this event as it may be part of a broader attack.

Troubleshooting

False Positives

None. This rule just reports when apache has blocked a request. This block is not caused by this rule, any other rule, or ASL. Disabling this rule will not prevent apache from blocking these requests, it will just prevent ASL from reporting that this has happened.

Source and revision

Migrated from HIDS_60128, wiki page 620, revision 5229 (20141017). Documentation review: 2026-10-21. An archived wiki status of Active is not a current deployment status.

For assistance, provide the rule ID, installed product and rule version, and a sanitized event to Atomicorp support .