Hi,
I’m running X3 Photo Gallery 3.34.2.
I noticed a problem when trying to save changes in the Custom Footer editor in the X3 panel. Even when entering only plain text, saving fails with the message:
error: TextStatus: error
I also get the same error with almost all HTML related changes in other settings areas of the panel, not only in the Custom Footer editor.
At first I suspected the hosting WAF / ModSecurity, so I changed the hoster WAF from “active” to “logging only”, but this made no difference.
Then I tested different PHP versions for the domain:
- PHP 8.1: saving works
- PHP 8.2: saving fails with “error: TextStatus: error”
- PHP 8.3: saving fails with “error: TextStatus: error”
- PHP 8.4: saving fails with “error: TextStatus: error”
After switching temporarily to PHP 8.1, I was able to save the desired footer changes successfully. As soon as I switch back to PHP 8.2 or newer, the same error appears again.
This makes me think the issue may be related to PHP 8.2+ compatibility, or possibly a specific PHP configuration/extension difference on my webhoster.
Could you please advise what I should check next, or whether this might be a known issue in X3 3.34.2 with PHP 8.2+?
I can provide more details if needed.
Thanks!
X3Photo Gallery Forums
X3 Photo Gallery Support Forums
Re: Saving Custom Footer fails on PHP 8.2+ but works on PHP 8.1
Ok, so let me ask, was this always an issue? Or did it suddenly start happening? I am guessing the latter. X3 can't change itself of course, so something must have happened on server, and it's almost always firewall issue on server. Although you may have firewall controls in your hosting, I'm not sure how reliable they are, and they probably don't have immediate effect. Furthermore, just because you have your own controls, doesn't mean the hosting doesn't have other firewall rules.
The only other logical explanation, would be that all your PHP versions (excluding 8.1) are missing important PHP extensions, but this would be very unlikely. Besides, did you never have X3 working on these PHP versions earlier?
In the end, X3 panel simply doesn't fail because of PHP versions, but because of server firewalls. A simple check would be to do this:
The only other logical explanation, would be that all your PHP versions (excluding 8.1) are missing important PHP extensions, but this would be very unlikely. Besides, did you never have X3 working on these PHP versions earlier?
In the end, X3 panel simply doesn't fail because of PHP versions, but because of server firewalls. A simple check would be to do this:
- Open panel
- Open browser devtools > network
- Click save
- See the network entry in RED that points to x3_settings.php. What's the error code? Click it and check the actual response. Most likely it will just say "403 forbidden" or sometimes "500 internal server error".
- Then, right-click the link and click "open in new tab". You will likely see a white blank page. Open devtools > network for the new tab and refresh. You will likely see the same white page, with 200 OK response. This basically means your server is rejecting POST requests (firewall), but allowing GET requests (although it just returns a blank empty page).
Re: Saving Custom Footer fails on PHP 8.2+ but works on PHP 8.1
Hi Karl,
thanks for the guidance. I was able to reproduce the check you described.
I haven’t made any settings changes for quite some time, so I can’t say exactly when the issue started. But yes, it could of course be related to the hosting environment, especially since there was a hosting migration last year.
The GET request to /panel/x3_settings.php returns 200 OK / a blank page, so that part behaves as expected. I have now opened a ticket with my web host and asked them to check the failed POST request, including WAF/ModSecurity logs.
I’ll report back once I receive their feedback.
Thanks so far!
thanks for the guidance. I was able to reproduce the check you described.
I haven’t made any settings changes for quite some time, so I can’t say exactly when the issue started. But yes, it could of course be related to the hosting environment, especially since there was a hosting migration last year.
The GET request to /panel/x3_settings.php returns 200 OK / a blank page, so that part behaves as expected. I have now opened a ticket with my web host and asked them to check the failed POST request, including WAF/ModSecurity logs.
I’ll report back once I receive their feedback.
Thanks so far!
Re: Saving Custom Footer fails on PHP 8.2+ but works on PHP 8.1
Hi Karl,
quick update: the issue has been resolved.
My hosting provider checked the ModSecurity/WAF logs and confirmed that the POST request to '/panel/x3_settings.php' was being blocked server-side with a 403 status. The trigger was apparently the string 'date_format' inside the submitted settings value.
So the issue was not caused by PHP 8.2+ itself, but by a server-side ModSecurity rule. The host has now added an exception for the affected X3 admin request. I tested saving settings again afterwards, and it works now.
Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!
quick update: the issue has been resolved.
My hosting provider checked the ModSecurity/WAF logs and confirmed that the POST request to '/panel/x3_settings.php' was being blocked server-side with a 403 status. The trigger was apparently the string 'date_format' inside the submitted settings value.
So the issue was not caused by PHP 8.2+ itself, but by a server-side ModSecurity rule. The host has now added an exception for the affected X3 admin request. I tested saving settings again afterwards, and it works now.
Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!