HTTP 403
![]() |
---|
Request methods |
Header fields |
Response status codes |
Security access control methods |
Security vulnerabilities |
HTTP 403 is an HTTP status code meaning access to the requested resource is forbidden. The server understood the request, but will not fulfill it.
Specifications
HTTP 403 provides a distinct error case from HTTP 401; while HTTP 401 is returned when the client has not authenticated, and implies that a successful response may be returned following valid authentication, HTTP 403 is returned when the client is not permitted access to the resource despite providing authentication such as insufficient permissions of the authenticated account.[a]
Error 403: "The server understood the request, but is refusing to authorize it." (RFC 7231)[1]
Error 401: "The request requires user authentication. The response MUST include a WWW-Authenticate header field (section 14.47) containing a challenge applicable to the requested resource. The client MAY repeat the request with a suitable Authorization header field (section 14.8). If the request already included Authorization credentials, then the 401 response indicates that authorization has been refused for those credentials." (RFC 2616)[2]
The
Substatus error codes for IIS

The following nonstandard codes are returned by Microsoft's
- 403.1 – Execute access forbidden
- 403.2 – Read access forbidden
- 403.3 – Write access forbidden
- 403.4 – SSL required
- 403.5 – SSL 128 required
- 403.6 – IP address rejected
- 403.7 – Client certificate required
- 403.8 – Site access denied
- 403.9 – Too many users
- 403.10 – Invalid configuration
- 403.11 – Password change
- 403.12 – Mapper denied access
- 403.13 – Client certificate revoked
- 403.14 – Directory listing denied
- 403.15 – Client Access Licenses exceeded
- 403.16 – Client certificate is untrusted or invalid
- 403.17 – Client certificate has expired or is not yet valid
- 403.18 – Cannot execute request from that application pool
- 403.19 – Cannot execute CGIs for the client in this application pool
- 403.20 – Passport logon failed
- 403.21 – Source access denied
- 403.22 – Infinite depth is denied
- 403.502 – Too many requests from the same client IP; Dynamic IP Restriction limit reached
- 403.503 – Rejected due to IP address restriction
See also
Notes
- ^ See #403 substatus error codes for IIS for possible reasons of why a webserver may refuse to fulfill a request.
References
- ^
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content. RFC 7231.
- )
- ^ IETF. June 2007. Archived from the originalon March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2016.