Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Council Room => Topic started by: bvanevery on September 01, 2020, 08:11:13 PM

Title: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: bvanevery on September 01, 2020, 08:11:13 PM

When I post my mod stuff to Reddit, there's an ongoing problem that some people are banned from accessing AC2.  People say they've never even tried to visit AC2 before.  Latest example (https://www.reddit.com/r/4Xgaming/comments/icjgjg/smacx_ai_growth_mod_version_146_ai_research/g3l1sca/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3):

Quote

It won't let me access the link...

    Sorry Guest, you are banned from using this forum!
    This ban is not set to expire.

I know that some of these people in the past have managed to get in contact with you, or you with them, or somehow you managed to resolve the problem.  But the problem is ongoing.  It's loss of traffic to AC2.  I assume that for every 1 person who does mention they're having problems, others are just giving up.  Do you have any idea why this is happening?  These "false bans".

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: bvanevery on September 09, 2020, 06:43:16 PM

I started looking at the Simple Machines developer pages and support forum for other reasons.  The following advice (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=570933.msg4040817#msg4040817) on a possible source of the problem was given:

Quote

>>>My thought is those bans were issued in the past but though those members are no longer there the bans are still in the database.
>>
>>You mean deleted members?
>
>Yes, I remember reading a thread on here some years back which warned this was one reason not to ban on IP address.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Geo on September 09, 2020, 10:04:36 PM

I remember I was banned once (many years ago) when I was trying to log in to the site through a ferry's wifi. Appearantly the Wifi router on that ship was hacked, and as a result I was banned on AC2.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 12, 2020, 06:07:39 PM

It's the spambots.  I've perma'd less humans than I have fingers on one hand - but bots I banned years ago keep coming by, eating up precious processor cycles.

-So, y'know, people complaining are probably coming here on sketchy servers --- but the bots just come again from different dubious IPs, so I need to roll up my sleeves and go through the very long ban list, undoing the IP bans - it's gonna suck.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: bvanevery on September 12, 2020, 07:04:31 PM

Are there any 3rd party services that help with IP ban lists?  Although, that can open up its own can of worms, when they decide to ban sites that others think are legit.  Rah rah internets.

Also possibly of interest, I notice that SMF is up to a 2.0.17 release.  This site displays 2.0.11 as its version.  Some of the intervening releases may have brought performance and security improvements.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 12, 2020, 07:22:57 PM

I can't imagine anything helping with that first but me tracking down all the IP bans and un-doing; I gave Draz permission to do that months ago, but haven't heard back about that.

-I'm afraid to touch stuff like upgrades w/o input from our tech guys...

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: bvanevery on September 12, 2020, 09:09:16 PM

I read in their support forum that the transition from 2.0.15 to 2.0.16 and then 2.0.17 was painless.  No idea about before that, like 2.0.11 to 2.0.15.  I got interrupted in that life project of "understanding the forum tech" and am currently on other things now.  I may circle back to it at some point.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 12, 2020, 10:03:57 PM

Well, that's 2 1/2 hours of my life I'll never get back, but please make an announcement that the IP ban problem ought to be fixed now, and I'd be mighty obliged if everyone checked us out again.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: bvanevery on September 13, 2020, 02:47:31 AM

I'll make a note of it at the top of my mod release this month.  Probably in a few days.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: bvanevery on June 15, 2022, 08:17:04 PM

Got a private email feedback about my mod, from someone who tried to join the site a number of times, but couldn't.  I suspect he's faced with an archaic site ban.  I will PM you the person's email.

Title: attn: Buster's Uncle direct messages failing to send to you, recipient not found
Post by: Fibonacci on August 19, 2022, 07:37:00 PM

The phantom ban thing appears to be back, with another hiccup along with it.
I suspect something got fouled up with the registration for here when you upgraded. I get an error message when I try to direct message you that the recipient is not found, and someone named Iranon79 on Reddit got banned from the site after attempting to register more than once after not receiving any activation email. https://www.reddit.com/r/alphacentauri/comments/ws9ofb/alpha_centauri_2_forums/

Attempting to catch your attention here, and have e-mailed as well in hopes one of these goes through.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2022, 08:13:43 PM

We are experiencing technical difficulties w/ the forum's email.  See my PM, but there was a double loggin that fooled me, but he should be fine, now.  Please let him know.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Fibonacci on August 20, 2022, 03:55:27 AM

Seems to be all sorted out now, thank you again!

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Lionheart on March 11, 2023, 07:25:50 PM

Hello, just wandered to this website, and imagine how amused I was to get this message:

"Sorry, you are banned from using this forum!
Eat THAT, Russian jerks! WE NEVER GREET YOU AS LIBERATORS!
This ban is not set to expire."

Kind of feels like insult to injury, considering where I am from...

(check the screenshot; posted using proxy server)

Can you please unban my IP? I am not sure about the IP ranges (which I guess is the reason for ban in the firstplace, as I have never visited the site previously), but what I can offer is that this IP address is mine and has been mine for 5+ years now (I dish out an extra 20$ for renting it, it is a white IP).

Pre-history:

(click to show/hide)

Initially I moved to this IP, because the communal grey IP's were blocked everywhere coz someone among the hundreds of users sitting on that same dynamic IP was sending out genitalia enlargement spam emails. Hilarious as it was at the time, it is not cool, when Google tells you that "we have detected suspicious activity on your network, so do captcha" again and again. This IP, that I am using currently, is clean and has been ever since that week when I took it upon myself to investigate the reason for getting spam bans out of the blue.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 11, 2023, 07:37:00 PM

I'll do it -and deal with the spambots on your line individually (and they do appear to be Russian)- but you have to tell me what IP...


However, we still won't greet them as liberators...

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Lionheart on March 11, 2023, 08:57:44 PM

Well, as it says on the screenshot, 91.231.55.236.
The spambots were on the grey IP's provided by my ISP, before I decided to rent this white IP for myself. Spambots sitting behind one communal IP was only part of the problem; I really wanted to have the ability to host stuff on the Internet - be it minecraft server, or a website, with all the ports open. ISP said "nah-nah-nah, you want the ports open - you rent a white IP specially for yourself". So I did, as I said, for over 5 years now. No spambots on this IP though, I check it sometimes at https://whatismyipaddress.com/blacklist-check

Edit: Pardon, I think I did not write it clear - my personal investigation into "why are we getting captcha every 2 minutes" happened 5+ years ago, and it took a week to figure out. I used a combination of local network sniffer tool, to monitor traffic within our network (had a suspicion one of the computers in our network was infected with virus, hence the captcha and spam) and using spam-email sinkohles detection (just googled spam databases).
Back then, I basically ruled out our house as the source of this spam, when the spam database reported there was a genitalia enlargement letter (that is also how I know what was in the spam, lol) two hours prior to me checking - with everyone in the house sleeping at the time, and power to the router turned off. Besides, I also vaguely remember the spam going out on ports 25 and 465, which I blocked in my router settings.
That's when I started calling my Internet Service Provider and complaining about other people sending spam on cheap communal grey IP's were ruining it for everyone. And switched to this one, been using it since.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 11, 2023, 09:40:10 PM

I don't understand what's going on - the ban log has you bouncing off several different IPs, none of them 91.231.55.236 or the one you're on now.  I've deleted the IP bans you ran into today, and I'll not be using the Russian jerks reason anymore - I've got a Latvian friend who thinks that's funny...  I never thought a human being would ever see it. [shrugs]

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Lionheart on March 11, 2023, 09:46:08 PM

I'm using different IP's because when I try to enter without a proxy, it says I'm banned. So to even write this, I need a proxy or a vpn. I can turn it off now, but unless the IP 91.231.55.236 is unbanned, I think I won't be able to enter again...

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 11, 2023, 09:54:58 PM

Hmm.  I don't understand why that doesn't seem to be on the list of ban triggers...  I'll go look again...

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 11, 2023, 10:05:36 PM

Draz?  This has me stumped...

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Lionheart on March 11, 2023, 10:40:22 PM

Seems I am okay now, thank you! My IP should be correctly displayed down there \

Edit: It shows 172.68.238.17, which is datacenter, Kyiv, Ukraine. Weird, but ok. I can access the site now at least.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: DrazharLn on March 12, 2023, 11:34:36 AM

Seems resolved to me! The datacentre IP may be the Cloudflare proxy server that Lionheart is connecting through. Maybe the ban software looks at both the forwarded IP (X-Forwarded-For) and the real source IP of the packet (which will be the proxying cloudflare machine's IP) but the code for displaying the user's IP only shows the IP of the proxy server.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Geo on May 20, 2023, 09:03:47 PM

Guess who's banned from the forum? Right, my tablet when logged in through a hotel wifi.
But when I use my personal smartphone, and through my phone/internet provider (European non-roaming zone) I get through just fine, as this post proves.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 20, 2023, 10:39:40 PM

PM me the IP if you're going to be there long...

Where you touring this time?

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Geo on May 21, 2023, 08:33:35 AM

Quote from: BUncle on May 20, 2023, 10:39:40 PM

PM me the IP if you're going to be there long...

Where you touring this time?

Thanks, but I leave here tomorrow. Its a midstop in Munchen to meet an old friend before continuing to my vacation address in the Alps.

Title: Re: wrong bans from accessing site
Post by: Geo on May 21, 2023, 08:34:58 AM

I thought it funny enough to mentio, that's all.