Receiving "access denied" error message from particular website from a partcular computer
I am trying to access a particular site - www.citizensbankonline.com. Prior to a few days ago, I was able to without issue but now I get an "access denied" error - see error message below. This appear to only happen on a particular computer; when I try same bookmark on a laptop, I am able to gain access. I am running an Apple Mac mini M1 - OS is Monterey (version 12.4 - just upgraded) - the problem happened PRIOR to the upgrade, too. I am running Firefox browser 101.0 (64 bit) - upgraded earlier today - problem exists on prior and current version. The laptop is a Macbook Air M1 running 12.4. I am able to access this site using a different web browser with the M1 Mac mini machine - used Chrome. I am able to access other banking and ecomm sites without issues. Have spoken to tech support staff with Citizens Bank; they suggested all the stnd trouble shooting techniques described above and below.
I have cleared the cache and cleared cookies related to this site - in Manage Data in preferences - sorted by recent access to show most current cookies and deleted them. Search list in Manage Data for older cookies from same site - found none. I have used the "Forget about this Site" option accessible from the History menu item. I have also cleared other site data from the "Clear History" option. I have disable some of the loaded extensions related to login issue (1password, etc..) I have disabled the default proxy and specified "no proxy". As I have gone through this list of trouble shooting techniques, have quit Firefox and relaunched.
What is "interesting" is that after clearing the cookies, I am able to access the home page of the site and can enter my username and password - either manually or using the auto fill feature of 1password. Upon clicking "enter", I then get the "access denied" error. I terminate that browser window and create a new window and either select the link from my bookmarks OR type in the link manually (have done both) and press <enter>. This time, I can not even get to the default homepage - getting "access denied" error at this point.
I have taken two screen shots of error message - below. The one with the URL ending with the "default.jsp" results from clearing cookies and getting to the home page (once), entering user name / pwd and trying to log in. The other results from the next time I access the site - the home page will not even load.
My guess is that I have a very specific corrupted file / configuration setting for this particular website that does not get cleared by any of the stnd trouble shooting methods.
cor-el மூலமாக திருத்தப்பட்டது
All Replies (6)
For one thing the link doesn't work and I tried it.
Hmm. We’re having trouble finding that site.
We can’t connect to the server at www.citiizenbankonline.com.
If that address is correct, here are three other things you can try:
Try again later. Check your network connection. If you are connected but behind a firewall, check that Firefox has permission to access the Web.
Thanks for the reply. My error - typo - of the URL; should be "www.citizensbankonline.com" which is the user login portion of the parent site "citizensbank.com". I neglected to include the "s" at the end of "citizen".
Have tried over multiple days at different times. Just tried again - same result (access denied); did not reset the browser.
Am able to browse the web to other sites without any issues. Am able to log into ecomm and/or membership sites (such as hotel / airline sites). This problem appears to be this particular pair of URLs.
Do have a firewall setup to provide network security but no configuration changes made recently. I am running a "home office" / single computer behind a Ubiquiti router
Have you checked the present address? I notice the site has been using http: ... and may have changed its address.
Thanks for the suggesting but I believe I have the correct URL. Even tried a Google search and used that link with the same results. Google came back with the https:// address.
Did the same technique for a different bank which I also have an online account (Google search; used that link provided) and was able to log in successfully. There does seem to be something particular about this Mac Mini's (software / Firefox) configuration that prevents me from successfully logging into my Citizens Bank user account. This is very puzzling!
I'm redirected to this login page:
"You don't have permission to access..." errors are characteristic of a firewall that protects the server against misuse and this firewall thinks something is suspicious about the HTTP request. If you use a proxy or VPN then try to use a direct connection. You can try to clear the Cache and remove the Cookies for websites that cause problems via the "3-bar" Firefox menu button (Options/Preferences) to see if that fixes it. If that doesn't work then you can try "Forget About This Site" in the right-click context menu of a history item.
The problem is sort of solved - at least there is a work-around. There appears to be a 3-way conflict between the website (www.citizensbankonline.com), Firefox and a security / virus program from Avast. A portion of the suite of programs that make up their Avast One product is causing the problem. It would appear that when their "Web Shield" functionality is ON, access to this site will result in the Access Denied message. If i disable that functionality, I can log into the website and transact business. More work needs to be done; Web Shield has 4 "setting" / check boxes that can be enabled. I have yet to test each one independently to determine if unchecking any one (or combination) solves the problem while keeping the actual functionality enabled (off / on switch). Since this problem only occurs with the bank's website, I probably should try to explain the details to their online customer support folks and have them relay that to their website / online development staff but I expect we all understand that may be a task of frustration!
I would welcome any other suggestions from the Mozilla / Firefox community if their is something I can set within Firefox to allow site access without disabling any of the protection features offered by Avast.