Guests viewing forums

by polar_bear August 5th 2009, 2:21 am

Guests, mainly from certain Japanese IP ranges can view my forum, even though it is supposed to be inaccessible to guests.

They are not bots, and I know they are getting into the forum, though I can't be sure whether they can actually read threads, but on the admin panel it says:

Guest Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:31 am Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:31 am Set Up 150.70.XX.XXX

(I've blanked part of the IP out)

Where Set Up is a forum which should only be visible to Admin.

Usually for a guest it will say:

Guest Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:16 am Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:16 am Viewing the forum index 90.213.XX.XXX

because they cannot get beyond the login page

I have checked and double checked, and it is set up right. Normal guests can only see the login page. But the ones from these IPs are definitely getting in.

There are a number of other posts on this forum with people having the same problem with Japanese IP addresses. The usual reply is that it is either bots or they've not got their permissions correct. But I think there is something weird going on with these IPs.

Any suggestions?

EDIT TO ADD: sorry I should have said, when I say it's not a bot, I mean it can't be a normal bot (if it is a bot) because a normal bot shouldn't be able to get beyond the log in page

by Darren1 August 5th 2009, 3:54 am

Hi,

Guests cant view any of ur forum.
their just there looking at ur backgorund, they are also increasing ur stats on ur forum.

But they can't see or do anything Wink

by polar_bear August 5th 2009, 12:10 pm

Sorry but I disagree, these guests are, otherwise they would not be able to view the individual sections of the forum.

A 'normal' guest can only see the index/login pages, but the ones from this IP range are able to view internal sections, or at least the indexes of them. They shouldn't even be able to see the index of a section that is Admin only (like the Set Up one). I have no way of telling whether they are accessing individual threads, because the Admin panel usually only says which forum section a user is in, not which thread.

by Darren1 August 5th 2009, 1:19 pm

Then you have incorrectly set up ur permissions.
You have set it so that guests can see your forum's' Wink

if you would like you could inform us of the URL of ur forum (You may do this via PM if you rather) and I will inform you, and give u a screenshot of what a guest can see.

by TurkishKor@y58 August 5th 2009, 1:23 pm

Ne Diyonuz Salaklar

by polar_bear August 5th 2009, 1:58 pm

I'm obviously not explaining this well, I'm really sorry, I don't know the technical terms or anything. I will PM you the URL, but I know that most guests cannot see it, it's only the ones from this IP range. I am banning the IPs as they come up, but I can't find a way to ban a range, and I would like to know how they are doing it, and why.

by polar_bear August 5th 2009, 2:05 pm

TurkishKor@y58, grow up!

by TurkishKor@y58 August 5th 2009, 2:07 pm

What do you say brother.

by polar_bear August 6th 2009, 3:50 am

I am still getting these same 'guests' viewing parts of the forum, same IP addresses, even though I have banned the IP addresses. If I unban and reban the IP when they are online they get kicked straight away, but it's not stopping them viewing the forum.

I'm not the only person who's seen this problem.

https://help.forumotion.com/other-problems-f46/guest-viewing-basket-t23277.htm#131550

You can see in the one above that it is from the same IP address range.

https://help.forumotion.com/other-problems-f46/basket-is-not-allowed-to-be-viewed-by-guests-and-members-but-someone-from-japan-viewing-it-maybe-need-mod-help-t23594.htm

https://help.forumotion.com/other-problems-f46/guest-get-around-t48575.htm#313345

https://help.forumotion.com/other-problems-f46/help-i-need-to-know-how-to-get-rid-of-an-annoying-guest-t42444.htm

Even if this is a bot, they shouldn't be able to see stuff inside a closed forum. How is this happening?

by Darren1 August 6th 2009, 9:41 am

Ok,

thanks for your PM, I have looked into this situation.

I myself cannot get past the login/register screen.

So then forth, I cannot assist you any further, as this is, what you what call, "out of my knowledge".

Ill see what I can do for you, however I do respect ur privacy as I have replied to ur PM, asking for permission.

I'm sorry I can't assist you any further.
Darren.

by Ron August 19th 2009, 12:40 pm

I'm having the same problem myself. My forum is set up like yours but somehow a particular guest is able to view all the rooms on my forum. I’d also like to know how to stop this!

by polar_bear August 19th 2009, 5:34 pm

Hello Ron,

I don't know anymore than is posted here I'm afraid, if you do find anything out, please let me know!

Out of interest, are your 'guests' using a similar IP range to the ones I am having trouble with?

by Ron August 20th 2009, 1:37 am

Hello polar_bear,

I only have one guest viewing the rooms. It’s the same guy because it is always the same ISP and he is in the states. I have noticed other guest online but they are always listed as viewing the forum index but I’ll keep an eye on their ISP. Just this one guy is viewing any room he chooses! I don’t know how he is doing it!

If I do find any helpful information I’ll certainly let you know mate.