Troubleshooting Common MyIdnWebShield Issues: Fast FixesMyIdnWebShield is designed to protect websites and web applications from common threats while improving performance through caching and content filtering. Like any security product, it can sometimes cause issues that affect site availability, performance, or correct content delivery. This article walks through the most common MyIdnWebShield problems, quick diagnostic steps, and fast fixes to get your site back to normal.
1. Site is down or returns a 5xx error
Symptoms: Entire site unavailable, browser shows 500, 502, 503, or 504 errors.
Quick checks:
- Confirm your origin server is reachable directly (bypass the shield).
- Check MyIdnWebShield dashboard for any reported outages or maintenance notices.
- Review recent configuration changes (WAF rules, cache settings, custom redirects).
Fast fixes:
- If origin is down: restart web server or contact hosting provider.
- If shield’s configuration caused the error: temporarily toggle MyIdnWebShield to “pass-through” or disable problematic rules to restore traffic while you investigate.
- For ⁄504: increase origin timeout settings in MyIdnWebShield or scale origin resources (CPU, memory, worker processes).
- Look at origin logs for application errors that coincide with the timestamps of the 5xx responses.
When to escalate: persistent 5xx after origin is healthy — open a support ticket with MyIdnWebShield, include timestamps, request IDs, and example request headers.
2. Legitimate traffic blocked (false positives)
Symptoms: Users or APIs receive 403 or other blocked responses; legitimate bots or search engines are denied.
Quick checks:
- Check WAF and IP reputation/blacklist logs to see why requests were blocked.
- Confirm whether the blocked requests match a specific rule (SQLi, XSS, rate limit, bot protection).
Fast fixes:
- Whitelist specific IPs, ranges, or user-agent strings for trusted services (e.g., search engine crawlers, payment gateways).
- Create exceptions for particular URL paths or query parameters that trigger false positives.
- Tune WAF sensitivity (switch from “block” to “challenge” or “log-only” for suspicious rules) while monitoring results.
Best practice: test whitelist and rule changes in a staging environment or enable logging-only mode to verify before fully enabling blocking rules.
3. SSL/TLS errors and mixed content
Symptoms: Browser shows “Your connection is not private,” NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID, or mixed content warnings after enabling MyIdnWebShield.
Quick checks:
- Verify certificate configuration in MyIdnWebShield (full, full (strict), or flexible SSL modes).
- Inspect origin certificate validity and common name/SAN entries.
- Use browser dev tools to identify mixed content requests (HTTP resources loaded on an HTTPS page).
Fast fixes:
- For certificate mismatch: ensure you upload or select the correct TLS certificate that matches your domain, or enable automatic TLS provisioning if MyIdnWebShield supports it.
- For Flexible SSL issues: switch to “Full (strict)” if your origin has a valid certificate to avoid plaintext between shield and origin.
- Fix mixed content by updating asset URLs to HTTPS or using protocol-relative URLs, and enable automatic HTTPS rewrites if available.
Note: Always test TLS changes during low-traffic periods and retain backups of prior configurations.
4. Caching issues: stale content or incorrect content served
Symptoms: Users see outdated pages, or dynamic content (user-specific) is cached and shown to others.
Quick checks:
- Inspect cache-control headers from your origin.
- Check MyIdnWebShield cache rules and page-level caching settings.
- Use a curl request with headers to see response and cache headers (e.g., Cache-Control, Age, X-Cache).
Fast fixes:
- Set appropriate Cache-Control and Vary headers on dynamic pages (e.g., Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, private for user-specific pages).
- Purge cache for updated assets or enable cache-busting (versioned filenames).
- Configure MyIdnWebShield to bypass cache for pages with cookies, auth headers, or query parameters.
- Use short TTLs for resources that update frequently.
Example curl for cache inspection:
curl -I -H "Cache-Control: no-cache" https://example.com/path 5. Slow performance after enabling the shield
Symptoms: Page load times increased; higher Time To First Byte (TTFB).
Quick checks:
- Compare TTFB with and without MyIdnWebShield (bypass via hosts or direct origin URL).
- Check WAF or bot checks increasing request processing time (CPU-heavy rules).
- Verify if compression, HTTP/2, or edge caching are enabled.
Fast fixes:
- Enable edge caching for static assets and tune cache TTLs.
- Disable or optimize expensive WAF rules; move them to logging-only to benchmark impact.
- Enable Brotli/GZIP compression and HTTP/2/3 if not already active.
- Ensure origin keep-alive and connection pooling are configured to reduce handshake overhead.
6. Redirect loops and incorrect redirects
Symptoms: Browser reports ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS or the site loops between HTTP and HTTPS.
Quick checks:
- Check your origin’s redirect rules and MyIdnWebShield’s SSL/redirect settings.
- Inspect response headers to see which component issues the redirect.
Fast fixes:
- Align SSL mode and origin redirects: if MyIdnWebShield terminates TLS and forwards plain HTTP, don’t have the origin forcing HTTPS redirects back to the shield.
- Use “Origin is HTTPS” or equivalent setting in MyIdnWebShield and remove redundant origin redirect rules.
- If enforcing HTTPS at the shield, disable origin-level HTTPS redirect, or vice versa—ensure only one component handles the redirect.
7. API requests failing or receiving altered responses
Symptoms: API clients get modified payloads, unexpected status codes, or authentication headers stripped.
Quick checks:
- Confirm that MyIdnWebShield is not modifying headers or bodies for API endpoints.
- Check rules that inspect JSON payloads or strip headers (CORS, security headers).
Fast fixes:
- Create bypass rules for API paths (e.g., /api/*) so requests are proxied without modification.
- Allowlist essential headers (Authorization, Content-Type) and ensure CORS is correctly configured.
- If rate limiting blocks API consumers, set higher thresholds or whitelist trusted clients.
8. Geo-blocking or rate-limiting affecting users
Symptoms: Users in particular regions can’t access content; many users hit rate limits.
Quick checks:
- Review geo-blocking and rate-limiting rules in MyIdnWebShield.
- Inspect logs showing blocked requests by country or IP range.
Fast fixes:
- Relax or remove overly broad geo-blocking rules; instead block IPs or ASN ranges with malicious activity.
- Increase rate-limit thresholds or implement more granular limits per endpoint.
- Provide a human challenge (CAPTCHA) rather than outright blocking for suspicious but potentially legitimate traffic.
9. Logging, analytics, or headers missing
Symptoms: Backend logs show missing headers (X-Forwarded-For), or analytics show drop in traffic.
Quick checks:
- Verify that MyIdnWebShield forwards client headers (X-Forwarded-For, True-Client-IP).
- Confirm that logs/analytics endpoints are not blocked by security rules.
Fast fixes:
- Enable proxy headers/real IP forwarding in MyIdnWebShield and adjust your origin to read those headers.
- If logs are missing due to caching, add cache-bypass for logging endpoints or include unique query strings.
10. Changes not taking effect
Symptoms: You update WAF rules, DNS, or settings but behavior remains the same.
Quick checks:
- Confirm changes were saved and published in the dashboard.
- Consider DNS propagation or edge cache TTLs that delay rollout.
Fast fixes:
- Purge edge cache or force a configuration deploy if the platform provides that.
- Confirm DNS TTLs and wait or reduce TTL for faster propagation during changes.
- Use curl with host header to test a specific configuration:
curl -I -H "Host: example.com" https://<myidnwebshield-edge-ip>
Diagnostic checklist (fast)
- Bypass the shield to test origin directly.
- Check MyIdnWebShield status and recent change history.
- Inspect headers with curl or browser dev tools.
- Review WAF, rate limiting, geo rules, and cache settings.
- Purge caches and re-test.
- Reproduce with a minimal request (no cookies, simple user-agent).
- Collect timestamps, sample request IDs, and full request/response headers for support.
When to contact support
- Unable to restore availability after origin checks.
- Complex 5xx issues tied to shield internals.
- Repeated false positives impacting revenue-critical traffic.
- Provide: example requests, timestamps, request IDs, response headers, and steps already tried.
Final notes
Keep a staging environment where you can safely test rule changes in logging-only mode. Use short TTLs during active troubleshooting and enable logging and monitoring so you can revert quickly if a change causes unexpected behavior. Following the quick checks and fixes above should resolve most MyIdnWebShield problems within minutes to a few hours.
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