AEM: Resolving stale site content caused by WAF blocking JavaScript files
This article explains how to address an issue in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) where a Web Application Firewall (WAF) blocks JavaScript files, preventing required assets from loading correctly. As a result, site content does not update as expected, and some asset requests return HTTP 403 Forbidden errors. Review the WAF and routing configurations to ensure JavaScript asset requests resolve successfully.
Description description
Environment
Adobe Experience Manager (all versions)
Issue/Symptoms
- The WAF blocks JavaScript file requests and returns HTTP 403 Forbidden errors.
- Site content does not update and appears stale.
- Some asset requests succeed, while others fail depending on the hostname used.
Root cause
JavaScript file requests are blocked by the WAF because of configuration or routing issues, such as requests being routed through an unexpected hostname or matching a WAF rule.
Resolution resolution
Follow the steps below to resolve the issue.
- Review WAF logs to identify the rules that block JavaScript asset requests. Look for HTTP 403 Forbidden responses and note the affected URLs and event IDs.
- Correlate the blocked requests with specific hostnames to determine whether requests route through an unexpected or incorrect hostname.
- Update the AEM Dispatcher and rewrite configurations to ensure that asset requests route through the correct hostname.
- Restart the Dispatcher service to apply the configuration changes.
- Validate that asset requests resolve successfully with HTTP 200 responses and that site content updates as expected.
- Monitor the environment to confirm consistent asset delivery and the absence of additional WAF blocks.
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