Question Locked out of my own forum

[AngelArs]

I entered in the wrong password when logging into the ACP, and now it won't let me log back in. I am the main admin. How do I reset this, and how do I prevent it from happening again?

 

[Fillip H.]

Please be a bit more specific. From what you wrote, I don't know what password prompt you entered the wrong password in, and thus why this has lead you to be locked out of your forum.

To disable addons (and as such bypass any lockouts vBSecurity would impose) you can add

define('DISABLE_HOOKS', true);

to your config.php file beneath <?php and then either disable vBSecurity or simply disable whatever security measures you've enabled.

 

[AngelArs]

I was trying to log into the ACP.

Here is the message I can't get rid of "Sorry. The administrator has banned your IP address. To contact the administrator click here."

So in essence it's saying that I banned myself and to contact myself

The IP it banned was whitelisted and marked as being protected, so WHY was it banned?

I just need to know where to clear the ban at. There's no bans listed under forum bans for standard vB bans, so it must be somewhere in the hack that it's storing the information. When I disable the hack the message still appears. This has really disputed working on the site. Not a happy camper.

 

[Fillip H.]

I was trying to log into the ACP.

Here is the message I can't get rid of "Sorry. The administrator has banned your IP address. To contact the administrator click here."

So in essence it's saying that I banned myself and to contact myself

In that case, your IP address has been added to the vBulletin Option for IP address banning (vBulletin Options -> User Banning Options -> Banned IP Addresses).

The IP it banned was whitelisted and marked as being protected, so WHY was it banned?

The only whitelisting feature I'm able to find is the one in vBSecurity that exclusively deals with IP addresses being allowed to access the AdminCP, which does not interact with the forum banning system at all.

I can't find a whitelist feature that would protect any IP addresses from being banned. Are you referring to another whitelist in vBulletin that I'm not aware of?

I just need to know where to clear the ban at.

To bypass an IP ban, open up /includes/functions.php and find

function verify_ip_ban()
{

Add below

return;

Don't forget to undo this change after you've unbanned your IP address in the interface mentioned above.

There's no bans listed under forum bans for standard vB bans, so it must be somewhere in the hack that it's storing the information. When I disable the hack the message still appears.

Then it's impossible that it's the mod that's handling the ban, and it's most likely the IP banning as mentioned above.

This has really disputed working on the site. Not a happy camper.

I would strongly advise you to be careful with setting IP bans. The mod features a notification option alongside the IP banning option, which we use here on DBTech in lieu of the banning option for this exact reason. This will allow you to make an informed decision on each IP address that's failing your AdminCP logins.

Additionally, because there's two watchers available (both can trigger simultaneously), you can set it up so that if someone fails, say 10 times within 1 hour, THEN they get banned, yet still it notifies you every time they fail (along with notifying you when they do get banned).

Usually, if someone is trying to brute force your passwords, they will simply resume their efforts as soon as the 15 minute login strike timeout is over.

This can minimise the chances of accidentally banning some of your staff members, though you should still make them aware of the fact that these restrictions are in place (over IM or something, so that you're not posting valuable information in your forums).