A WordPress 403 error isn't always caused by a malicious request. ModSecurity false positives can block legitimate updates. Inspect anomaly scores and tune specific WAF rules without weakening site security.
Your WordPress 403 Isn’t the Rule You Think: Tuning ModSecurity False Positives
A 403 from ModSecurity almost never names the rule you need to change. Under anomaly scoring, detection rules only add to a score and a separate blocking rule returns the error. This guide covers reading the audit log backwards, choosing between the four exclusion mechanisms, the WordPress failure families that cause most false positives, and why raising the anomaly threshold quietly destroys your coverage.