Unable to upload file to website on Plesk: Request body no files data length is larger than the configured limit

Alex Tsmokalyuk

Updated July 10, 2024 15:58

Plesk for Linux kb: technical ABT: Group B

Should this article appears to be applicable, please, check this other one and confirm it works in such a scenario so it can be merged

Applicable to:

Plesk for Linux

Symptoms

Unable to upload a file to a website hosted in Plesk:

CONFIG_TEXT: 413 Request entity too large

CONFIG_TEXT: Request Entity Too Large
The requested resource
/upload-a-file/
does not allow request data with POST requests, or the amount of data provided in the request exceeds the capacity limit.
ModSecurity Atomic or OWASP ruleset is specified in Tools & Settings > Web Application Firewall (ModSecurity) > Settings
or
Imunify360 is installed in Extensions.
Error in /var/www/vhosts/example.com/logs/error_log:

CONFIG_TEXT: ModSecurity: Request body no files data length is larger than the configured limit (1048576).. Deny with code (413) [hostname "www.example.com"] [uri "/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"] [unique_id "Wakfj-fvNMmcLKLp-n8PjQAAAAE"]

Cause

Modsecurity limit defined by WAF_SECREQUESTBODYNOFILESLIMIT parameter value is reached.

Resolution

If ModSecurity Atomic ruleset is specified in Web Application Firewall (ModSecurity) settings:

Log into the server via SSH.
Open /etc/asl/config file using the vi text editor.
Increase the value for the WAF_SECREQUESTBODYNOFILESLIMIT directive, for example to the value as below (specified in Bytes):

CONFIG_TEXT: WAF_SECREQUESTBODYNOFILESLIMIT "10000000"
Execute the command below to update the rulesets:

# for i in daily weekly monthly; do /usr/local/psa/bin/sw-engine-pleskrun /usr/local/psa/admin/plib/DailyMaintainance/script.php -f UpdateModSecurityRuleSet --period "${i}"; done

This way the change will remain persistent after any updates/rulesets changes.

If Imunify360 is installed in Extensions or OWASP ruleset is specified in Web Application Firewall (ModSecurity) settings and there is no /etc/asl/config file:

For Debian based systems (Ubuntu/Debian):

Check if SecRequestBodyNoFilesLimit is not defined in Apache configuration:

# grep -r SecRequestBodyNoFilesLimit /etc/apache2/
#
If it is defined, increase this value. If not, define SecRequestBodyNoFilesLimit by creating limits.conf file:
# printf "SecRequestBodyNoFilesLimit 10000000\n" > /etc/apache2/modsecurity.d/limits.conf
Reload the service:
# service apache2 reload

For RHEL-based systems (CentOS/CloudLinux/AlmaLinux):

Check if SecRequestBodyNoFilesLimit is defined in Apache configuration:
# grep -r SecRequestBodyNoFilesLimit /etc/httpd
#
If it is defined, increase its value. If not, define SecRequestBodyNoFilesLimit by creating limits.conf file:
# printf "SecRequestBodyNoFilesLimit 10000000\n" > /etc/httpd/conf/modsecurity.d/limits.conf
Reload the service:
# service httpd reload