Flash, CGI and 403 Errors

Hi there,
has anyone any experience using a contact-form out of a running swf-file - i know the syntax and it works almost 100%, but
there are a few internetusers who get a 403-errror-page when calling the cgi-script out of the flash-file.
has anyone an idea, why they get the 403 (forbidden)- page?

grateful for any help,
pixelle

Do you have any sample code that you could post.... code that is causing the problems??

sure,

i am using this code on a submitbutton in the flashfile:

on (release) {
getURL ("http://www.fantastic-sports.net/cgi-bin/fsformmail.pl", "_blank", "POST");
}

there are some text-fields like
recipient:
URL
subject and so on (equivalent to hidden fields, you know?)

then for the cgi i use Formail from URL
i just copy the first part of it, but the problem should not be the "formail.pl" (which is chmoded properly 755)

thanx for helping,
pixelle

here the first part of the formmail.pl:


#!/usr/bin/perl

##############################################################################

# FormMail Version 1.92 #

# Copyright 1995-2002 Matt Wright URL #

# Created 06/09/95 Last Modified 04/21/02 #

# Matt's Script Archive, Inc.: URL #

##############################################################################

# Define Variables #

# Detailed Information Found In README File. #



# $mailprog defines the location of your sendmail program on your unix #

# system. The flags -i and -t should be passed to sendmail in order to #

# have it ignore single dots on a line and to read message for recipients #



$mailprog = '/usr/lib/sendmail -i -t';



# @referers allows forms to be located only on servers which are defined #

# in this field. This security fix from the last version which allowed #

# anyone on any server to use your FormMail script on their web site. #



@referers = ('fantastic-sports.net','fantastic-sports.com','eurobungee.de');



# @recipients defines the e-mail addresses or domain names that e-mail can #

# be sent to. This must be filled in correctly to prevent SPAM and allow #

# valid addresses to receive e-mail. Read the documentation to find out how #

# this variable works!!! It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. #

@recipients = (&fill_recipients('fantastic-sports.net','fantastic-sports.com','eurobungee.de'),

'^info@fantastic-sports\.net');



# ACCESS CONTROL FIX: Peter D. Thompson Yezek #

# @valid_ENV allows the sysadmin to define what environment variables can #

# be reported via the env_report directive. This was implemented to fix #

# the problem reported at URL #



@valid_ENV = ('REMOTE_HOST','REMOTE_ADDR','REMOTE_USER','HTTP_USER_AGENT');



# Done

K. I give up. I haven't spent too much time thinking about it, but nothings poppin into my head right away... sry!

The only other thing I can think of is that it's not Flash.... and that's easy to test.. have the same clients who get the 403 error load the ~exact same~ URL into IE.. and see what happens.

sorry, do you mean i should copy this line
URL
into a browsers-adress-field?
because, if i do, i get an 403 myself, though the script worked fine on my comupter so far.

i really have no idea, where the error could be...

pixelle

so the script does work if YOU access it, but not for some others.
the script wants to have a referrer for blocking spammers from using it (as if this would help...)

i guess they have broken browsers or setup some "personal firewall" or webwasher or something that removes the referer. their fault, not yours. 1000s of other pages won´t work either for them.

you could modify the script:
1. line:
if ($ENV['HTTP_REFERER']=="") { print "Your browser did not transmit a referer. Sorry, you cannot use this feature."; die(); }

though i am not 100% sure about the "$ENV". could be "%ENV" or something. if you want to go this way, ask in the perl forum how to read the HTTP_REFERER from a perl cgi. They´ll know the answer.

thanx for helping,
i just found out what is happening:
the script is working only on macs - not on pcs, BUT
only on the server of one provider - i put the script on a different
server (of another provider, though both are using the same apache
server) and now it works!
weird.