SP Page Builder Pro – HTTP 400 when saving pages / HTTP 403 during update (STRATO Hosting) - Forum | JoomShaper
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SP Page Builder Pro – HTTP 400 when saving pages / HTTP 403 during update (STRATO Hosting)

Asked by Daniel 2 days ago Last activity 2 days ago

Hello JoomShaper Support Team,

We are experiencing a serious issue with SP Page Builder Pro on our website https://handelsloewen.de (Joomla 5, PHP 8.3, hosted by STRATO).

Since updating SP Page Builder on September 30, 2026, we have been unable to save existing pages. The editor keeps loading indefinitely after clicking "Save".

I have investigated the issue using Chrome Developer Tools and found the following:

1. HTTP 400 – Saving pages fails

All affected requests use task=page.savePage.

Comparison of successful and failed requests:

Page Content-Length HTTP Status Server
New page with 3 blocks 42,353 bytes 200 OK Apache 2.4.68
Existing page 48,401 bytes 400 Bad Request Apache 2.4.69
New page with duplicated 4th block 51,717 bytes 400 Bad Request Apache 2.4.69
Large existing page 314,171 bytes 400 Bad Request Apache 2.4.69

Even newly created pages stop saving when additional blocks are added. Simply duplicating an existing working block reproduces the error.

The HTTP 400 response is a generic Apache error page.

I also noticed that the successful request was handled by Apache 2.4.68, while all documented failed requests were handled by Apache 2.4.69.

Could this indicate a server configuration issue or an Apache update-related problem?

2. HTTP 403 – SP Page Builder update fails

When trying to update SP Page Builder Pro using the downloaded ZIP file through Joomla's extension installer, the installation fails with:

"403 Forbidden – You don't have permission to access this resource."

3. Server configuration

Our current PHP settings are:

  • PHP 8.3.35
  • post_max_size: 128 MB
  • upload_max_filesize: 128 MB
  • memory_limit: 512 MB

Your support previously recommended checking:

  • SecRequestBodyLimit: at least 25 MB
  • SecRequestBodyNoFilesLimit: at least 25 MB
  • LimitRequestBody: at least 20 MB

However, even requests of approximately 48 KB are failing.

We have contacted STRATO several times, but their telephone support could not confirm the server configuration values or identify the cause. We have now requested a written technical investigation.

4. Request for assistance

Could you please investigate whether this issue is related to:

  • A compatibility problem introduced by the SP Page Builder update
  • Apache or ModSecurity restrictions
  • A problem with the generated save requests

The issue occurs across multiple pages and also in Chrome's incognito mode.

Rebuilding all existing pages is not a viable solution.

Unfortunately, I cannot attach screenshots to this ticket, but I can provide further technical information if required.

Thank you for your assistance!

2 replies

Oldest first Newest first Most helpful
Atick Eashrak Shuvo Staff
2 days ago

Hi there!

Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused.

To assist you more effectively, may I kindly request temporary administrative access to your site? This will allow me to thoroughly investigate and resolve the issue for you.

Before sharing the credentials, I strongly recommend taking a complete backup of your site to ensure all data remains secure.

Looking forward to your response.

Best regards

Atick Eashrak Shuvo Staff
2 days ago

Hi There,

We've looked into the problem you're having when saving your page, and we
wanted to reassure you first: this is not a fault in your website or in SP
Page Builder. It's a security setting on your hosting server that needs a small
adjustment.

What's happening:
When you save a page, its content is sent to the server in one request. Your
server's security firewall (ModSecurity) limits how many individual items a
single request may contain, and your larger pages are above that limit. So the
firewall blocks the save before it reaches your website, which is why you see
an error such as "Bad Request" or the save simply not completing.

This only affects larger, content-rich pages, and it is purely a server
configuration limit.

What needs to be done:
This has to be adjusted by your hosting provider. Please contact your hosting
provider's support team and forward the request below (or let us know and, with
your permission, we can contact them on your behalf):

Saving pages in SP Page Builder is being blocked by ModSecurity with a "400 Bad
Request". The save request contains a large number of arguments (several
thousand, and over twenty thousand for bigger pages), which exceeds
ModSecurity's "SecArgumentsLimit". Please raise SecArgumentsLimit to at least
50000 for our site, or whitelist the ModSecurity rule for POST requests to:
/index.php?option=com_sppagebuilder&task=page.savePage
Note: this is not PHP's max_input_vars (the request body is JSON, which that
setting does not apply to); it is ModSecurity's argument limit.

Once your hosting provider has made this change, please try saving your page
again. If the problem is still there after the change, let us know and we will
investigate further.

Best regards

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