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Valid RSS feed from a site produces the error: "The Feed URL is not authorized."

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  • 8 have this problem
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  • Last reply by cmhett

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I'm trying to get an RSS feed working for a site https://judeochristianclarion.com/feed/rss.xml, and am testing it in Thunderbird. The XML is completely valid according to the W3 Validator https://validator.w3.org/feed/check.cgi?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjudeochristianclarion.com%2Ffeed%2Frss.xml, and when I check it in Feedly, it works perfectly fine. But in Thunderbird I keep getting the message "The Feed URL is not authorized."

I tried copying the exact same xml file to another domain http://cmhett.tk/rss.xml, and from this domain I did not receive the error message in Thunderbird, and it worked fine just like any other RSS feed.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated, thanks.

I'm trying to get an RSS feed working for a site https://judeochristianclarion.com/feed/rss.xml, and am testing it in Thunderbird. The XML is completely valid according to the W3 Validator https://validator.w3.org/feed/check.cgi?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjudeochristianclarion.com%2Ffeed%2Frss.xml, and when I check it in Feedly, it works perfectly fine. But in Thunderbird I keep getting the message "The Feed URL is not authorized." I tried copying the exact same xml file to another domain http://cmhett.tk/rss.xml, and from this domain I did not receive the error message in Thunderbird, and it worked fine just like any other RSS feed. Any and all help is greatly appreciated, thanks.

Modified by cmhett

Chosen solution

Just in case anyone comes here in the future, here is the deal.

The Lightning add-on (which is the default calendar add-on) apparently changes the Thunderbird ua string, causing a 403 forbidden on some URLs for the feed.

This can be circumvented by either disabling the Lightning extension or changing the value of calendar.useragent.extra to blank (Preferences -> Advanced -> Config Editor).

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All Replies (6)

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Messed up the formatting of the q, fixed it.

Modified by cmhett

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I just tried dropping the link into Firefox and I got nothing their either, Chrome played along.

The cause however is your server. I have no idea why it is barfing, but the 403 error does indicate that the server thinks the URL is fine but it violates it's internal security for some reason.

Thunderbird and firefox use their own connection settings, defaulted to use system settings. Chrome just uses the system settings. This is the only thing I can see different. I will ping someone and see if they have anything to contribute.

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Matt said

I just tried dropping the link into Firefox and I got nothing their either, Chrome played along. The cause however is your server. I have no idea why it is barfing, but the 403 error does indicate that the server thinks the URL is fine but it violates it's internal security for some reason. Thunderbird and firefox use their own connection settings, defaulted to use system settings. Chrome just uses the system settings. This is the only thing I can see different. I will ping someone and see if they have anything to contribute.

So did you get a second opinion?

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For what it's worth, this URL opens in my Firefox for Windows:

https://judeochristianclarion.com/feed/rss.xml

I don't have Thunderbird on this computer to test with.

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jscher2000 said

For what it's worth, this URL opens in my Firefox for Windows: https://judeochristianclarion.com/feed/rss.xml I don't have Thunderbird on this computer to test with.

Yeah, it shows up fine in Firefox, but in Thunderbird I keep getting the same error.

Little more info by the way, I tried it on Windows 10 Thunderbird 52.2.1 (32-bit) as well as Solus Linux Thunderbird 52.1.1 (64-bit), and I am getting the same error message in both.

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Chosen Solution

Just in case anyone comes here in the future, here is the deal.

The Lightning add-on (which is the default calendar add-on) apparently changes the Thunderbird ua string, causing a 403 forbidden on some URLs for the feed.

This can be circumvented by either disabling the Lightning extension or changing the value of calendar.useragent.extra to blank (Preferences -> Advanced -> Config Editor).