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A website (on a shared host) would seem to have been hacked as it looks like directory/file perms have been changed across the site.

The FTP user is now unable to even see the parent files and directories.

The website is stored in a subdirectory off the document root (internal rewrite to this subdirectory). The website is still viewable over HTTP and functions OK, except that HTTP file uploads fail, which I expect is due to incorrect permissions.

The host has confirmed that this subdirectory has perms 0755, yet it is still not even visible to the FTP user.

The site is a PHP powered site that runs as the www-data user. The FTP account is another user.

What else can cause this subdirectory to be hidden from the FTP user?

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  • what user you use for your HTTP and FTP? Jul 15, 2013 at 13:53
  • @AbhishekAnandAmralkar: They are two different users. www-data for HTTP (a PHP powered site) and another FTP user.
    – MrWhite
    Jul 15, 2013 at 14:02
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    I hate to say it. It is the responsibility of the host to figure that stuff out. You can guess all day long, but at the end of the day, you do not have full access to the box, and things like this cannot be fully diagnosed. There are a laundry list of reasons why you're seeing what you are.
    – TheCompWiz
    Jul 15, 2013 at 14:09
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    This question appears to be off-topic because it concerns the use of shared web hosting by end users or resellers, rather than the administration of web hosting.
    – Jenny D
    Jul 15, 2013 at 14:46
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    Yes, it's a server side issue. But you say that "the host has confirmed..." which to me sounds as though you are not the sysadmin of the server. If you are a user, rather than the sysadmin, the question is off-topic.
    – Jenny D
    Jul 15, 2013 at 17:19

1 Answer 1

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It could be a configuration issue rather than a security failure too. Have they changed anything significant on the server (a major update of the control panel environment perhaps)?

The file permissions bitmap is not the whole story: the user/group ownership settings are significant too, as is the configuration used for the web server when considering HTTP based uploads (do scripts on the web server run as you, or a generic service user (www-data, nobody, etc.)?).

In any case, as this is a shared host that presumably you do not have full control over, you really must have the admins sort the problem out. If they are unable (or not fast enough about it) get your concerns away from them and onto another host ASAP. You will not have the access required to resolve the issue (and should not, after all you wouldn't want the other users of the server having admin access either!).

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  • Thanks for your help. The host reports that there have been no updates on the server. PHP runs as the user www-data, FTP as another user. I seem to have surprisingly little control over the server; even for a shared server! Unfortunately the host (at least the person I'm dealing with) is coming across as somewhat "lacking".
    – MrWhite
    Jul 16, 2013 at 23:20

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