Userdata file 'main' for user 'example' is not readable: Permission denied

Natasha Collins

June 25, 2025 03:29
Updated

Symptoms

Accessing cPanel results in:

Error: Userdata file 'main' for user 'example' is not readable: Permission denied

Description

This issue is caused by /var/cpanel/userdata and/or its contents having the wrong permissions and/or ownership assigned.

Workaround

Run the following command via SSH as root to fix the permissions and ownership of the userdata content:
```
/usr/local/cpanel/bin/fix_userdata_perms
```
If the cPanel error persists after running the above command, ensure /var/cpanel/userdata is also owned by root:root:
```
chown -v root.root /var/cpanel/userdata
```

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