How to disable a ModSecurity rule on a per user basis.

Question

How to disable a ModSecurity rule on a per user basis?

Answer

A ModSecurity rule may be impacting a user, and you want to only disable the rule for that just user. User-level Apache include files used on a cPanel server can be used to disable the rule.

Note: In the following procedure, $cpuser must be replaced with the cPanel user's username.

1. Access the server's command line as the root user via SSH or Terminal in WHM.

2. Use the following command to create the cPanel user's include folders:

   # mkdir -p /etc/apache2/conf.d/userdata/std/2_4/$cpuser /etc/apache2/conf.d/userdata/ssl/2_4/$cpuser

3. Create the user's configuration file:

   # touch /etc/apache2/conf.d/userdata/std/2_4/$cpuser/modsec.conf

4. Open the file in your preferred text editor.

5. Add the following lines to the file:

   CONFIG_TEXT: <LocationMatch .*>
   SecRuleRemoveById $ruleID
   </LocationMatch>

   Note: $ruleID must be replaced with the ModSecurity rule ID to be disabled.

6. Save the changes and exit the text editor.

7. Copy the configuration to the user's ssl folder:

   # cp -av /etc/apache2/conf.d/userdata/std/2_4/$cpuser/modsec.conf /etc/apache2/conf.d/userdata/ssl/2_4/$cpuser/modsec.conf

8. Rebuild the Apache configuration:

   # /scripts/rebuildhttpdconf

9. Restart the web server.

   # /scripts/restartsrv_httpd --hard

Additional Resources

How to use Apache includes to add configuration directives to all VirtualHosts server-wide

How to use Apache Includes to add Configuration Directives to a specific domain's VirtualHost