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Update link on Reference Manual v3 wiki page #3136
Description
Describe the bug
The Base64DecodeExt item in the Reference Manual wiki page provide a link that isn't currently online now. I found a version on Internet Wayback machine, and so I want to update this information. But I don't know how to proppose such change, because the Github pages don't support PRs.
To Reproduce
Following the actual link "blog post on Base64Decoding evasion issues on PHP sites" point to http://blog.spiderlabs.com/2010/04/impedance-mismatch-and-base64.html url, that isn't online.
Expected behavior
The link can point to https://web.archive.org/web/20110713164920/http://blog.spiderlabs.com/2010/04/impedance-mismatch-and-base64.html for example.
Activity
airween commentedon May 5, 2024
Hi @MefhigosetH,
thanks for reporting this.
Unfortunately the referred link belongs to an external website that we have no any influence. The other problem is (based on the URI) that page was generated in 2010, so may be it's removed because the owner thought it's too old.
I don't know how correct/polite to put a web.archive.org link into a Wiki page. Any thoughts?
MefhigosetH commentedon May 7, 2024
Dear @airween , thanks for your feedback and sorry for the delay.
I'll check with the last version of ModSecurity if the risk indicated on the website is still valid currently. Give me two days.
If the risk exists, I think the important thing here is document on a paragraph the existence of this risk and maybe (or not), bring the user a link with recommendations about secure use of these functions.
airween commentedon Oct 14, 2024
Hi @MefhigosetH, could we close this issue? Or is there anything we can do?
fzipi commentedon Oct 12, 2026
Revisiting this one. The dead link appears three times in the wiki (the v2 manual, its transformation-functions split page, and the v3 manual, all under
base64DecodeExt). Replacing it with the Wayback Machine copy is the normal practice for a reference that explains why the transformation exists; it is a wiki edit, not a code change, and any maintainer can make it.Let's close this one once the three links are updated.
MefhigosetH commentedon Oct 13, 2026
Dear @fzipi Thanks for your feedback. Can I help in any way or the wiki need to be edited by maintainers only?
airween commentedon Oct 13, 2026
Everyone can edit the Wiki, but not directly.
Here is a brief how to clone the a wiki page:
https://gist.github.com/subfuzion/0d3f19c4f780a7d75ba2
If you're done, just send us the patch.
MefhigosetH commentedon Oct 14, 2026
fix_broken_impedance_mismatch_link.patch
fzipi commentedon Oct 26, 2026
@MefhigosetH thanks for the patch! The wiki has been replaced by https://www.modsecurity.org/docs/, and its sources are in https://github.com/owasp-modsecurity/documentation, which accepts pull requests.
Because the manual is no longer split into v2 and v3 copies, the dead link now appears only once: in the
base64DecodeExtentry,content/3-reference-manual/3-4-transformation-functions.md. Could you open a PR there that points it at the Wayback Machine copy? That way you also get credit for the fix. The edit link on the page takes you straight to the file.fzipi commentedon Oct 26, 2026
@MefhigosetH quick update: we went ahead and opened owasp-modsecurity/documentation#1 with your fix, which points the
base64DecodeExtlink at the Wayback Machine copy you suggested. You're credited as the reporter, so there's no need to open a separate PR. We'll close this issue once that one is merged. Thanks again for tracking it down!MefhigosetH commentedon Oct 26, 2026
Kudos to the team, and thanks for manage the issue. I'm happy to collaborate with this awesome project. Best regards.
airween commentedon Oct 26, 2026
@MefhigosetH,
thanks - can we close this issue?
MefhigosetH commentedon Oct 26, 2026
Yes, you can close this issue.