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I've been using NoScript for a while now and am mostly happy with it. The only real issue I have is that certain websites persistently stop working when using it, giving an "Access Denied" error and no other content. The actual response is a true HTTP 403, not just a regular page with the words "Access Denied". By "persistently" I mean the error does not go away after I enable JavaScript for the domain and reload, or even after I enable JavaScript globally. It even affects other browser sessions. I'm guessing that means that my IP has been flagged on the server side.

The only other detail I have is that the error doesn't appear until the second page load for a given domain. The initial request loads the way I would expect, but clicking on links to the same domain (e.g. going from a store's search page to a specific product's page) or manually entering another URL at the same domain results in the error. If I enable JS globally before visiting an affected site, or in a different browser, the problem does not appear at all.

Affected sites include homedepot.com, lowes.com and costco.com, just like in the existing question Getting 'Access Denied' on multiple websites. (Also usnews.com.) Unfortunately the answer there was just "it went away on its own" which doesn't help me. The problem does eventually go away for me, too, but takes days or at least hours. Long enough that I haven't tried to time it exactly.

My browser is, of course, Firefox. This has happened on multiple computers over the past few months, so it is not device-specific.

What is causing this and how can I avoid it without getting rid of NoScript or permanently allowing all scripts related to the domains in question?

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Googling for this error without mentioning NoScript—which seems fine, this is almost certainly related to JavaScript being disabled generally, not the NoScript extension specifically—brings up many hits scattered all over the place. The "solutions" are inconsistent. Kind of a "ask ten people, get twelve answers" situation.

The solution that seems most plausible to me is that the sites in question use Akamai for blocking malicious traffic and that service is overzealously blocking IPs or IP ranges (source; see additional info on SO if this is correct) because it thinks browsers with JS disabled are bots or otherwise bad. Akamai itself, somewhat understandably, doesn't seem very helpful when it comes to IP blocking. So, you'd just have to not give Akamai any reason to be suspicious in the first place (i.e. enable JS prior to visiting affected sites).

Other reported solutions include

  • using/changing VPNs (which would change your apparent IP address and probably only work if you were on a blocked IP but weren't causing the block through your own actions),
  • disabling anti-virus suites (which may have their own VPN/proxy settings that aren't easily visible to end users, so this is just a sub-case of the previous solution)
  • fixing incorrect computer clock settings,
  • clearing cache/cookies,
  • turning the computer, router, and/or modem off and back on again (I would guess this doesn't actually fix anything, but the IP block expires during the process)
  • contacting service departments for the companies in question (who are not IT personnel but maybe could be helpful if this is some kind of account problem masquerading as the error being asked about)
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  • Enable javascript for the website, even after you get the access denied
  • Remove cookies and caches for that website
  • Refresh
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