403 error when accessing from phone since server upgrade

[brigdh]

Since the server upgrade, I get a 403 error when trying to access https://www.phoronix.com/ (or any other link on the domain like an article) on my Android phone.
Trying "request desktop site" does not resolve the issue.
Accessing the site from desktop is fine.
I can no longer read articles on the go, which is disappointing.

[Michael]

What is your IP / location? Does the error come from Cloudflare or does it look like normal error page? Haven't heard of anyone having issues. Thanks.

[brigdh]

Looks like a normal error page -
Screenshot_20231206-112631.png

I'm in Colorado. I observe this issue in multiple locations (work/home). Right now, on Tmobile 5G network, Android reports my IP address as 192.0.0.4 in the settings.

[Michael]

That's not your real IP, can you Google from the device "what is my IP" to get it?

[brigdh]

Ah, you want the public one from Tmo's network
172.59.224.32

[DaMichi]

I observe the same and can add some details:
- The Android Google Chrome browser shows the 403 error, if I access the webpage with the Android Firefox browser on the same phone from the same IP it works.
- In my case the problems started later, not in December, but in January when my Nokia G21 got its December 2023 patch.

[DaMichi]

So my guess is that the Android 13 December patch somehow changed the Google Chrome browser identification string and this trips up the servers.

[DaMichi]

Downloading Google Chrome Beta also resolves the 403 error. So maybe there is no need to do anything on Phoronix side to make the problem go away eventually.