Technical fix guide
Security Challenge Detected: Audit May Be Incomplete
A WAF or anti-bot system is blocking automated access.
Issue ID: INDEX-WAF-001
Severity: high
Impact: High
Effort: M
Use this article when
- You need deeper remediation guidance than the issue card can show.
- You want CMS-specific steps before handing the fix to a developer.
- You want a repeatable re-check path after shipping the change.
What this issue is
A WAF or anti-bot system is blocking automated access.
Why it matters
A WAF or anti-bot system is blocking automated access. This affects crawlability, rendering, and whether the site can be interpreted correctly by search engines.
How we detect it
- FreeSiteAudit flags this issue when the rule for INDEX-WAF-001 fails and the page evidence points to Http headers.
- You can usually confirm this by checking the page source or the relevant page settings inside your CMS.
Evidence examples
Check the affected page source, rendered output, or relevant CMS setting to confirm the missing or incorrect element.
How to fix it
- 1Check if your WAF is blocking legitimate bots
- 2Whitelist known search engine crawlers
- 3Verify Googlebot access via Search Console
How to re-check it
- Use Google Search Console URL Inspection to verify Googlebot access
Related tools
This issue is best verified with the full FreeSiteAudit crawl rather than a single-point mini tool.