Weird intermittent HTTP 526 Error, different subdomain is requested

On my webserver I occasionally (about 1 in 20 requests) get an HTTP Error 526 that I can't figure out. If I request the same URL in a browser, about 1 in 20 requests will return an error 526. I checked the SSL config with various tools and it seems fine (also works the majority of times). I then enabled the SSL debug in apache2 and found that the requests that fail do so, because for some reason it requests a different subdomain which on this server there is no SSL certificate installed. So all the requests (sub1.mydomain.com) work fine but although I request the exact same URL suddenly I can see another subdomain is requested (sub2.mydomain.com) which I also own and operate but on a different server. Since this server can't provide an SSL certificate for that subdomain, the request fails and I get an error 526. I have no idea what happens here and how to debug this error. To me right now the only explanation is, that the Cloudflare cashing somehow messes with the subdomains and requests... Can anybody help?
19 Replies
Laudian
Laudian5d ago
Can you tell from your logs when this issue started? And could you also share the domain so I can try to reproduce the issue?
apo_it
apo_itOP5d ago
I first noted it on February 4th but it then disappeared a day or so after without any action I took, now it reappeared today
Laudian
Laudian5d ago
Could you give a specific time for today?
apo_it
apo_itOP5d ago
I can't, I noticed around 2 hours ago but I don't know if it occured before maybe another important information I noticed: this happens across multiple subdomains that go trhoug cloudflare and multiple servers
Laudian
Laudian5d ago
And can you share a domain on which I can reproduce?
apo_it
apo_itOP5d ago
the domains are very restricted by country/origin and provider, I doubt you can access them
asuffield
asuffield5d ago
do you have a support ticket open about this which identifies the domains?
apo_it
apo_itOP5d ago
I don't. Discord is my first support approach I have taken with this issue. I use a free plan so far.
Laudian
Laudian5d ago
Do your logs contain the Cloudflare RayID?
apo_it
apo_itOP5d ago
They do not. Looking into changing that.
DaniFoldi
DaniFoldi5d ago
it would be helpful for cf employees to be able to pinpoint the issue if you could share the domain here, in DMs, me or directly to them is fine
apo_it
apo_itOP5d ago
I will share to you in DM
Laudian
Laudian5d ago
I think it would be best if you could create a ticket in which you mention the domain, the RayID of a 526 that you receive as well as server logs that show that the specific request had a wrong host header/SNI. If you then share the ticket nr here, someone will look into it.
apo_it
apo_itOP5d ago
Thanks. I have trouble navigating the support section, I thought on a free plan I cannot open a ticket?
Laudian
Laudian5d ago
You can create a ticket with the account category.
apo_it
apo_itOP5d ago
Thanks for your help so far. I will create a ticket tomorrow and work on providing the necessary logs but it is late here already for me.
Laudian
Laudian5d ago
Sure, good night!
apo_it
apo_itOP4d ago
Hey there. I'm having trouble getting the cloudflare ray id into the log where I need it to be The ray id only shows up in the access.log in my apache web server but not in the debug log (which goes to a different file) Anyhow, I added a case 01409336 https://support.cloudflare.com/support/s/case/500Nv00000KL5R7IAL
asuffield
asuffield4d ago
it's okay, we found the logs already, but it's origin related so we'll follow up via the support case

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