Re: Downloads from data.iana.org now seem to be sensitive to the User-Agent value supplied in HTTP request headers
Hi Johny, I’m sorry you are having issues downloading the tz data. There should have been no changes to access restrictions via user agent or other attributes. I’ll investigate this and get back to you. Thanks, James Mitchell IANA From: Johny Jose via tz <tz@iana.org> Reply-To: Johny Jose <johny.jose@oracle.com> Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 4:20 PM To: "tz@iana.org" <tz@iana.org> Subject: [tz] Downloads from data.iana.org now seem to be sensitive to the User-Agent value supplied in HTTP request headers Hi, I am reaching out regarding an issue encountered while attempting to download the latest tzdata release (tzdata2025c.tar.gz) from https://data.iana.org/time-zones/releases/tzdata2025c.tar.gz using Java JDK 8’s HTTP request API. We use the tzupdater tool (https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/tzupdater-readme.html [oracle.com]<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/t...>) to update the jdk to latest tzdata. Since Monday, January 26, 2026, we have been facing issues while downloading tzdata2025c.tar.gz. We are receiving an HTTP 403 error response from the server. This appears to be due to a validation failure related to the HTTP header User-Agent (specifically, User-Agent: Java/1.8.0_471). User-Agent values from JDK 11 and later (e.g. User-Agent: Java/11.0.16) do not trigger this issue. Could you kindly advise on the following: Has there been a specific format restriction enabled for the User-Agent value string to grant access? If so, is it possible to whitelist widely used Java-based User-Agent strings? Error Logs: sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection sendCONNECTRequest FINE: sun.net.www.MessageHeader@2f1129655<mailto:sun.net.www.MessageHeader@2f1129655> pairs: {CONNECT data.iana.org:443 HTTP/1.1: null}{User-Agent: Java/1.8.0_471}{Host: data.iana.org}{Accept: text/html, image/gif, image/jpeg, *; q=.2, */*; q=.2}{Proxy-Connection: keep-alive} Jan 30, 2026 8:07:24 AM sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection doTunneling FINE: sun.net.www.MessageHeader@d4342c21<mailto:sun.net.www.MessageHeader@d4342c21> pairs: {null: HTTP/1.0 200 Connection Established} Jan 30, 2026 8:07:24 AM sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection writeRequests FINE: sun.net.www.MessageHeader@770d33265<mailto:sun.net.www.MessageHeader@770d33265> pairs: {GET /time-zones/releases/tzdata2025c.tar.gz HTTP/1.1: null}{User-Agent: Java/1.8.0_471}{Host: data.iana.org}{Accept: text/html, image/gif, image/jpeg, *; q=.2, */*; q=.2}{Connection: keep-alive} Jan 30, 2026 8:07:24 AM sun.net.www.http.HttpClient logFinest FINEST: KeepAlive stream used: https://data.iana.org/time-zones/releases/tzdata2025c.tar.gz Jan 30, 2026 8:07:24 AM sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection getInputStream0 FINE: sun.net.www.MessageHeader@d4342c211<mailto:sun.net.www.MessageHeader@d4342c211> pairs: {null: HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden}{Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2026 08:07:24 GMT}{Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8}{Content-Length: 16}{Connection: keep-alive}{Cache-Control: private, max-age=0, no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0}{Expires: Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT}{Referrer-Policy: same-origin}{X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN}{Server: cloudflare} java.io.IOException: Server returned HTTP response code: 403 for URL: https://data.iana.org/time-zones/releases/tzdata2025c.tar.gz I tried to create a new thread in tz - lists.iana.org<https://lists.iana.org/hyperkitty/list/tz@iana.org/> but could not succeed in it. Thank you for your assistance. Let me know if you would like any further information. Thanks, Johny Confidential- Oracle Internal
Hi Johny, The issue has been resolved, and you should now be able to access the time zone data. Apologies for the error. Thanks, James Mitchell IANA From: James Mitchell via tz <tz@iana.org> Reply-To: James Mitchell <james.mitchell@iana.org> Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 4:28 PM To: Johny Jose <johny.jose@oracle.com>, "tz@iana.org" <tz@iana.org> Subject: [tz] Re: Downloads from data.iana.org now seem to be sensitive to the User-Agent value supplied in HTTP request headers Hi Johny, I’m sorry you are having issues downloading the tz data. There should have been no changes to access restrictions via user agent or other attributes. I’ll investigate this and get back to you. Thanks, James Mitchell IANA From: Johny Jose via tz <tz@iana.org> Reply-To: Johny Jose <johny.jose@oracle.com> Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 4:20 PM To: "tz@iana.org" <tz@iana.org> Subject: [tz] Downloads from data.iana.org now seem to be sensitive to the User-Agent value supplied in HTTP request headers Hi, I am reaching out regarding an issue encountered while attempting to download the latest tzdata release (tzdata2025c.tar.gz) from https://data.iana.org/time-zones/releases/tzdata2025c.tar.gz using Java JDK 8’s HTTP request API. We use the tzupdater tool (https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/tzupdater-readme.html [oracle.com]<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/t...>) to update the jdk to latest tzdata. Since Monday, January 26, 2026, we have been facing issues while downloading tzdata2025c.tar.gz. We are receiving an HTTP 403 error response from the server. This appears to be due to a validation failure related to the HTTP header User-Agent (specifically, User-Agent: Java/1.8.0_471). User-Agent values from JDK 11 and later (e.g. User-Agent: Java/11.0.16) do not trigger this issue. Could you kindly advise on the following: Has there been a specific format restriction enabled for the User-Agent value string to grant access? If so, is it possible to whitelist widely used Java-based User-Agent strings? Error Logs: sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection sendCONNECTRequest FINE: sun.net.www.MessageHeader@2f1129655<mailto:sun.net.www.MessageHeader@2f1129655> pairs: {CONNECT data.iana.org:443 HTTP/1.1: null}{User-Agent: Java/1.8.0_471}{Host: data.iana.org}{Accept: text/html, image/gif, image/jpeg, *; q=.2, */*; q=.2}{Proxy-Connection: keep-alive} Jan 30, 2026 8:07:24 AM sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection doTunneling FINE: sun.net.www.MessageHeader@d4342c21<mailto:sun.net.www.MessageHeader@d4342c21> pairs: {null: HTTP/1.0 200 Connection Established} Jan 30, 2026 8:07:24 AM sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection writeRequests FINE: sun.net.www.MessageHeader@770d33265<mailto:sun.net.www.MessageHeader@770d33265> pairs: {GET /time-zones/releases/tzdata2025c.tar.gz HTTP/1.1: null}{User-Agent: Java/1.8.0_471}{Host: data.iana.org}{Accept: text/html, image/gif, image/jpeg, *; q=.2, */*; q=.2}{Connection: keep-alive} Jan 30, 2026 8:07:24 AM sun.net.www.http.HttpClient logFinest FINEST: KeepAlive stream used: https://data.iana.org/time-zones/releases/tzdata2025c.tar.gz Jan 30, 2026 8:07:24 AM sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection getInputStream0 FINE: sun.net.www.MessageHeader@d4342c211<mailto:sun.net.www.MessageHeader@d4342c211> pairs: {null: HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden}{Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2026 08:07:24 GMT}{Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8}{Content-Length: 16}{Connection: keep-alive}{Cache-Control: private, max-age=0, no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0}{Expires: Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT}{Referrer-Policy: same-origin}{X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN}{Server: cloudflare} java.io.IOException: Server returned HTTP response code: 403 for URL: https://data.iana.org/time-zones/releases/tzdata2025c.tar.gz I tried to create a new thread in tz - lists.iana.org<https://lists.iana.org/hyperkitty/list/tz@iana.org/> but could not succeed in it. Thank you for your assistance. Let me know if you would like any further information. Thanks, Johny Confidential- Oracle Internal
Hi James, Thank You for the quick resolution! Thanks, Johny
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