cPanel login invalid while using correct username and password

‘Login invalid’ error in cPanel? Here are the tips to fix this problem

Sometimes you may get login invalid error while trying to login to your cPanel account. But the username and password that you are entering is correct. This will happen because of your IP address is blocked by cphulkd for BruteForce.

What is cPHulk ?

cPhulk is a similar feature like Firewall, with cphulk the cPanel will give you and extra measure of protection from attacks like bruteforce. Suppose someone is trying to compromise your server using random failed logins.

So from the above description you can see that this is an important feature of cPanel/WHM so disabling this feature will not be a good idea, instead  you can white-list your IP address on the BruteForce protection. So it will allow connections from your IP address.

You can see the errors related to blocked connections by cphulkd for BruteForce from the cPanel error log itself,

/usr/local/cpanel/logs/error_log

And the error will be like pasted below,

main::badpass('faillog', 'brute force attempt (user iserversupport) has locked out IP xxx.xxx.xxx.xx...', 'skip_hulk', 1, 'msg_code', 'invalid_login') called at cpsrvd-ssl line 5790
        main::connect_cphulkd() called at cpsrvd-ssl line 5255
        main::handle_form_login() called at cpsrvd-ssl line 1131
        main::handle_one_connection() called at cpsrvd-ssl line 996

You can simply white-list the IP address on cphulkd by using the following script,

/scripts/cphulkdwhitelist

This script can be used along with the IP address that you need to white-list. See the sample command below,

/scripts/cphulkdwhitelist <IP-Address-for-whitelist>

This will allow your IP address through cphulk and now you will be able to login to the cPanel using correct password.

You can also do this from WHM. For that login to WHM and go to,

Home >> Security Center >> cPHulk Brute Force Protection

There will be options to  White/Black list IP addresses on cPHulk Brute Force Protection.

FAQs on cPanel Login Invalid

1. Why can't I log into cPanel?

Most probably cPanel access ports are blocked on the side of your ISP, local computer, network, firewall or antivirus. In such cases you can use http://cpanel.example.com as it's using HTTP port 80, which is available for everyone in the Internet. Also, you can check if a specific port is blocked using Telnet command.

2. How do I fix invalid login?

If you are using the correct username and password combination and are still receiving the ‘Invalid Login' error, you may need to delete your temporary internet files, as your browser may have saved an incorrect or outdated password.

3. What does login invalid mean?

Invalid credentials refers to your login details; email address and password. If you have received an ‘invalid credentials' message when signing in, please check that you have used the correct email and password combination for the account you are trying to access.

4. What is my cPanel username and password?

The username for your account. This is your cPanel username or the domain on the account. The password for your account. This is set when you create the account, and it can also be reset later if you forget.

5. How do I reset my cPanel username and password?

The most straight forward method is via the cPanel Login Page. Follow the steps below:

1. Enter your cPanel's URL in a browser.
2. Click the Reset Password link.
3. On the next page, enter your username.
4. Once done, click the Reset Password button.
5. Enter your signup email address, then click the Send Security Code button.