If you’re managing websites hosted on a Plesk control panel and suddenly seeing the error:
Misdirected Request
The client needs a new connection for this request as the requested host name does not match the Server Name Indication (SNI) in use for this connection.
You’re not alone. This issue has surfaced for many hosting providers and developers following a recent Apache update. In this post, we’ll walk you through:
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What’s causing the error
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Why it’s related to Apache and nginx
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How to fix it quickly on your server
What Is the “Misdirected Request” Error?
This error typically occurs when your server fails to properly associate the SNI (Server Name Indication) with the correct virtual host during HTTPS communication. As a result, the server delivers the wrong SSL certificate — or doesn’t find a match at all — leading browsers to throw this error.
Why This Happened After the Apache Update
In recent Apache versions, security patches were introduced to fix several CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) issues. While these updates improved security, they also tightened SNI handling, especially in configurations where Apache is used behind nginx as a reverse proxy — which is the default setup on many Plesk servers.
Due to this change, nginx needs to explicitly pass the correct SNI headers to Apache, otherwise Apache won’t serve the expected website, resulting in the misdirected request error.
The Fix: Add NGINX Proxy SSL Directives
To resolve the issue, you need to update the global nginx configuration on your Plesk server. This fix enables nginx to properly pass SNI information when proxying HTTPS traffic to Apache.
Step-by-step Instructions:
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SSH into your Plesk server as root.
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Run the following command to create a config file and restart nginx:
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echo -e "proxy_ssl_server_name on;\nproxy_ssl_name \$host;" > /etc/nginx/conf.d/fixssl.conf && service nginx restart
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Here’s what this does:
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proxy_ssl_server_name on;enables nginx to use SNI when connecting to the backend. -
proxy_ssl_name $host;ensures the correct hostname is passed.
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Check your websites again. The misdirected request error should now be gone.
More information about this issue and fix is available on official Plesk support website here: https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/33500191748887-Websites-hosted-in-Plesk-on-Ubuntu-22-04-are-not-accessible-after-a-recent-Apache-update-421-Misdirected-Request
Final Thoughts
While Apache updates are essential for keeping your server secure, they can occasionally break compatibility in layered setups like nginx → Apache. It’s always a good idea to monitor change logs and test configurations after updates, especially on production environments.
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