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HTTP 508 — Loop Detected

HTTP 508
Loop Detected
The server stopped an operation because it was going round in circles.

What 508 actually means

A WebDAV code for infinite recursion. While walking a collection tree the server found a cycle — a folder that ultimately contains itself through a chain of bindings — and aborted rather than looping forever. It is also occasionally used outside WebDAV for redirect loops and recursive include chains, though those more commonly produce a browser-level error instead.

Common causes

  • A WebDAV collection with a binding cycle, found during a `Depth: infinity` traversal
  • A symlink loop inside a served directory tree
  • Recursive includes or a self-referential configuration
  • A redirect loop detected server-side rather than by the browser

If you're just trying to view the page

  1. Nothing — the server detected and stopped a loop in its own data
  2. Report it to the site or service owner

If it's your site

  1. Find the cycle: look for symlinks pointing at their own ancestors, or WebDAV bindings forming a loop
  2. Track visited resources during traversal and bound the depth as a backstop
  3. For redirect loops, map out the rules and look for two that undo each other, such as a www rule and an HTTPS rule fighting

Reference

Status code
508
Reason phrase
Loop Detected
Category
5xx — Server Error
Cacheable by default
No
Defined in
RFC 5842 §7.2

Common questions

What does HTTP 508 mean?
The server stopped an operation because it was going round in circles. A WebDAV code for infinite recursion. While walking a collection tree the server found a cycle — a folder that ultimately contains itself through a chain of bindings — and aborted rather than looping forever.
How do I fix a 508 error?
Nothing — the server detected and stopped a loop in its own data
Is 508 a client error or a server error?
508 is in the 5xx range, which means server error. The request was acceptable but the server could not fulfil it, so retrying later can succeed.

Related pages

Sources

  1. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Status Code Registry — IANA
  2. RFC 9110: HTTP Semantics — IETF

How these figures are compiled and checked