Error: Private files directory not fully protected

Question

I received the following error in my Drupal 8 status report:

PRIVATE FILES DIRECTORY Not fully protected See https://www.drupal.org/SA-CORE-2013-003 for information about the recommended .htaccess file which should be added to the private:// directory to help protect against arbitrary code execution.

The obsolete link provided shows no guidance for Drupal 8 or 9, only 7 and prior. I already have what I believe is a strict .htaccess file I'd found elsewhere in Drupal's documentation. How can I fix this error in Drupal 8?

Answer 1

Submit the admin form @/admin/config/media/file-system will also create this .htaccess file if your folders are setup correct.

Answer 2

Per glbr, put the following in a .htaccess file in your private files directory.

# Deny all requests from Apache 2.4+.
<IfModule mod_authz_core.c>
  Require all denied
</IfModule>

# Deny all requests from Apache 2.0-2.2.
<IfModule !mod_authz_core.c>
  Deny from all
</IfModule>


    # Turn off all options we don't need.
    Options -Indexes -ExecCGI -Includes -MultiViews

    # Set the catch-all handler to prevent scripts from being executed.
    SetHandler Drupal_Security_Do_Not_Remove_See_SA_2006_006
    <Files *>
      # Override the handler again if we're run later in the evaluation list.
      SetHandler Drupal_Security_Do_Not_Remove_See_SA_2013_003
    </Files>

    # If we know how to do it safely, disable the PHP engine entirely.
    <IfModule mod_php5.c>
      php_flag engine off
    </IfModule>
    <IfModule mod_php7.c>
      php_flag engine off
    </IfModule>