Fix: Incorrect Binary Permission — Child Failed to Make LIVEAPI Connection to cPanel
If your cPanel users encounter errors with Softaculous when opening it in a new tab, or see the error "Incorrect binary permission. Child failed to make LIVEAPI connection to cPanel", this guide provides the fix.
What Causes This Error?
This error occurs when the Softaculous binary file has incorrect ownership or permissions. The LIVEAPI system in cPanel requires specific permissions to function correctly. Common causes include:
- Server migration that did not preserve file permissions
- Manual updates to Softaculous that changed ownership
- Security scripts that modified permissions in the cPanel directory
The Fix
Run the following commands via SSH as root:
chown root:root /usr/local/cpanel/whostmgr/docroot/cgi/softaculous/bin/soft chmod 4555 /usr/local/cpanel/whostmgr/docroot/cgi/softaculous/bin/soft
What These Commands Do
chown root:root— Sets the file ownership to the root user and root group.chmod 4555— Sets the SUID bit (4) and gives read+execute permissions (555). The SUID bit allows the binary to run with root privileges, which is required for LIVEAPI communication.
Verify the Fix
ls -la /usr/local/cpanel/whostmgr/docroot/cgi/softaculous/bin/soft
The output should show: -r-sr-xr-x 1 root root
If the Issue Persists
- Reinstall Softaculous:
wget -N http://files.softaculous.com/install.sh chmod 755 install.sh ./install.sh
- Clear the Softaculous cache:
rm -rf /var/softaculous/cache/*
- Restart cPanel services:
/scripts/restartsrv_cpsrvd
