Otdfbt

I have a Ubuntu box with a ProFTPD 1.3.4a Server, when I try to log in via my FTP Client I cannot do anything as it does not allow me to list directories; I have tried logging in as root and as a regular user and tried accessing different paths within the FTP Server.

The error I get in my FTP Client is:

Status: Retrieving directory listing...
Command: CDUP
Response: 250 CDUP command successful
Command: PWD
Response: 257 "/var" is the current directory
Command: PASV
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (172,16,4,22,237,205).
Command: MLSD
Response: 550 Access is denied.
Error: Failed to retrieve directory listing

Any idea? Here is the config of my proftpd:

#
# /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf -- This is a basic ProFTPD configuration file.
# To really apply changes, reload proftpd after modifications, if
# it runs in daemon mode. It is not required in inetd/xinetd mode.
# 

# Includes DSO modules
Include /etc/proftpd/modules.conf

# Set off to disable IPv6 support which is annoying on IPv4 only boxes.
UseIPv6 off
# If set on you can experience a longer connection delay in many cases.
IdentLookups off

ServerName "Drupal Intranet"
ServerType standalone
ServerIdent on "FTP Server ready"
DeferWelcome on

# Set the user and group that the server runs as
User nobody
Group nogroup

MultilineRFC2228 on
DefaultServer on
ShowSymlinks on

TimeoutNoTransfer 600
TimeoutStalled 600
TimeoutIdle 1200

DisplayLogin welcome.msg
DisplayChdir .message true
ListOptions "-l"

DenyFilter *.*/

# Use this to jail all users in their homes 
# DefaultRoot ~

# Users require a valid shell listed in /etc/shells to login.
# Use this directive to release that constrain.
# RequireValidShell off

# Port 21 is the standard FTP port.
Port 21

# In some cases you have to specify passive ports range to by-pass
# firewall limitations. Ephemeral ports can be used for that, but
# feel free to use a more narrow range.
# PassivePorts 49152 65534

# If your host was NATted, this option is useful in order to
# allow passive tranfers to work. You have to use your public
# address and opening the passive ports used on your firewall as well.
# MasqueradeAddress 1.2.3.4

# This is useful for masquerading address with dynamic IPs:
# refresh any configured MasqueradeAddress directives every 8 hours
<IfModule mod_dynmasq.c>
# DynMasqRefresh 28800
</IfModule>

# To prevent DoS attacks, set the maximum number of child processes
# to 30. If you need to allow more than 30 concurrent connections
# at once, simply increase this value. Note that this ONLY works
# in standalone mode, in inetd mode you should use an inetd server
# that allows you to limit maximum number of processes per service
# (such as xinetd)
MaxInstances 30

# Set the user and group that the server normally runs at.

# Umask 022 is a good standard umask to prevent new files and dirs
# (second parm) from being group and world writable.
Umask 022 022
# Normally, we want files to be overwriteable.
AllowOverwrite on

# Uncomment this if you are using NIS or LDAP via NSS to retrieve passwords:
# PersistentPasswd off

# This is required to use both PAM-based authentication and local passwords
AuthPAMConfig proftpd
AuthOrder mod_auth_pam.c* mod_auth_unix.c

# Be warned: use of this directive impacts CPU average load!
# Uncomment this if you like to see progress and transfer rate with ftpwho
# in downloads. That is not needed for uploads rates.
#

UseSendFile off

TransferLog /var/log/proftpd/xferlog
SystemLog /var/log/proftpd/proftpd.log

# Logging onto /var/log/lastlog is enabled but set to off by default
#UseLastlog on

# In order to keep log file dates consistent after chroot, use timezone info
# from /etc/localtime. If this is not set, and proftpd is configured to
# chroot (e.g. DefaultRoot or <Anonymous>), it will use the non-daylight
# savings timezone regardless of whether DST is in effect.
#SetEnv TZ :/etc/localtime

<IfModule mod_quotatab.c>
QuotaEngine off
</IfModule>

<IfModule mod_ratio.c>
Ratios off
</IfModule>


# Delay engine reduces impact of the so-called Timing Attack described in
# http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/11430/discuss
# It is on by default. 
<IfModule mod_delay.c>
DelayEngine on
</IfModule>

<IfModule mod_ctrls.c>
ControlsEngine off
ControlsMaxClients 2
ControlsLog /var/log/proftpd/controls.log
ControlsInterval 5
ControlsSocket /var/run/proftpd/proftpd.sock
</IfModule>

<IfModule mod_ctrls_admin.c>
AdminControlsEngine off
</IfModule>

#
# Alternative authentication frameworks
#
#Include /etc/proftpd/ldap.conf
#Include /etc/proftpd/sql.conf

#
# This is used for FTPS connections
#
#Include /etc/proftpd/tls.conf

#
# Useful to keep VirtualHost/VirtualRoot directives separated
#
#Include /etc/proftpd/virtuals.con

# A basic anonymous configuration, no upload directories.

# <Anonymous ~ftp>
# User ftp
# Group nogroup
# # We want clients to be able to login with "anonymous" as well as "ftp"
# UserAlias anonymous ftp
# # Cosmetic changes, all files belongs to ftp user
# DirFakeUser on ftp
# DirFakeGroup on ftp
# 
# RequireValidShell off
# 
# # Limit the maximum number of anonymous logins
# MaxClients 10
# 
# # We want 'welcome.msg' displayed at login, and '.message' displayed
# # in each newly chdired directory.
# DisplayLogin welcome.msg
# DisplayChdir .message
# 
# # Limit WRITE everywhere in the anonymous chroot
# <Directory *>
# <Limit WRITE>
# DenyAll
# </Limit>
# </Directory>
# 
# # Uncomment this if you're brave.
# # <Directory incoming>
# # # Umask 022 is a good standard umask to prevent new files and dirs
# # # (second parm) from being group and world writable.
# # Umask 022 022
# # <Limit READ WRITE>
# # DenyAll
# # </Limit>
# # <Limit STOR>
# # AllowAll
# # </Limit>
# # </Directory>
# 
# </Anonymous>

# Include other custom configuration files
Include /etc/proftpd/conf.d/
UseReverseDNS off
<Global>
RootLogin on
UseFtpUsers on
ServerIdent on
DefaultChdir /var/www
DeleteAbortedStores on
LoginPasswordPrompt on
AccessGrantMsg "You have been authenticated successfully."
</Global>

Any idea what could be wrong?

You are trying to communicate with the FTP server in passive mode while not allowing data ports correctly. Try adding a range of unprivileged ports like:

PassivePorts 49152 65535

to proftpd.conf and then open them up in your firewall like

iptables -A INPUT -m tcp -p tcp -d <server ip> --dport 49152:65535 -j ACCEPT

Also, while you're there, verify port 20 is open too!

iptables -A INPUT -m tcp -p tcp -d <server ip> --dport 20 -j ACCEPT

i had the same issue, set the folder permissions to 0777 but what fixed it was to add the user login for the ftp user i was using to upload the drupal module to the www-data group.
or apache group if you use centos etc.

You have no passive port range assigned in your configuration...you would therefore need to use active mode in your filezilla client ftp settings for this account.

Either configure port range and firewall too...or change to active mode on client.