How to Create a Custom Access Denied Handler

When your application throws an AccessDeniedException, you can handle this exception with a service to return a custom response.

First, create a class that implements AccessDeniedHandlerInterface. This interface defines one method called handle() where you can implement whatever logic that should execute when access is denied for the current user (e.g. send a mail, log a message, or generally return a custom response):

namespace App\Security;

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;
use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\Exception\AccessDeniedException;
use Symfony\Component\Security\Http\Authorization\AccessDeniedHandlerInterface;

class AccessDeniedHandler implements AccessDeniedHandlerInterface
{
    public function handle(Request $request, AccessDeniedException $accessDeniedException)
    {
        // ...

        return new Response($content, 403);
    }
}

If you’re using the default services.yaml configuration, you’re done! Symfony will automatically know about your new service. You can then configure it under your firewall:

  • YAML
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    # config/packages/security.yaml
firewalls:
    # ...

    main:
        # ...
        access_denied_handler: App\Security\AccessDeniedHandler
  • XML
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    <!-- config/packages/security.xml -->
<config>
    <firewall name="main">
        <access-denied-handler>App\Security\AccessDeniedHandler</access-denied-handler>
    </firewall>
</config>
  • PHP
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    // config/packages/security.php
use App\Security\AccessDeniedHandler;

$container->loadFromExtension('security', [
    'firewalls' => [
        'main' => [
            // ...
            'access_denied_handler' => AccessDeniedHandler::class,
        ],
    ],
]);

That’s it! Any AccessDeniedException thrown by code under the main firewall will now be handled by your service.