diff --git a/lib/crowdsec.lua b/lib/crowdsec.lua
index 1fb62f7..ddcf874 100644
--- a/lib/crowdsec.lua
+++ b/lib/crowdsec.lua
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ function csmod.AppSecCheck(ip)
   -- set CrowdSec APPSEC Host
   headers["host"] = runtime.conf["APPSEC_HOST"]
 
-  local ok, remediation = true, "allow"
+  local ok, remediation, status_code = true, "allow", 200
   if runtime.conf["APPSEC_FAILURE_ACTION"] == DENY then
     ok = false
     remediation = runtime.conf["FALLBACK_REMEDIATION"]
@@ -548,15 +548,22 @@ function csmod.AppSecCheck(ip)
     remediation = "allow"
   elseif res.status == 403 then
     ok = false
+    ngx.log(ngx.DEBUG, "Appsec body response: " .. res.body)
     local response = cjson.decode(res.body)
     remediation = response.action
+    if response.http_status ~= nil then
+      ngx.log(ngx.DEBUG, "Got status code from APPSEC: " .. response.http_status)
+      status_code = response.http_status
+    else
+      status_code = ngx.HTTP_FORBIDDEN
+    end
   elseif res.status == 401 then
     ngx.log(ngx.ERR, "Unauthenticated request to APPSEC")
   else
     ngx.log(ngx.ERR, "Bad request to APPSEC (" .. res.status .. "): " .. res.body)
   end
 
-  return ok, remediation, err
+  return ok, remediation, status_code, err
 
 end
 
@@ -570,6 +577,7 @@ function csmod.Allow(ip)
   end
 
   local remediationSource = flag.BOUNCER_SOURCE
+  local ret_code = nil
 
   if utils.table_len(runtime.conf["EXCLUDE_LOCATION"]) > 0 then
     for k, v in pairs(runtime.conf["EXCLUDE_LOCATION"]) do
@@ -602,7 +610,7 @@ function csmod.Allow(ip)
   -- that user configured the remediation component to always check on the appSec (even if there is a decision for the IP)
   if ok == true or runtime.conf["ALWAYS_SEND_TO_APPSEC"] == true then
     if runtime.conf["APPSEC_ENABLED"] == true and ngx.var.no_appsec ~= "1" then
-      local appsecOk, appsecRemediation, err = csmod.AppSecCheck(ip)
+      local appsecOk, appsecRemediation, status_code, err = csmod.AppSecCheck(ip)
       if err ~= nil then
         ngx.log(ngx.ERR, "AppSec check: " .. err)
       end
@@ -610,6 +618,7 @@ function csmod.Allow(ip)
         ok = false
         remediationSource = flag.APPSEC_SOURCE
         remediation = appsecRemediation
+        ret_code = status_code
       end
     end
   end
@@ -669,7 +678,7 @@ function csmod.Allow(ip)
   if not ok then
       if remediation == "ban" then
         ngx.log(ngx.ALERT, "[Crowdsec] denied '" .. ip .. "' with '"..remediation.."' (by " .. flag.Flags[remediationSource] .. ")")
-        ban.apply()
+        ban.apply(ret_code)
         return
       end
       -- if the remediation is a captcha and captcha is well configured
diff --git a/lib/plugins/crowdsec/ban.lua b/lib/plugins/crowdsec/ban.lua
index 08cb400..1dddf8b 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/crowdsec/ban.lua
+++ b/lib/plugins/crowdsec/ban.lua
@@ -42,7 +42,20 @@ end
 
 
 
-function M.apply()
+function M.apply(...)
+    local args = {...}
+    local ret_code = args[1]
+
+    ngx.log(ngx.DEBUG, "args:" .. tostring(args[1]))
+
+    local status = 0
+    if ret_code ~= nil then
+        status = ret_code
+    else
+        status = M.ret_code
+    end
+
+    ngx.log(ngx.DEBUG, "BAN: status=" .. status .. ", redirect_location=" .. M.redirect_location .. ", template_str=" .. M.template_str)
     if M.redirect_location ~= "" then
         ngx.redirect(M.redirect_location)
         return
@@ -50,13 +63,13 @@ function M.apply()
     if M.template_str ~= "" then
         ngx.header.content_type = "text/html"
         ngx.header.cache_control = "no-cache"
-        ngx.status = M.ret_code
+        ngx.status = status
         ngx.say(M.template_str)
-        ngx.exit(M.ret_code)
+        ngx.exit(status)
         return
     end
  
-    ngx.exit(M.ret_code)
+    ngx.exit(status)
 
     return
 end
diff --git a/lib/plugins/crowdsec/utils.lua b/lib/plugins/crowdsec/utils.lua
index a0ee333..0665c4c 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/crowdsec/utils.lua
+++ b/lib/plugins/crowdsec/utils.lua
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ function M.read_file(path)
    local file = io.open(path, "r") -- r read mode and b binary mode
    if not file then return nil end
    io.input(file)
-   content = io.read("*a")
+   local content = io.read("*a")
    io.close(file)
    return content
  end