CURLRequest returns 403 error / shell_exec returns 200

Environment: PHP: 7.4.9 — CodeIgniter: 4.0.4

Any ideas on this problem:

When I consume an API using the CURLRequest

PHP Code:

$curlClient = \Config\Services::curlrequest();
$response = $curlClient->request( 'POST', $thePath, ['body' => "username=THEUSER&password=THEPASSWORD", 'http_errors' => FALSE] ); 


I get a 403 error, however when I execute

PHP Code:

$response = shell_exec( 'curl -d "username=THEUSER&password=THEPASSWORD" -X POST ' . $thePath ); 


the api return 200 and the actual data.

A bit more context, the api call is to get a JWT from a Wordpress authorisation plugin.

Dirk B.
ESD Digital
No SEO spam - see forum guidelines