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I recently had this problem myself. When I looked into it, it seemed that a number of things can cause it: overfilling the basket, tamping, not tightening the moka pot properly, worn-out rubber seal, etc. It made such a mess that I wasn't in a rush to try it again. However, after reading about your experience I just had another go and it worked perfectly.
Method
-grind 14g of beans in porlex on setting 4 (this turned out to be too much coffee, by about 6g!)
-fill moka pot with boiling water to below the valve
-fill the basket with ground coffee and level off using the back of a butter knife, do not tamp
-spill ground coffee everywhere but catch most of it on the a kitchen plate
-using a tea towel around the bottom, tighten the moka pot as tight as you can
-stick it on the gas hob on full flame but turn it down to the lowest as soon as the coffee starts coming out of the top
-remove the moka pot from the heat as soon as you see/hear a change in the flow and put the bottom in a bowl of cold water
-enjoy your coffee without needing to clean the entire kitchen afterwardsYou might struggle with an electric hob but good luck!
Wow, the hole side basically came out. Looks like it was a manufacturing issue. This should help!