I'm currently developing a web application for a client with the webspace hosted on one.com.
I've implemented my own secure login system and everything works. When I log someone in, the variables are available but as soon as I go to a new page via an href all my session variables are lost. I've tried almost everything that is recommended on similar questions but it won't work.
I can not edit my php.ini directly, this is the standard phpinfo:
I can't embed Images yet, this is my phpinfo
Additionally at the beginning of every site I call
ini_set("session.cookie_secure", 0);
Because at the beginning this was (locally) always set to true.
I initiate a secure session on every page with the following code:
$session_name = 'sec_session_id'; // Set a custom session name
$secure = true;
// This stops JavaScript being able to access the session$id.
$httponly = true;
// Forces sessions to only use cookies.
if (ini_set('session.use_only_cookies', 1) === FALSE) {
header("Location: ../error.php?err=Could not initiate a safe session (ini_set)");
exit();
}
// Gets current cookies params.
$cookieParams = session_get_cookie_params();
session_set_cookie_params($cookieParams["lifetime"],
$cookieParams["path"],
$cookieParams["domain"],
$secure,
$httponly);
// Sets the session name to the one set above.
session_name($session_name);
session_start(); // Start the PHP session
session_regenerate_id(true); // regenerated the session, delete the old one.
I just dont understand why my Session variables are always lost. I would be happy about every help I can get!
Edit: Some suggestd that the last line:
session_regenerate_id(true);
Propably causes the problem but after removing it it still doesn't work. What else could it be?
I'm pretty sure this line (the bottom line) is the one destroying the session:
session_regenerate_id(true); // regenerated the session, delete the old one
Remove that line and your session should be retrained.
Related
So I've been trying to solve this issue for a very long time now, and I'm at my wit's end.
So within a web application I'm working on, the basic idea is that the user logs in, then a session is created in $_SESSION. I can see the contents of it just fine on the index page through print_r($_SESSION).
On the index is some jQuery UI tabs, and those tabs link to some subdirectories like content/index.php or action/index.php Inside those tabs, trying the aforementioned print statement doesn't return anything at all. It's like it can't see the session at all.
On the index, I have a function called sec_session_start() that's been used, and I think there's a possibility of this being an issue. The code for that is this:
function sec_session_start() {
$session_name = 'sample'; // Set a custom session name
$secure = SECURE;
// This stops JavaScript being able to access the session id.
$httponly = true;
// Forces sessions to only use cookies.
if (ini_set('session.use_only_cookies', 1) === FALSE) {
header("Location: ../error.php?err=Could not initiate a safe session (ini_set)");
exit();
}
// Gets current cookies params.
$cookieParams = session_get_cookie_params();
session_set_cookie_params($cookieParams["lifetime"],
$cookieParams["path"],
$cookieParams["domain"],
$secure,
$httponly
);
// Sets the session name to the one set above.
session_name($session_name);
session_start(); // Start the PHP session
session_regenerate_id(); // regenerated the session, delete the old one.
}
Looking at this, the only thing I can think of is session.use_only_cookies's INI setting being the issue for this. Could that be what's blocking me from accessing the session within the tabs? I inherited this and have no clue why it's not letting me access the session regardless.
EDIT 1:
index.php:
<?php
print_r($_SESSION); //prints everything
?>
action/index.php or content/index.php retrieved through ajax call via tabs:
<?php
print_r($_SESSION); //returns nothing.
?>
EDIT 2:
I figured out the issue. Turns out, the session was stored in a cookie and encrypted. By accessing it via session_name(); then starting a session on each page, I can see the variables.
I've been trying to search online for possible answers to this question, but I really can't figure it out. There are many people with a similar problem, but mine has a unique touch to it that I don't understand, nor have I encountered it anywhere else.
I created a login system that worked fine. However, I wanted to make it more secure, so I used this tutorial: http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Secure-Login-Script-in-PHP-and-MySQL. I can still login, but whenever I refresh my page, I automatically log out. After I while I figured out that the session ID changes.
The curious thing is this, when I call var_dump($_SESSION); on the 3rd line of my code (directly after session_start();), the session ID remains the same, and everything works. As soon as I comment this line, the problem returns.
I do regenerate the session ID using the following code:
$session_name = 'robinator123'; // Set a custom session name
$secure = FALSE;
// This stops JavaScript being able to access the session id.
$httponly = true;
// Forces sessions to only use cookies.
if (ini_set('session.use_only_cookies', 1) === FALSE) {
header("Location: ../error.php?err=Could not initiate a safe session (ini_set)");
exit();
}
// Gets current cookies params.
$cookieParams = session_get_cookie_params();
session_set_cookie_params($cookieParams["lifetime"],
$cookieParams["path"],
$cookieParams["domain"],
$secure,
$httponly);
// Sets the session name to the one set above.
session_name($session_name);
session_start(); // Start the PHP session
session_regenerate_id(true); // regenerated the session, delete the old one.
When I call the var_dump($_SESSION);, the regeneration fails because the headers have already been sent by the var_dump. However, when I replace var_dump with a normal echo statement the headers also fail, but the session ID still changes. I have no idea what's going on.
A few notes:
I did not forget to call session_start(); at the beginning of my code
the included php code that I use to store session variables is located outside my web root, but the problem isn't solved if I place those back into my root, so I'm guessing that can't be the problem.
I actually solved the problem by editing the regeneration piece of code. Removing the regeneration didn't work, but I fixed it by setting the parameters I had forgotten to change (i.e. lifetime, path, and domain), and by removing the parameter "true" from the session_regenerate_id(); command (I literally copy-pasted this code from the tutorial, and failed to notice these things when I was making all the changes).
However, I'm still very curious how var_dump was able to avoid the problem..
We are using a server that has several services on it. So to make sure the php sessions are not mixed, we want to use a different cookie for each service. We created a function called sec_session_start where we define the cookie (mySession) for this service. We then made a second function called start_my_session to connect to the service cookie.
Each time we try to use start_my_session, it gets the info inside PHPSESSID instead of mySession. How can I fix that.
The following function is called only at one place (when the user logs into the system).
function sec_session_start() {
$secure = false;
$httponly = true;
// Forces sessions to only use cookies.
if (ini_set('session.use_only_cookies', 1) === FALSE) {
header("Location: ../error.php?err=Could not initiate the safe session (ini_set)");
exit();
}
$cookieParams = session_get_cookie_params();
session_set_cookie_params($cookieParams["lifetime"], $cookieParams["path"], $cookieParams["domain"], $secure, $httponly);
session_name('mySession');
session_start(); // Start the PHP session.
echo session_id(); // USE AT THE MOMENT FOR DEBUGGING ONLY
}
The session id returned by the last instruction is the id corresponding to the mySession cookie. (I checked in the server /tmp folder and inside Chrome's resources debugger.)
The following function is called inside everyother secure page once the user is logged in.
function start_my_session() {
echo session_name('mySession').'<br>'; // DEBUG : display PHPSESSID
echo session_name().'<br>'; // DEBUG : display mySession
session_start(); // Start the mySession
echo session_id(); // DEBUG : display the PHPSESSID session id
}
As mention in comment, the session_id is still pointing to the PHPSESSID instead of the mySession.
Any advice on what we are doing wrong and how we could fix it?
This might not sound very logical and you'll think I'm nuts but:
Before you switch session names with session_name(...) (and yes, that means it's also before the session is started!)... run a session_write_close();
I tried to look my problem up on the internet and on stack overflow, but didn't find an answer that solved my problem. So I have a back-end system for a website I'm creating for an opensource project. I have now just finished transferring everything over to my online domain and database. After a lot of other problem solving, it works now, except for the logging out.
In my back-end header I have the following url:
<h1>Logout</h1>
The content of the logout.php page is the following:
<?php
session_regenerate_id();
session_start();
session_unset();
$_SESSION = array();
session_destroy();
header("Location: login.php");
?>
Offline, via MAMP this works without any problem. However online it doesn't destroy my session. I can still access all my session variables, which enables me to stay logged in. As I said before, I tried to look for an answer, but I don't seem to find one that fixes my problem. If anyone has a clue what might be wrong, please tell me. Thanks in advance!
EDIT:
This is how I check on every back-end page, wether or not I'm logged in:
function sec_session_start() {
$session_name = 'sec_session_id'; // Set a custom session name
$secure = false; // Set to true if using https.
$httponly = true; // This stops javascript being able to access the session id.
ini_set('session.use_only_cookies', 1); // Forces sessions to only use cookies.
$cookieParams = session_get_cookie_params(); // Gets current cookies params.
session_set_cookie_params($cookieParams["lifetime"], $cookieParams["path"], $cookieParams["domain"], $secure, $httponly);
session_name($session_name); // Sets the session name to the one set above.
session_regenerate_id(true); // regenerated the session, delete the old one.
session_start(); // Start the php session
}
As you see, #paulprogrammer, I do something with cookies. How do I destroy it for sure when I logout?
edit(2):
Ok Thanks paulprogrammer for the pointer. I removed the cookie part from my login check function and turned it onto the following simple function:
function sec_session_start() {
session_start();
}
This doesn't create a cookie and now it does work. I tried to unset the cookie via the stuff the official php manul said # http://php.net/manual/en/function.session-destroy.php but that didn't do it. So that's why I moved to something simpler that works. As not many people besides me are gonna use the back-end and as it seems to work ok, even without cookies, I call it done. This topic can be closed :)
final edit(3):
Ok Thanks to *#paulprogrammer it works now with cookies as well. Now that I know the answer, it only seems logical that you have to do that. Stupid of me. OK so apparently I had to set the name of the session, just like i did in my session. I do this in the beginning, before i start it. The new, updated, code of the log in check function:
<?php
session_name('sec_session_id');
session_start();
setcookie(session_name(), '', 100);
session_unset();
session_destroy();
$_SESSION = array();
header("Location: login.php");
?>
You set the session name in your setup code, but failed to set it in the teardown code. So, during teardown PHP was destroying the default session name, not your custom session name. The custom session name is still available on the request after logout.
Simply use the session_name() function consistently anywhere session operations are being used to ensure the session management is always acting on the correct session token.
In your logout.php:
<?php
session_name('sec_session_id');
session_regenerate_id();
session_start();
session_unset();
$_SESSION = array();
session_destroy();
header("Location: login.php");
?>
My PHP sessions are expiring randomly and rarely last more than approximately 5 mins (300 secs).
I am experimenting with the PHP & MySQL login script here: http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Secure-Login-Script-in-PHP-and-MySQL (sec_session_start function extracted below).
function sec_session_start() {
$session_name = 'sec_session_id'; // Set a custom session name
$secure = false; // Set to true if using https.
$httponly = true; // This stops javascript being able to access the session id.
ini_set('session.use_only_cookies', 1); // Forces sessions to only use cookies.
$cookieParams = session_get_cookie_params(); // Gets current cookies params.
session_set_cookie_params($cookieParams["lifetime"], $cookieParams["path"], $cookieParams["domain"], $secure, $httponly);
session_name($session_name); // Sets the session name to the one set above.
session_start(); // Start the php session
session_regenerate_id(true); // regenerated the session, delete the old one.
}
I have done extensive reading into the subject to try and solve the problem and understand that many reasons cause PHP sessions to expire prematurely. If you have any ideas about how I could solve the problem please let me know as the problem's driving me mad!
Please note:
1. In php.ini I have set session.gc_maxlifetime = 3600
2. My host is IPage.
2. I have tried editing session_set_cookie_params to the following, but it doesn't solve the problem:
session_set_cookie_params( time()+1800, "/", $cookieParams["domain"], $secure, $httponly);
Your code has a single, unchanging name for every single session? Have you considered that every time someone starts a new session it will clobber the previous one? There is a reason why session identifiers are unique.
Aside from that, ask your host. They might be doing something ridiculous like clearing /tmp every X minutes.
I have a similar login script, and found the solution when I looked at the cookies I was setting. For some reason this script will set cookies for both example.com and www.example.com when a brand new session is started. Explicitly setting your domain in session_set_cookie_params() will fix this behavior.
function sec_session_start() {
$domain = 'example.com'; // note $domain
$session_name = 'sec_session_id'; // Set a custom session name
$secure = true; // Set to true if using https.
$httponly = true; // This stops javascript being able to access the session id.
ini_set('session.use_only_cookies', 1); // Forces sessions to only use cookies.
$cookieParams = session_get_cookie_params(); // Gets current cookies params.
session_set_cookie_params($cookieParams["lifetime"], $cookieParams["path"], $domain, $secure, $httponly); // note $domain
session_name($session_name); // Sets the session name to the one set above.
session_start(); // Start the php session
session_regenerate_id(true); // regenerated the session, delete the old one.
}
it might be same issue as described here:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.session-regenerate-id.php#84242
it is browser issue, not php. (Way easier to recreate in Firefox than Chrome)
Setting "session_regenerate_id(false);" helps, but that defeats the purpose of secure login.