session not working when communicating with localhost - php

If I navigate to 'sub.domain.com/session_test.php' in browser, the session are saved and work fine. I can see all the sessions on page refresh.
However, if I make an http post request from javascript in localhost to the same URL, the sessions are not being saved because I dont get any data(data in the "if" statement) back.
Any ideas why this is happening?
session_start();
if(isset($_SESSION['u'])){
var_dump(ini_get('session.save_path'));
var_dump(ini_get('session.gc_maxlifetime'));
var_dump(ini_get('session.cookie_lifetime'));
echo '<pre>' . print_r($_SESSION, TRUE) . '</pre>';
die();
}
$_SESSION['u'] = "34343gf";
die('end');

The PHP Session variable is server side. Cookies only store the session id in order to retrieve the correct session information.
Anyway, assuming:
sub.domain.com/session_test.php is an alias to localhost/session_test.php (they point to the same file)?
You can't read cookies from one domain in another domain, even if they resolve to the same server. However, there are ways to corcumvent this. One way is to pass the cookie session id as a GET param, although this is not very safe.
Another way is to store the session ID locally (in a text file, or the database) and retrieve it later.

I try your code with a pair of files named index.php and index2.php.
The session is working. (Windows7, Wamp2.5, Apache2.22, php5.4)
I think you have no rights into your /tmp folder where the session is.
Try to put a file inside it with php function file_put_contents( ini_get('session.save_path')."/test-file.txt", 'Test file is OK');.
Your code is OK.

Related

App using old session file after session_regenerate_id()

session_start();
$_SESSION['user_id'] = 0;
session_regenerate_id();
$_SESSION['user_id'] = 5;
After running the following code, why is my $_SESSION['user_id'] still 0 when I access it later? Am I misunderstanding how session_regenerate_id() is supposed to work? Or is it an issue that I need to address elsewhere?
I can see that two session files have been created in C:\xampp\tmp, but I don't understand why the old file is being used.
My example is me trying to understand why I could not access $_SESSION['user_id'] that I would set after running session_start and session_regenerate_id at the very beginning of my .php file:
session_start();
session_regenerate_id();
$_SESSION['user_id'] = 9; // i am unable to access this because my app is using the old file
Appreciate any help with this.
Didn't you check the session.use_trans_sid php.ini option?
In my php.ini, I have session.use_trans_sid=0 and another suggestion mentioned i do the following as well session.use_strict_mode=1. Still not working after these two edits.
Note: i assume that they are 2 different https/http calls (the two
codes starting with session_start() ... ) Can you see what all is
stored in the 2nd file in the Session before and after you do the
session_start? you can do a print_r($_SESSION) and do it before you
regenerate as well I bet there is some code in between your lines that
you haven't shared, is doing something to the session_start
I actually simplified my code down to the example in my post, and you can see it here. This way, we are not worried about any other code.
I cleared my tmp folder and ran the code. Here are the resulting files with session_regenerate_id() commented out:
First File - https://pastebin.com/mBhQCrF3
addrelease.php output is 9 for 'user_id'
I commented out the line that sets the 'user_id' to 9 to see what happens next time I log on
Second File - https://pastebin.com/QNJ6S7sY
As expected, a new file with 8 as 'user_id'
Now I will clear the tmp folder (and restart server) again and do the same with session_regenerate_id() in the code. More specifically, this is what loginuser.php will run now:
session_start();
$_SESSION['user_id'] = 8;
session_regenerate_id();
$_SESSION['user_id'] = 9;
$response['success'] = true;
$response['username'] = "test";
echo json_encode($response);
exit;
This time, since we regenerate the id, there should be two files after loginuser.php is finished. I can't tell which one was created first, but we can see that one has 'user_id' set as 9 while the other has 'user_id' at 8:
File 1: https://pastebin.com/ba1vAmjd
File 2: https://pastebin.com/H9kDfdvt
After this, the output given by addrelease.php once it's finished is 8.
With the following change to loginuser.php, we can also get an idea of what 'user_id' is before it exits and addrelease.php runs the second session_start() call:
session_start();
$_SESSION['user_id'] = 8;
session_regenerate_id();
$_SESSION['user_id'] = 10;
$response['message'] = $_SESSION['user_id'];
$response['success'] = false;
$response['username'] = "test";
echo json_encode($response);
exit;
I clear tmp folder and restart servers again. This time, 'user_id' output is 10. So we can see that loginuser.php is using the correct file, while addrelease.php does not:
File 1: https://pastebin.com/7MpRMbge
File 2: https://pastebin.com/p6RUxH8F
Hopefully I have supplied enough in response to your comment.
EDIT: Also, I don't know if this is significant, but there is a another activity (dashboard activity) between my login activity and my add release activity that does not trigger a .php file.
I think i know the core issue and have the solution as well.
From the json_encode, i assume that some frontend is querying these php files and a json response is sent. So, the session is being written to multiple times.
After writing to the session, IN EVERY FILE that you write sessions to, but PER HTTP/HTTPS request, please do an explicit session_write_close() https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.session-write-close.php .
So, what i mean is that let us assume you have frontendpage1.php that has the html for the user. If you are writing to sessions in this file, do a session_write_close() at the end. Further, if, as a result of an ajax call or something, you have file1.php, file2.php and file3.php used, where they are all writing to the session, do session_write_close() at the end of the last write of the session.
I remember reading that this good practice when sessions are written to frequently.
I had a similar issue with sessions and this worked well
Remember to do a session_start() at the start of each unique browser request/ajax request
EDIT
2nd Option: I think you have a corrupt cookie PHPSESSID . If you try with a browser that doesn't have any cookies set (for the server that is hosting your files), i bet you see the right session values.
Another way to test is, use the same browser, but just add The only thing I can think of is a corrupt cookie PHPSESSID (the default) or whatever cookie you are using, but just add session_name("myStackOverFlowID"); before session_start(); in both these files. the new session_name is not highly recommended: it is just to test.
EDIT: another option
Do the session_write_close() before regenerating the ID
Thanks
Finally, we know that an Android App is involved!
Check if any part of the App code is storing cookies, etc., in cache
Track time using hrtime(true); (recommended instead of microtime for accuracy) see https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.hrtime.php
If possible, clear out the App data on that android phone and test on a different android phone as well
So, after seeing that session was working correctly on my PC browser, I assumed from there that the issue was perhaps purely with how I set up something in my code for the Android app.
As it turns out, my CookieJar implementation was non-persistent. Using PersistentCookieJar instead, I was able to have cookies persist between my activities on the app.
So for anyone having a similar issue, I would suggest reading through this thread and if nothing works, be sure to check your cookie management implementation for the app.

Issue with refreshing div with ajax [duplicate]

I have a one page website that uses AJAX to load new php files and update the display.
I start my php session on the main page but when I use ajax to update inner html I need those session variables for the new php file being loaded.
This post is similar to this one: PHP Session Variables Not Preserved . But I checked and my php.ini has session.use_cookies = 1
Main Page PHP:
<?php
session_start();
if(isset($_SESSION['views']))
{$_SESSION['views']=$_SESSION['views']+1;}
else
{$_SESSION['views']=1;}
?>
After User Input I use ajax to call a php file and load a subsection of the page:
<?php
if(isset($_SESSION['views']))
{ echo "Views: " . $_SESSION['views'];}
else
{ echo "Views: NOT SET";}
?>
Can someone please tell me what important step I am missing? Thank you.
Update: After adding session_id() call to both the main and sub pages I see that both pages have the same Session_ID. However it still cannot pull the session variable and if i do assign it a value the two same name session variables stay independent of one another.
Answer to the question that this question created: I found that I had to set a static session_save path in my php.ini file. With most paid webhosting services they just have a default container for sessions but it is affected by load balancing. What a releif.
I think you're missing session_start() on the page that Ajax calls.
You need:
<?php
session_start();
if(isset($_SESSION['views']))
{ echo "Views: " . $_SESSION['views'];}
else
{ echo "Views: NOT SET";}
?>
You need to start session session_start() in the other PHP file also, the one you are calling through AJAX.
I ran into what i thought was the same issue when running PHP 7 on IIS Server 2012 today.
I had added:
if(!isset($_SESSION))
{
session_start();
}
to the start of each AJAX file but kept recieving the following PHP Notice:
PHP Notice: A session had already been started - ignoring session_start()
A bit of searching lead me to this thread which pointed me in the right direction to resolving the issues I encountered. Hopefully the following information will assist others encountering the same issue.
After checking the session.save_path value was set, in my case C:\Windows\Temp, I thought it best to check the folder permissions match those of the user account I was running IIS under.
In my case it turned out that the directory I had nominated for session storage (in php.ini) did not have the same user (security permissions) assigned to it as the one which was running the IIS site.
Interestingly sessions worked fine when not using AJAX requests prior to me adding the new user permissions. However AJAX did not pick up the session until I had corrected the permissions issue. Adding the same user account that IIS is running under immediately resolved this issue.
In the case of using a paid web hosting service the default session save path is automatically set like this:
http://php.net/session.save-path
session.save_path = "/tmp/"
You need to place the static path to your root folder there.
You're trying to use existing session data from your application in an ajax call. To do that, change how you're calling session_start like so:
// With ajax calls
if (session_status()==1) {
session_start();
}
When making ajax calls to php scripts that need existing session data, use session_start after session_status.
http://php.net/session_status
Need to initialize the session before you trying to login through ajax call.
session_start();
Initialize on the top of the page from where you start the login ajax call.
So that the SESSIONID will be created and stored the browser cookie. And sent along with request header during the ajax call, if you do the ajax request to the same domain
For the successive ajax calls browser will use the SESSIONID that created and stored initially in browser cookie, unless we clear the browser cookie or do logout (or set another cookie)

PHP Session cookie not saving, unable to access session data

I've this little problem: PHP is not saving the cookie to my (cookie allowing) browser, other sites are fine but this one fails to save the session id in the cookie, ergo an inability to access necessary data.
The index page does a
require("includes/functions.php");
which successfully requires my functions file:
session_name('login');
// Starting the session
$expiretime = 60*60*24;
session_set_cookie_params($expiretime);
// Making the cookie live for 1 day
session_start();
However, the login cookie is not saving (checked via Firebug) and I've no reason why. Thanks for the help
Try displaying the session cookie parameters to make sure they are ok by running after session_start:
var_dump(session_get_cookie_params());
If path (or domain) doesn't match the prefix of your web app path, then you might have to set it explicitly:
session_set_cookie_params($expiretime, '/');
or
session_set_cookie_params($expiretime, '/myapp/');

PHP session variables not preserved with ajax

I have a one page website that uses AJAX to load new php files and update the display.
I start my php session on the main page but when I use ajax to update inner html I need those session variables for the new php file being loaded.
This post is similar to this one: PHP Session Variables Not Preserved . But I checked and my php.ini has session.use_cookies = 1
Main Page PHP:
<?php
session_start();
if(isset($_SESSION['views']))
{$_SESSION['views']=$_SESSION['views']+1;}
else
{$_SESSION['views']=1;}
?>
After User Input I use ajax to call a php file and load a subsection of the page:
<?php
if(isset($_SESSION['views']))
{ echo "Views: " . $_SESSION['views'];}
else
{ echo "Views: NOT SET";}
?>
Can someone please tell me what important step I am missing? Thank you.
Update: After adding session_id() call to both the main and sub pages I see that both pages have the same Session_ID. However it still cannot pull the session variable and if i do assign it a value the two same name session variables stay independent of one another.
Answer to the question that this question created: I found that I had to set a static session_save path in my php.ini file. With most paid webhosting services they just have a default container for sessions but it is affected by load balancing. What a releif.
I think you're missing session_start() on the page that Ajax calls.
You need:
<?php
session_start();
if(isset($_SESSION['views']))
{ echo "Views: " . $_SESSION['views'];}
else
{ echo "Views: NOT SET";}
?>
You need to start session session_start() in the other PHP file also, the one you are calling through AJAX.
I ran into what i thought was the same issue when running PHP 7 on IIS Server 2012 today.
I had added:
if(!isset($_SESSION))
{
session_start();
}
to the start of each AJAX file but kept recieving the following PHP Notice:
PHP Notice: A session had already been started - ignoring session_start()
A bit of searching lead me to this thread which pointed me in the right direction to resolving the issues I encountered. Hopefully the following information will assist others encountering the same issue.
After checking the session.save_path value was set, in my case C:\Windows\Temp, I thought it best to check the folder permissions match those of the user account I was running IIS under.
In my case it turned out that the directory I had nominated for session storage (in php.ini) did not have the same user (security permissions) assigned to it as the one which was running the IIS site.
Interestingly sessions worked fine when not using AJAX requests prior to me adding the new user permissions. However AJAX did not pick up the session until I had corrected the permissions issue. Adding the same user account that IIS is running under immediately resolved this issue.
In the case of using a paid web hosting service the default session save path is automatically set like this:
http://php.net/session.save-path
session.save_path = "/tmp/"
You need to place the static path to your root folder there.
You're trying to use existing session data from your application in an ajax call. To do that, change how you're calling session_start like so:
// With ajax calls
if (session_status()==1) {
session_start();
}
When making ajax calls to php scripts that need existing session data, use session_start after session_status.
http://php.net/session_status
Need to initialize the session before you trying to login through ajax call.
session_start();
Initialize on the top of the page from where you start the login ajax call.
So that the SESSIONID will be created and stored the browser cookie. And sent along with request header during the ajax call, if you do the ajax request to the same domain
For the successive ajax calls browser will use the SESSIONID that created and stored initially in browser cookie, unless we clear the browser cookie or do logout (or set another cookie)

Working with SWFUpload and PHP sessions issue

I am using the jquery addon swfupload.
This addon, SWFUpload works with the php file upload.php (sends the uploaded file info to it and the php saves to dir).
Now my issue is that in every page on my site i have included page_protect();
This starts sessions checks and sets session variables such as userID.
Now in upload.php i wish to output example. "OK id 123, you made it!!"
the id 123 should be the $_SESSION['userID'] outputted there. I tried to output this, but its like theres nothing in $_SESSION['userID'].
I dont understand, it works on all my other pages.
But it seems like the SWFupload when it uses flash to read and execute upload.php the session is another/disappears and cant get the variables?
Are there a explanation for this? How can i fix this?
Update
I tried to make a html normal file form with action="upload.php" and made upload.php to submit the session_id(). When i did this i got the same id as my other sites and my variable userID worked just fine!
Then i tried to set debug to true on swfupload and made upload.php output the same, session_id, and this time it was another session_id and NOT like the other, that contain user_ID variable.
So somehow, when it use flash and executes upload.php it starts a completly new session and therefore theres no variables saved in it. Although this is only a theory what i found out so far.
Update
Ok so now I found out that the session_id are being sended in the SWFUpload configuration,
post_params: {"PHPSESSID" : "<?php echo session_id(); ?>"},
And i can see in the upload.php later in the code, after printing session_id() that it actually changes the session id with this:
// Code for Session Cookie workaround
if (isset($_POST["PHPSESSID"])) {
session_id($_POST["PHPSESSID"]);
} else if (isset($_GET["PHPSESSID"])) {
session_id($_GET["PHPSESSID"]);
}
I took this and placed it before i printed out session_id() and now it prints the same session_id() as the one, the variable userID is stored in.
Now I try to output userID once again, but now I just receive Undefined index: userID error, like it has not been set.
I also tried to set another variable than userID, 'test' with value 123, set on the form upload page, and want to output on the upload.php page, and it could not output it.
How can i fix this? please
See http://www.swfupload.org/forum/generaldiscussion/383 for an explanation of the problem.
Essentially SWFUpload doesn't pass your session cookie onto your upload script. A workaround is to pass the session ID as a parameter, or some identifier that can recreate the session when the upload script is called.
The problem is - flash uploader don't know anything about user's session. By default session data is stored as cookie in user's browser and as a file on your server side. To make Flash uploader take care about session do something like this:
{
movie: 'uploader.swf',
id: 'someid',
name: 'someid',
flashvars: 'cookie=' + document.cookie,
}
On server side start session:
$cookies = explode(';', $_POST['cookie']);
// Get your session cookie like
// list($cookieName, $cookieValue) = str_split('=', $_GET['cookie']);
session_name($sessionName);
session_start();
As an alternative you always can add session ID to form's action as you already did.
Default SWFUpload sends files one by one to upload.php - and then submit a form to destination page. It's the destination page that the user actually sees, so output anything there naturally won't show in the browser (as it's only seen by the flash application, and forwarded to javascript). Unless you explicitly tell javascript to show the return value from upload.php it won't be visible.
Just like you pointed out the session_id is passed through in the swfupload config by:
// Upload configuration
var settings = {
flash_url: "swfupload/swfupload.swf",
upload_url: "swfupload/upload.php",
post_params: {
"PHPSESSID": "xxx",
"uploadpath": "xxx"
}
So all you have to do is this in your PHP:
if (isset($_POST['PHPSESSID'])){
session_id($_POST['PHPSESSID']);
}
Is the session does not exist, session_id will return an empty string so you can go on from there.
http://nl3.php.net/session_id
Just don't forget to have the parameters in php.ini that set :
session cookies to on
and session.use_only_cookies to off
and on a symfony1.x environnement session are handled this way:
post_params: {
<?php echo "'".ini_get('session.name')."':'".session_id()."',"; ?>
}

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